Compass Points - Fifth Pillar
Beyond policies and programs
Compass Points - Fifth Pillar
Beyond policies and programs
June 24, 2024
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This past Saturday, Real Clear Defense published a powerful article from Marine leaders, Charles Krulak, Anthony Zinni, Paul Van Riper, and Jerry McAbee. The article discusses Vision 2035, a better way forward for the Marine Corps. With the US facing many military challenges around the globe, the article concludes with a call for new thinking and new cooperation.
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The Marine Corps leadership needs to work with the Navy and the Congress to ensure the Marine Corps is better positioned to meet the global challenges of the 21st Century. The time to start is now.
-- Real Clear Defense
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Charles Krulak, Anthony Zinni, Paul Van Riper, and Jerry McAbee's article about Vision 2035 is getting wide attention. The news service "Morning Recon" a morning news feed for Congressional offices, featured it as the lead article. In addition, the web service, Real Clear Politics, which is 'must-read' in Congress, lists the Vision 2035 article as one of the critical articles that should be read by those in Congress.
The article provides a review of four crucial pillars for a stronger Marine Corps.
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This requires a Marine Corps that is built on four pillars. As articulated in Vision 2035, it is a Marine Corps that:
I. “is immediately ready to respond to crises and contingencies anywhere in the world.”
II. “is relevant, manned and equipped to support the Secretary of Defense’s requirements with scalable, flexible, adaptive, and lethal forces.”
III. “is capable of fighting and winning in any conflict.”
IV. “has the capacity to rapidly converge and build to a Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF).”
Each of these pillars requires operating forces that are rapidly deployable and sustainable, which is only possible by full throated U.S. Navy support, especially a robust fleet of operationally ready amphibious shipping and a strategically positioned, immediately deployable maritime prepositioning force.
-- Real Clear Defense, Charles Krulak, Anthony Zinni, Paul Van Riper, and Jerry McAbee
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Compass Points reader Charles Wemyss Jr, suggest there may even be a crucial 5th pillar.
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There is a fifth and perhaps silent pillar, it is something inherent in all Marines, but exemplified by the leadership of Generals Krulak, Zinni, Van Riper and McAbee. They don’t need this fight, but they have taken this fight on (along with several other General Officers, former active duty Marines, and friends of the Corps) because America still wants a Marine Corps, and America wants the best of the best of the best with no compromise. It would be very understandable if these Marine leaders looked across their decades of service LEADING Marines, getting shot at, getting wounded, writing letters of condolences to the families of lost Marines, being so damn creative, and changing the Corps for that better, that it is embarrassing to have to ask them back. But here they are, and that fifth silent pillar is imbued in all of us.
The fifth silent pillar is the elusive element called Ethos. Others can take our ships, our armor, artillery pieces, our engineers and swaths of the Wing, but they cannot take away our Ethos. It’s why so many are lining up behind these leaders, ready to go. They just need to say which way and point. It is also why some others in their “managerial” roles at the top of government and sadly in the Marine Corps are so angry and frankly scared. They know the generals are right. The managers have screwed up top to bottom and now see it going pear shaped and don’t have the intelligence, or Ethos to first apologize and second get on board and fix the mess they made. In any other time and place, they would be forcefully retired. Well, guess what, no one here is going peaceably into that good night, not without a fight. So thank you four men, our generals, for kicking ass and taking names. We are right here with you. This is a Gung Ho moment, all in.
-- Charles Wemyss, Jr.
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Compass Points thanks Charles Wemyss, Jr. for his motivating comment on Charles Krulak, Anthony Zinni, Paul Van Riper, and Jerry McAbee's recent article, and thanks all those Marines on active duty and those once on active duty, as well as friends of the Corps, all keeping Marine Ethos alive while continuing to work toward a Marine Corps that is strong today and stronger tomorrow.
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Real Clear Defense - 06/22/2024
Marine Corps Global Response in the Age of Precision Munitions
By Charles Krulak, Anthony Zinni, Paul Van Riper, Jerry McAbee
General Charles (Chuck) Krulak, (USMC, ret.) was a career infantry officer. His assignments include Commanding General, Marine Corps Combat Development Command. His last assignment was the 31st Commandant of the Marine Corps
General Anthony (Tony) Zinni, (USMC, ret.) was a career infantry officer. His assignments include Deputy Commanding General, Marine Corps Combat Development Command. His last assignment was Commander, United States Central Command.
General Paul K. Van Riper, (USMC, ret.) was a career infantry officer. His assignments include President of the Marine Corps University. His last assignment was Commanding General, Marine Corps Combat Development Command.
Brigadier General Jerry McAbee, (USMC, ret.) was a career artillery officer. His assignments include Chief of Staff, Marine Corps Combat Development Command. His last assignment was Deputy Commander, United States Marine Corps Force, Central Command.
I have two thoughts that are indirectly related to the last two Compass Point pieces.
1. The term Esprit de Corps seems to have fallen out of favor. Exactly when I cannot pin point but I do not believe I ever heard it from either Gen Neller, Gen Berger or Gen Smith. Esprit de Corps is a fragile thing that can evaporate rather quickly in a high turn over military organization. Esprit de Corps implies an elan of elite organizations that are offensive in nature and remarkable in their performance. Coastal Artillery hiding on remote coral atolls do not lend themselves to Esprit de Corps.
2. The world’s troublemakers were recently defined as China, North Korea, Iran and Russia and were examples of where MAGTF’s might be deployed. I think that is too narrow. Granted, the Houthis are funded and supported via Iran, as is Hamas, Hezbollah and ISIS and each could be a Marine adversary overnight. Little attention has been paid to Cuba, Venezuela and the vast reach and capabilities of the multinational drug cartels that will eventually be a military target. Law Enforcement has had 50 years and has been unable to prevail while the cartels grow stronger. I see many potential scenarios for the USMC being deployed and EABO is immaterial to all of them and not viable in the very scenario it is being designed for.
As I continue read and study all of the discussions around 2030 ,I am beginning to see a disturbing trend from actively serving offices which is at best unprofessional and at worst insultingly juvenile .
The core concerns of 2030 , as I view it are simple. Can a small ,isolated ambuscade force with a narrow mission scope be effective (able to, hopefully, fire and survive the first shot), be undetected ( especially with the scope of the PLA's surveillance capabilities) ,and be easily resupplied, reinforced, displaced / evacuated ( slow, unstealthy,and as of yet unfunded or constructed shipping) .
The current stakeholders of 2030 are betting the house, heritage ,and possibly the future on a theory designed and gamed out ia a questionable manner . The great stress test that forged the MAGTF has not been applied to 2030 . The existing brain trust of Marines is being dismissed in a most alarming manner.
So many QUESTIONS ! The most poignant question I have , seems to be missing in this discussion The question that should be applied against every aspect of 2030 is .... CUI BONO ?
If it is applied thoroughly and vertically to each moving part of 2030 , the results could be very enlightening. CUI BONO.... WHO PROFITS ?