But the Iranian Hostage Raid was done about as poorly as possible. They made every mistake in the book. Every branch of the armed services wanted to be involved, so they took units from different services and just threw them together. They also threw this together at the last minute, with insufficient training. For example, if they had just used USAF air assets, transporting Army Rangers or Spec Ops troops, they probably would have had a different outcome. (i.e. significantly lowered the risk of a complete screw up on the ground.)

But generally speaking of "joint" operations, there were so many little things that should have been done differently from the beginning, such as having the USA and USMC ground troops using the same radios. Doctrine could still be "stand alone" to a point, if the right units were picked for the right jobs. Marines do amphibious landings and strikes well, but they really aren't designed for extended major land combat ops. That's more of an Army mission because they can arrive in huge numbers. I know there's less of that required, so the Army has been "down sizing" to mimic the USMC mission, but they need to maintain their "major land combat" mission.

Even the different service branches Special Forces have different missions, and you should plug the right group into the right job. Green Berets are the best at working with insurgents. Navy SEALs are best at quick strikes...quick "in and out" jobs, especially when there's water involved. No one is better in the water because no one else spends as much time there... The USMC train to do a little bit of everything (MEU/SOC), and can usually arrive in force. The Army has the best helicopter insertion unit in the world, especially at night.

But when you look at North Africa, we're talking about the US Army with US Army Air Corps. They were in the same branch of service.