How to discuss and debate the future of the Marine Corps
Never a petty critique of personalities or persons. The issue is what is best for the Marine Corps. Such a momentous topic requires robust discussion and debate. The urgency of the issue dictates the frankness of the debate. Yet frankness can never be allowed to devolve into meanness, narrowness, or destructiveness.
The discussion and debate over the future of the Marine Corps involves many people, but primarily it is a professional discussion among leaders of Marines. All of us are bound together on the same journey. We all share the same goal: to ensure the Marine Corps is strong today and stronger tomorrow.
If the Marine Corps grows stronger in the future, then all of us — on all sides — will win. If the Marine Corps grows weaker, then we all lose.
Writing in the Marine Corps Times, General Charles Krulak, the 31st Commandant of the Marine Corps, addressed the ongoing controversy over Force Design. At the end of his article, he makes clear his view of how the discussion should be conducted.
Marine Corps Times (marinecorpstimes.com) May 27, 2022
Whose Marine Corps?
Why a Force Design battle is losing sight of the basics.
By General Charles Krulak
. . . In closing, I urge all to reflect deeply on our long-standing bedrock principles and to consider carefully the following points:
· We need to move from waging information campaigns against one another after serious decisions about our Corps future have been made to a much more inclusive and transparent process before decisions are made.
· We need to move from generalizations and straw man characterizations of contending views to serious, in-depth discussions about operational capabilities and the dependencies they have, discussions befitting professionals.
· We need to clearly articulate a future end-state and the means by which we will get there to include, rigorously red-teamed transitions that minimize exploitable opportunities by this nation’s enemies each step of the way.
We need to return to a time when we “cast our nets widely” and think deeply and carefully about our own dynamic, complex adaptive system, and the many other dynamic complex systems with which we operate.
This is our Marine Corps, and we all have roles to play in helping it adapt to an increasingly complex future.
We must never denigrate or marginalize those who want to help shape its future. We must encourage, rather than suppress, different perspectives and life experiences. Open, inclusive stress-testing of hypotheses about our Corps make for both a stronger, more relevant Corps and a more cohesive and unified Corps.
Whose Marine Corps? Why a Force Design battle is losing sight of the basics (marinecorpstimes.com)
I would add to by below comment, to any inquiring Marine leaders who might be reading this with an open mind: When you hear your peers and superior denigrate former senior officers for their agenda or their "emotional" involvement, stop and review their resume's in your mind. These were the vanguards of the Corps that built the doctrine and TTPs that you are using this very day. The V-22 ride you get...them. The M-1 tanks you no longer count on....them (well, actually that was General Wilson, Guadalcanal MOH winner and CMC), the systems theory that is fundamental to our warfighting philosophy...them, the maturation of a GCC to a whole-of-government approach...them. C.S. Lewis used to call it "chronological snobbery." I have called it generational narcissism. Those who refuse to learn from the past are doomed to repeat it.
Just saw a field grade Marine officer in an influential billet post a satirical article about Marines and their inability to converse with modern technology. His comments were directed at the “senior retired generals” who want to return to a time of runners and hand-written message traffic. Thank you C-II for this article, which I shared with him.
Along the lines of another article here...I am sensitive to the mob. Boyd was an army of one: “Do you want to be somebody? Or do you want to do something?” I recognize the mob when I see it. It is a painful sight to see that the culture of our Corps has become one that encourages and incites the mob...and turns our next generation of leaders, field grade officers, into playground bullies and mockers.