Compass Points - Farsighted Comments
Readers expand the discussion
September 7, 2024
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This past week, the US is being challenged around the world by ongoing threats and conflicts. What will happen next? No one knows. No matter what happens, however, there is no doubt Compass Points readers will have insightful analysis and comment.
Over the last week, Compass Points readers have responded online and off with a cornucopia of comments, insights, and analysis. Only a few of the comments are re-posted below. Most of the full comments are available for reading on the Compass Points site. As always, comments have been edited for length and content. Several long, thoughtful comments have been reduced to just a sentence or two. Often the real enjoyment comes, not as much from the excerpt included below but, from reading the comment in full. Compass Points appreciates the full, insightful, and professional comments of all readers. Many thanks!
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Bob Whitener
If my memory serves me the MAGTF concept for the Maiine Corps was conceptualized in the 1950s. Gen. O. P. Smith as CG 1stMarDiv first used helicopters (HRS) in the Korean War.
How the concept of vertical envelopment came about is another interesting segment of aviation history. Fast forwarding to 1983 exemplifies the tactical as well as strategic value of the ARG/ MAGTF.
HMLA-167 had been transferred from MAG-29 to MAG-26 as part of the Beirut ARG/MEU support of the Beirut commitment. The ARG/MEU deployed on schedule in Oct 83 for Beirut but was diverted to Grenada where Marines encountered communist and Cuban military forces. American medical students were rescued. A later after-action report quoted the USA Chief of Staff being impressed with the maneuver ability of the Marine Bn on the island.
The ARG/MEU proceeded on to the Med where it provided support for the Beirut commitment. While, I don’t recollect the timing sequence of Grenada and the Beirut Barracks bombing sequence, the versatility of the ARG/MEU is truly highlighted in the October 1983 sequence of events.
The Grenada-Beirut ARG/MAGTF/vertical envelopment conceptualized in the 1950s came to fruition in any number of instances but was especially highlighted in October 1983.
There will continue to be the need for the ARG/ MAGTF on into the future. The question is, are todays Marines, active and retired, up to the task of keeping this unique naval force viable as an option for the National Command Authorities?
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Jeffrey Dinsmore
Outside the 1stMarDiv conference room there is a large painting that has hung there as long as I can remember. I passed it every day for years, but finally paused one day to examine it. I eventually discovered that it was done sometime around 1954-1956, and depicted the artist's conception of the MAGTF. It depicted an outfitted Marine going ashore in the foreground, with all the weight of the combined arms team behind him and overhead. It was fascinating to identify all the aircraft and weapons systems that the Corps envisioned employing. Some of those systems survived the combat development process, and some did not. It was fascinating to note the origins of this warfighting concept that has endured, even with new systems and new Marines.
Of course, I was dumbfounded when I read the original problem statement of Force Design: That beginning with the commandants of the 1950's, the Marine Corps has followed a fool's errand, to its own detriment, and that this commandant has the opportunity to go down in history as the one who saved the Corps!
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Charles Wemyss, Jr.
The likelihood of a major confrontation with a “peer” foe aka China and or Russian Federation is always a possibility. In any event it’s likely that the warning of a larger conflict would build like the storm clouds at Camp LeJeune in summer around 1700.
Far more likely is some local despot gets his ass in sling and starts acting badly and an ARG/MEU would be the immediate and logical answer to the situation. Perhaps with an air contingency unit being the first finger in the dike, it is all situational, but no one can do this sort of work as well as the MEU. Now it is time to reconstitute the MAGTF so we can meet bad actors of the brush fire nature head on. At some point the puzzle palace will be forced to come to the same conclusions. The world is not sleeping. We need to be ready.
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Thomas M. Huber
Peleliu. Finally, someone is on the case here, both the history and the new airfield. The great historical antecedents for defense of the Western Pacific in the industrial age are the strategic tension between the US and Imperial Japan 1905-1941, and then the Great Pacific War of 1941-1945. Some technologies have changed since, but the geography and the basic dynamics are still the same. Our current strategic engagement with China can be much more readily grasped by looking at it through the lens of the Pacific War and the three tense decades leading up to it.
The new airfields are a very good thing. Each one gives air access to broad swaths of the Western Pacific, both for offense and for defense. Having many of them is a good idea because PLAN can suppress some of them some of the time, but not all of them all the time, as Lincoln might have put it.
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Douglas C Rapé
Never, never, never give up an airfield. A nation with global responsibilities must have a global web of mutually supporting airfields each within range of three to four other airfields. Add 12-16 mobile ones (Aircraft carriers). Not every, and perhaps most do not need permanently assigned aircraft. Even better if these airfields can co-locate with ports. These are the strategic lily pads that make positioning, staging, repositioning, deploying and evacuating possible. It is the strategic flexibility that allows you to mass or disburse as circumstances dictate. It forces your enemies to consider far more scenarios and potential threats. You can stage fuel, supplies and ammunition, billeting and medical facilities. While installations, even manned with minimal personnel, are not inexpensive they are cheap compared to the alternatives and the lack of options. This is global, maneuver warfare at the installation level.
Since the fall of the Soviet Union, we engaged in an ill-advised, massive draw down of facilities both in CONUS and overseas with the further mirage of cost savings by creating mega bases in violation of all principles of distributing valuable resources from sabotage, terrorism, conventional and unconventional attacks. Most of this occurred with highly questionable claims of cost savings and virtually no consideration for actual wartime considerations.
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David Gran
I agree with the article. With every new capability, there will inevitably be new tactics and countermeasures to defeat it. For example, with small drones, I’ve seen counter-drone technology rapidly emerging everywhere. There were a lot of displays several years ago at Modern Day Marine. However, developing a technical countermeasure is only half the battle. The real challenge is acquiring that technology in mass, deploying it across the force, ensuring personnel have the right skills to use it effectively, and integrating them into normal operations. This process will happen, but it won't happen overnight. We just need to be faster than our potential adversaries. It's clear that small drones can inflict significant damage and casualties on a frugal budget.
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Coffeejoejava
With every counter measure is a man taken off the battlefield, the proverbial boots on the ground. Thus far I have seen, in videos and write ups, individual drones doing the work. What will happen when there is a mass of them with AI support doing the deed? Even the "hundreds of drones" sent by Iran to Israel after the killing of the Hamas leader, they were all nothing more than cruise missiles with rotors or wings. What happens when AI gets "learned" enough to do tactical maneuvers and make decisions based on threat levels? I know they, us and our potential adversaries, are working on that very thing.
It reminds me of this video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7mIX_0VK4g
How long before this is a reality? 10 years....tops.
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David Gran
Scary video! No doubt, if someone can imagine it, we can probably build it. A quote from the video: "They can pretty much stop any countermeasure, they cannot be stopped" is a very optimistic claim.
Other statements in history:
- "We will bury you." – Nikita Khrushchev, Soviet Premier, 1956
- "The war to end all wars." regarding World War I
I vote for us to contract for a countermeasure for every drone/AI capability we build.
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PKVR
The AI drone swarm video is impressive. But new tech always over-promises and under-delivers. My first thought is if the AI enhanced drone swarm in the video is 'unstoppable' then we should use our own 'unstoppable' AI enhanced drone swarm to target and destroy their 'unstoppable' drone swarm. Once the 'unstoppable' drone swarms have destroyed themselves, the combined arms MAGTF will continue the fight.
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polarbear
You have to wonder what in General Berger’s and Smith’s experience and education had them thinking that the 2030 Design was a good idea. What really troubles me is General Berger missed a golden opportunity to establish the US Marine Corps senior leadership as DOD’s best military strategist. He could have stood up in 2019 and stated that the US has significant gaps in the peer-to-peer strategy. He could have stated that the best way to fill those gaps is for each service to focus on their expertise under the US Joint Service Doctrine.
The US Air Force needs to concentrate on the Cyber and Space domain. The USAF also has gotten used to operating with complete air superiority. In a peer-on-peer war air superiority may take more time to establish than the US can afford.
For the US Army, this country is going to need an exceptional ground based anti-missile defense. In addition to its infantry and armor brigades, the US is going to need Army’s specialty units like the 101st Airborne. (One of the highlights of Desert Storm was 101st Division 170 mile penetration into Iraq to cut the enemy’s main supple route.)
The US Navy should concentrate on maintaining their strategic mobility by securing SLOCs and denying them to the enemy. BTW the US Marine Corps can be a big help there. OH! If you have a ship building and maintenance problem fix it.
For the Marines, concentrate on your amphibious forces and MAGTF doctrine. MAGTF strategic mobility will be very important in a peer-on-peer “global” war. Remember that our enemy fears the United States strategic mobility and the US Marine Corps (amphibs and MPFs) fills the gap between strategic airlift and the arrival of sea lift forces and sustainment. Yep, we missed a golden opportunity.
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Rob Barrow
I’d argued the Marine Corps, at present, is not organized to do anything. It’s disgraceful what Berger started, and Smith continues to pursue.
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polarbear
“We are the eyes and ears for the joint force, ideally positioned within the weapons engagement zone (WEZ) to conduct both reconnaissance and counter-reconnaissance, to act as a joint tactical air controller for the combined joint force, and to strike the enemy from land to sea with organic sensors and precision fires.” -- Statement of General Eric M. Smith Commandant of the United States Marine Corps, as Delivered to Congressional Defense Committees on 10 April 2024, p. 3.
That is bold talk and nothing more than talk. To say the US Marine Corps is the “eyes and ears of the joint force” is a hollow boast. If true, what Combatant Commander is using (and planning to use) Marines in their “WEZ” as counter reconnaissance, and joint tactical air control? General McKenzie’s book “The Melting Point” is an interesting read on how a Combatant Commander uses the joint force strategic reconnaissance, counter reconnaissance, and intelligence resources. There is no mention of Marines in this role when describing his combat operations and planning.
In addition, when the CENTCOM Commander held a meeting to request deterrent forces after these combat operations, General McKenzie states: “After me, the chiefs (Service Chiefs) each spoke. It was the usual litany of complaints: too hard, too painful, not enough of this or that. I was particularly disappointed in my own service, which seemed intent on shaking the dust of CENTCOM off its boots while looking wholly to the Pacific.” P. 105 And there it is, the Marine Corps Commandant is not ready to fill a Combatant Commanders request because he is busy experimenting with notional units in the Pacific.
Well thank you General Smith for your experimental reorganizational of the US Marine Corps, however, where was your offer to the CENTCOM Combatant Commander of a Marine Corps MAGTF to act as the “eyes and ears” in his weapons engagement zone?
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Douglas C Rapé
When a Marine in uniform steps in front of Congress to speak he/she cloaks themselves in two centuries of Marine legend, lore, honor, sacrifice and reputation. The testimony must be without a hint of deception, misdirection or deceit. It must be unimpeachable. The facts put forth rest on the lives and sacrifice of Marines across the history of this Republic who made the ultimate sacrifice. The slightest deception, by commission or omission, intentional or unintentional is simply unacceptable.
This is not the case in this testimony. It is steeped in caveats and “read the fine print” modifiers that seek to confuse or mislead. It is salesman and lawyer lingo and not the straight talk of Warrior Leaders on whose shoulders we place the responsibility for victory and the lives of Marines. This is, frankly and sadly, an embarrassment by those better versed in Public Relations than the hard cold language of global deployment and battlefield reality. It begs the question: “ So, you can do everything and more than the Corps could do in past but you can do it with far fewer resources, assets, units and people? And, you can expand your mission to do even more than the missions Congress assigned you?”
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Randy Shetter
Has there been any pushback to Congress on HQMC's testimony? Most people who have no military knowledge don't know the difference between a SIF or a JLTV. They hear HQMC's answers and it's word salad. At present, I do not think the Marine Corps as organized can back up the Army. It only has 5 light infantry regiments, 7 artillery batteries, and three MLRs. Not a very robust force. Finally and most importantly, does Congress understand what the Marine Corps has eliminated to acquire the FD Marine Corps? HQMC has decimated the one and only robust naval expeditionary force this Nation has. It was a unique and needed force, that no other US Military force possesses.
Is there any possibility that any former CMCs could testify before Congress as witnesses? After all, they have all their years of experience. The current CMC has his butt to save. The former CMC have their loyalty to the Corps for its best interest and the interests of the Nation.
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Paul Van Riper
Members of Chowder Society II have had opportunities to brief members of Congress, mostly those on the Senate and House Armed Services Committees. There are very few members with the experience of their predecessors such as Senators Nunn, Warner, and McCain, so they fail to catch the deceptive statements that the Compass Points post revealed. Exceptions are Senator Sullivan (Retired Marine Corps Colonel) and Senator Cotton.
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norman sheridan
I know my "trust and confidence" are lacking in today's leadership of our Corps. Tomorrow is the start of my 65th year as a MARINE so you can understand why the above statement makes me sad.
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Douglas C Rapé
The best leaders I knew were always reevaluating the circumstances and crafting solutions. The best ones applied the right solutions and the lesser gifted ones applied ineffective ones. The worst applied change for change’s sake based on their flawed assessments and poor judgement and were often handicapped by their own ego, insecurity and arrogance. This held true across my experience in sports, academics, personal relationships, the Marine Corps, private industry, city government, academia and technological consulting.
Kudos to the Dutch military for their independent and precise analysis of what will deter Russian military adventurism.
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Charles Wemyss, Jr.
If the Dutch military can admit to a mistake and reconstitute their armor capability perhaps current USMC management could fly over to The Hague and ask for a tour. Don’t hold your breath, the word salad from the 39th CMC’s planning guidance was rather devoid of anything that resembled war fighting and truly addressing the issues with readiness and reconstituting the MAGTF so the Corps can meet Title X mandates.
For sure kudos to the Dutch for seeing the battlefield having dramatically changed, but as we see in the Ukraine conflict, very much remaining the same. The Dutch military have adjusted accordingly. Indeed time is wasting, turn around General Smith, the world isn’t sleeping, the next crisis or conflict won’t ask if the SIF or MLR are valuable or ready, the conditions likely will ask for a ARG/MEU to appear over the horizon with a complete MAGTF capability. Yes, General, that’s Chowder Society II up the attic, and they won’t stop making noise until you let them down into the living room.
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Tom Eagen
As impolite as it is, the short, succinct yet complete description of what "HQMC" has been and is doing is prevaricating/ lying/ deceiving our government. We cannot do what Title 10 says we are to do. I cannot accept that there is not deep seated anger in Marine professionals but I recognize and applaud the potentially more helpful and productive approach Compass Point is taking.
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William Kinney
The Marine Corps is also the topic of so many famous quotes. Here’s mine;
“The Marines I have seen around the world have the cleanest bodies, the filthiest minds, the highest morale, and the lowest morals of any group of animals I have ever seen. Thank God for the United States Marine Corps!” -- Eleanor Roosevelt
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Compass Points salutes all readers who in their own ways are continuing to build the discussion about a stronger Marine Corps.