As many alert readers noted, the SOUTHCOM Combatant Commander is General Francis L. Donovan, not "Admiral Donovan." General Donovan is a proud Marine. Compass Points regrets the error and salutes General Donovan.
I would have too see the T/O and T/E of this MEU. I am going to guess it has no more than 360 riflemen and no idea how much artillery. MEU’s have gone from 4 ships to 3 and eventually 2. We know they have no tanks. How many trucks? As they become more aviation centric I hope the fuel storage and LForm ammunition have adjusted. What anti air capability does this MEU have? There is no reinforcement to grow into a MEB within 6000 miles.
Col., a notional MEU should have one 8 gun battery of towed artillery. My guess (since I can’t seem to find a current T/O or T/E for the afloat GCE), that it could be only a 4 gun platoon or worse case, no tubed artillery and only relying on a single platoon of HIMARS.
And you and I both know that it’s VERY easy to convert a permissive air environment into a high threat air environment very quickly and with very little effort. That’s why we preach combined arms!
The Boxer looks like an impressive ship, even if she is 30 years old. We currently have 9 LHA's and LHD's and It is a shame that our Navy can't seem to get proper maintenance done on our ships in the states. We do have some other LHA's and LHD's sort of in mothballs and I am sure that the Japanese or South Koreans would love to get them back to tip top shape in a reasonable time and a reasonable price. I am also a bit concerned about using the F-35B for close air support, as I have mentioned before, it's too bad we can't get some Warthogs modified with tail hooks to do the close air support. the F-35B is great, and a good replacement for the Harrier, but a bit expensive for that chore. The Warthogs now have new wings and the Air Force has never really liked them, so give some to the Corps. Could be that the Warthog can't be modified, but never know unless we look at it.
Andy, you are probably right, they are building ships much faster than we are. We really should do something about those LHA and LHD's that are just sitting there though.
Congress writes a law determining a minimum size and minimum operational profile for the Corps, and our leadership ignores it. Thus through Force Design the Marines are trying to become less like a second land army and more like a naval, fast-moving, missile-and-drone-enabled force that can help the Navy control seas, deny enemy ships freedom of movement, and fight from small, hard-to-find positions. Sounds good even if it is in opposition to our legally chartered raison d’être. Operationally nothing has happened, and our Title 10 capabilities - our abilities DEMANDED BY LAW - are ignored. Sounds like someone screwed the pooch for political purposes. This must end!
“without a RESPECTABLE NAVY,Alas AMERICA!” JOHN PAUL JONES !…The following w the assistance of Grok
“Pre-2020 Baseline: The fleet centered on multiple Wasp-class LHDs (including USS Bonhomme Richard) and early America-class LHAs. These provided the heavy lift for two Marine Expeditionary Brigade (MEB) assault echelons plus three forward ARGs. Longstanding plans targeted 38 larger amphibious ships, including ~12 big-decks, to meet operational demands and Title 10 requirements for expeditionary operations from the sea. news.usni.org
July 2020: The BURNING OF THE BONNIE DICK, USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6) while in maintenance led to total loss of one big-deck hull. Pathetically weak accountability actions followed, including a Secretarial Letter of Censure to a Vice Admiral and other flag-level measures for oversight, training, and material condition failures. General Courts Marital for multiple Flag Officers should have occurred. The ship was cannibalized w billions of taxpayer dollars wasted. Tweedledum and Tweedledee!
Today (Mid-2026): Only 9 big-deck LHA/LHDs remain operational. Total larger amphibious ships sit near the statutory minimum of 31 (including older LSDs), but fall short of the 38-ship standard. New big-deck deliveries face delays from shipyard and other issues. Readiness and availability remain strained. congress.gov
Cost Reality Check on LSMs vs. Big-Decks: LSM unit costs run ~$150–430 million (lead ~$268 million). An 18-ship LSM program totals ~$6.2–7.8 billion; scaling to the higher 35-ship goal exceeds $12 billion. At current big-deck procurement costs of $3.4–3.9 billion each, that same LSM budget could instead fund roughly 2–4 additional Good Men Class big-decks. cbo.gov
Big-decks deliver unmatched concentrated capacity (1,687+ Marines, heavy aviation, well-deck throughput, command facilities) essential for MEB-scale operations. LSMs provide smaller, beachable hulls for distributed moves but cannot substitute for that core heavy-lift role. The fleet remains short on the proven big-deck numbers required for full Title 10 mission demands.“! July 6, 2026, MCCP Continues to be a Voice Crying Out in The Wilderness!
As many alert readers noted, the SOUTHCOM Combatant Commander is General Francis L. Donovan, not "Admiral Donovan." General Donovan is a proud Marine. Compass Points regrets the error and salutes General Donovan.
I would have too see the T/O and T/E of this MEU. I am going to guess it has no more than 360 riflemen and no idea how much artillery. MEU’s have gone from 4 ships to 3 and eventually 2. We know they have no tanks. How many trucks? As they become more aviation centric I hope the fuel storage and LForm ammunition have adjusted. What anti air capability does this MEU have? There is no reinforcement to grow into a MEB within 6000 miles.
Col., a notional MEU should have one 8 gun battery of towed artillery. My guess (since I can’t seem to find a current T/O or T/E for the afloat GCE), that it could be only a 4 gun platoon or worse case, no tubed artillery and only relying on a single platoon of HIMARS.
Yes, we don’t know but we can almost bet it is not much in the way of artillery. I suspect it is very aviation centric.
And you and I both know that it’s VERY easy to convert a permissive air environment into a high threat air environment very quickly and with very little effort. That’s why we preach combined arms!
The Boxer looks like an impressive ship, even if she is 30 years old. We currently have 9 LHA's and LHD's and It is a shame that our Navy can't seem to get proper maintenance done on our ships in the states. We do have some other LHA's and LHD's sort of in mothballs and I am sure that the Japanese or South Koreans would love to get them back to tip top shape in a reasonable time and a reasonable price. I am also a bit concerned about using the F-35B for close air support, as I have mentioned before, it's too bad we can't get some Warthogs modified with tail hooks to do the close air support. the F-35B is great, and a good replacement for the Harrier, but a bit expensive for that chore. The Warthogs now have new wings and the Air Force has never really liked them, so give some to the Corps. Could be that the Warthog can't be modified, but never know unless we look at it.
I doubt the Japanese or South Korean have any need of well used, steam powered ships. If they want something that size, they will just build it.
Andy, you are probably right, they are building ships much faster than we are. We really should do something about those LHA and LHD's that are just sitting there though.
Congress writes a law determining a minimum size and minimum operational profile for the Corps, and our leadership ignores it. Thus through Force Design the Marines are trying to become less like a second land army and more like a naval, fast-moving, missile-and-drone-enabled force that can help the Navy control seas, deny enemy ships freedom of movement, and fight from small, hard-to-find positions. Sounds good even if it is in opposition to our legally chartered raison d’être. Operationally nothing has happened, and our Title 10 capabilities - our abilities DEMANDED BY LAW - are ignored. Sounds like someone screwed the pooch for political purposes. This must end!
“without a RESPECTABLE NAVY,Alas AMERICA!” JOHN PAUL JONES !…The following w the assistance of Grok
“Pre-2020 Baseline: The fleet centered on multiple Wasp-class LHDs (including USS Bonhomme Richard) and early America-class LHAs. These provided the heavy lift for two Marine Expeditionary Brigade (MEB) assault echelons plus three forward ARGs. Longstanding plans targeted 38 larger amphibious ships, including ~12 big-decks, to meet operational demands and Title 10 requirements for expeditionary operations from the sea. news.usni.org
July 2020: The BURNING OF THE BONNIE DICK, USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6) while in maintenance led to total loss of one big-deck hull. Pathetically weak accountability actions followed, including a Secretarial Letter of Censure to a Vice Admiral and other flag-level measures for oversight, training, and material condition failures. General Courts Marital for multiple Flag Officers should have occurred. The ship was cannibalized w billions of taxpayer dollars wasted. Tweedledum and Tweedledee!
Today (Mid-2026): Only 9 big-deck LHA/LHDs remain operational. Total larger amphibious ships sit near the statutory minimum of 31 (including older LSDs), but fall short of the 38-ship standard. New big-deck deliveries face delays from shipyard and other issues. Readiness and availability remain strained. congress.gov
Cost Reality Check on LSMs vs. Big-Decks: LSM unit costs run ~$150–430 million (lead ~$268 million). An 18-ship LSM program totals ~$6.2–7.8 billion; scaling to the higher 35-ship goal exceeds $12 billion. At current big-deck procurement costs of $3.4–3.9 billion each, that same LSM budget could instead fund roughly 2–4 additional Good Men Class big-decks. cbo.gov
Big-decks deliver unmatched concentrated capacity (1,687+ Marines, heavy aviation, well-deck throughput, command facilities) essential for MEB-scale operations. LSMs provide smaller, beachable hulls for distributed moves but cannot substitute for that core heavy-lift role. The fleet remains short on the proven big-deck numbers required for full Title 10 mission demands.“! July 6, 2026, MCCP Continues to be a Voice Crying Out in The Wilderness!