Compass Points - Bring back 9-1-1
The Nation’s crisis response force
Compass Points - Bring back 9-1-1
The Nation’s crisis response force
November 8, 2024
.
With the events of this week, the Nation will soon have a new Secretary of Defense, new Secretary of the Navy, and new leaders in Congress.
What do all these new leaders need to know about the Marine Corps? There is much to say. While the spirit and fight of the individual Marine is undimmed, it is unfortunate that Marine Corps capabilities as a crisis response force have been greatly diminished. New leaders should take time to understand that today's Marine Corps is not the 9-1-1 force it once was, nor the 9-1-1 force it should be.
.
===============
.
The American people and a growing number of elected representatives are beginning to suspect something some Marine Corps leaders have been unwilling to admit: United States Marines are no longer capable of responding to global crises and contingencies quickly and effectively, and in some cases, at all.
. . . How capable are the Navy and Marine Corps to answer a 9-1-1 call for future military and humanitarian emergencies?
Timely and effective global response across the spectrum of conflict requires a combination of amphibious lift for forward presence, maritime prepositioning for rapid deployment and sustainment, and a combined arms force that can be task organized for everything from humanitarian assistance and disaster relief to major combat against a determined enemy. Neither the Navy nor the Marine Corps can meet these essential requirements today.
-- Generals Conway and Zinni
.
===============
.
Generals Conway and Zinni ask the new SecDef, SecNav, and members of Congress to closely question any Marine leaders who claim that the Marine Corps still has its full, global, combined arms capabilities.
.
===============
.
Marine Corps leaders are being disingenuous when they tell Congress and the American people that the Marine Corps is the nation’s 9-1-1 force, fully capable of responding to crises and contingencies across the spectrum of conflict and in every “clime and place.” It no longer is and the Navy shares much of the blame.
The Navy-Marine Corps team is now a shell of the capacity that served our maritime nation so effectively for over two centuries.
Until Marines are properly supported with adequate amphibious ships, bolstered by a robust maritime prepositioning force and restored to a true combined arms force, they will remain incapable of fulfilling the will of the 82nd Congress: “to be most ready when the nation is generally least ready.”
-- Generals Conway and Zinni
.
===============
.
Compass Points thanks Generals Conway and Zinni and all those across the Marine community who have been sounding the alarm about the loss of Marine Corps capabilities. New civilian leaders need to closely examine what a shrinking Marine Corps has become today. The needs of the Nation require the Marine Corps to be quickly restored, updated, and enhanced so it can become, once again, America’s fully capable 9-1-1 force.
.
- - - - -
.
Marine Times - 07/07/2024
How capable is today’s Marine Corps to answer a 9-1-1 call? Not very
By Gen. James Conway (retired) and Gen. Anthony Zinni (retired)
Gen. James Conway (retired) is a career infantry officer with extensive experience in global response operations. He was the operations officer for the 31st Marine Amphibious Unit during contingency operations in Beirut, commanded Battalion Landing Team 3/2 during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, and commanded I Marine Expeditionary Force during two consecutive combat tours in Iraq. His last assignment was 34th commandant of the Marine Corps.
Gen. Anthony Zinni (retired) is a career infantry officer with extensive experience in global response operations. He commanded the 35th Marine Expeditionary Unit, which was deployed twice to the Philippines to conduct emergency security operations and disaster relief operations. He also served as the director of operations for the Unified Task Force in Somalia for Operation Restore Hope. His last assignment was commander, United States Central Command.
.
Ideally a group of retired former leaders could engage the next SecNav and SecDef with a brief on the changes the USMC has undergone in the last five years and explain why the Corps is no longer able to be the 911 Force it has been. The second part of the brief is the steps it would take to return the Corps to a viable, global response force.
With the right connections the brief could be condensed and presented to the incoming President and National Security Advisor. It would have to focus on how to recapture a capability the Commander in Chief no longer has and how to redevelop that critical resource to prevent larger conflicts.
This is where history comes back like a flaming boomerang. I have no reason to believe the incoming President would be favorable to receiving such a brief. His experience with retired, senior Marine leaders in his last administration may not predispose him to be open to input. Rightly or wrongly, the incoming President is very much vested in personal relationships and loyalties. The relationship between him and the Corps might be beyond repair.
At the time I warned that the actions of Gen Mattis and Gen Kelley could have long term, adverse consequences for the one military service that must have support from Congress and the POTUS to thrive. I had the same reservations when Gen Jones became President Obama’s National Security Advisor as well as when retired LtCol MacFarlane served in the Reagan Administration. I would add those who signed letters taking a position on who the next President should be hurt the Corps as well.
The lesson is crystal clear. Retired Marines should not engage in politics as the adverse consequences are more to the Corps than to them personally.
It will be a huge challenge to rebuild and restructure the Corps into three modern MAGTFs under perfect circumstances. It has been made significantly more difficult thanks to the political aspirations of Marines who should have sought other post retirement opportunities.
To put a further point on the matter of FD2030 and the damage done, (to leave the foibles of few aside) 20 years ago, on 7 November the second Battle of Fallujah commenced. Operation Phantom Fury by all accounts was a 7 week long battle in a tight urban environment against a determined enemy well dug in and prepared for a long fight, defense in depth and a willingness to die for their cause. Many analogies to the Battle of Hue’ have been made and certainly there are many similarities. But, today, the Marines could not really conduct such a battle, use of armor, artillery, engineers, close air etc, etc have either been diminished or outright divested to nonexistence. This assumes that there is a navy capable of delivery a MEF sized force to conduct such a fight. Every time we are to,d by consultants and experts that there will never be another Hue’ or Fallujah, there is one. In order to meet the challenges of future battles, the Corps needs all its divested assets back, and most importantly true leaders, well schooled, well trained and not corrupted by their own images made larger than life by a fawning press, or periodic glances into a mirror which p only returns an image of self importance and not the harsh assessment that one is isn’t nearly as good as they think they are. It is all one and the same, when people become too important for their own good, they become to a large degree a liability. We are living with a lot of liability currently. But, with hard continued efforts on all fronts the Corps can be returned to the 911 force it can be, and meet its title X mandates with elan and effectiveness.