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.
Good point; one note in the interest of precision marksmanship. General Neller purposely published 'Advance to Contact' as a Frago to General Dunford's Guidance, which expressly remained in effect under General Neller ("2. General Dunford’s previous guidance remains in effect. This FRAGO is meant to be an extension, update, and refined course to CPG-36."). General Dunford's CPG-36 included the following: "Combining the best virtues of both sailors and soldiers, our Marines have developed a sense of elitism forged in the crucible of our shared training experiences and reinforced by the **esprit de corps** (asterisks added by me for emphasis) and cohesiveness of our small units.
This idea of being an elite force was captured by General Krulak, our 31st Commandant, in Leading Marines: “A sense of elitism has grown ... from the fact that every Marine, whether enlisted or officer, goes through the same training experience. Both the training of recruits and the basic education of officers... have endowed the Corps with a sense of cohesiveness enjoyed by no other American service.”".
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 ?
Needless to say, Compass Ponits has humbled the writer to almost embarrassed by the post today. But again the fight is on, and “The Generals” and all else writ large are the on the march. As important as the four pillars are at articulating just what needs be done, our Fifth Piller or however we all wish to characterize our unique common bond aka Ethos is a big part of why Chowder Society II and everyone involved will prevail and rebuild a robust Marine Corps. Let the haters hate, we have work to do. Standing by for further instruction. Further, as it used to be in the Marine Corps Gazette the in “The nobody asked me but” comments will continue unabated.
Aristotle (the ancient Greek philosopher and scientist) first defined ethos, along with logos and pathos, in his treatise on rhetoric, Ars Rhetorica. Together, he referred to ethos, logos, and pathos as the three modes of persuasion, or sometimes simply as "the appeals." Aristotle believed that in order to have ethos a good speaker must demonstrate three things:
Phronesis: Sound reasoning, and relevant experience or expertise.
Arete: Moral character.
Eunoia: Good intentions towards the audience.
Aristotle argued that a speaker in possession of these three attributes will naturally impress the audience with his or her ethos, and as a result will be better able to influence that audience. Over time, however, the definition of ethos has broadened, and the significance of the three qualities Aristotle named is now lost on anyone who hasn't studied classical Greek. So it may give more insight into the meaning of ethos to translate Aristotle's three categories into a new set of categories that make more sense in the modern era. A speaker or writer's credibility can be said to rely on each of the following:” An extraordinary and ancient pillar. Thank you Charles….yes I looked it up.
Hey Marine, Publishers are looking for articles from Marines other than retired generals. I've read all your posts and you are a talented writer. Chowder Society II can assist with editing and finding outlets for articles. Topics--thoughts about the way ahead for our Corps. We know how a few former leaders screwed things up, now how can today's leaders fix it. PKVR
General Van Riper, I believe the operative phrase is “Sir, yes Sir!” More than happy to contribute in any way possible to the Chowder Society II efforts. Agreed, the many problems have been identified, now where do we go from here? It is too easy to say the chow is lousy, okay, now how can it be made better. “Leading” verses “managing” seems a good place to make a point. As to talented writer, I just write what is on my mind, so looking forward to your guidance! Needless to say, as it was so yesterday, with CP making a point to post the Fifth and Silent Pillar comments, this opportunity to help, to give back, is beyond humbling. There are a lot of really good writers here at CP! That said, please provide further guidance or commanders intent. “Grab a book, get busy,” becomes grab a pen get busy! CW, Jr.
PS One of the problems has been some people, not wanting to listen or hear from Retired Generals…some people just need a good whack with a canoe paddle for being just plain rude. Throw ignorant in for good measure….well enough said on the matter.
Runner up for for a fifth pillar: "USMC, as the singular inherently Joint Service, provides the initial Forces around which supporting and follow on Joint Forces will form.". The NDS 2018 had the following guidance, and I've always wondered why the USMC of 2019-2020 did not lean into this more since it was tailor made for the robust modern MAGTF:
"Dynamic Force Employment. Dynamic Force Employment will prioritize maintaining the capacity and capabilities for major combat, while providing options for proactive and scalable employment of the Joint Force. A modernized Global Operating Model of combat-credible, flexible theater postures will enhance our ability to compete and provide freedom of maneuver during conflict, providing national decision-makers with better military options.
The global strategic environment demands increased strategic flexibility and freedom of action. The Dynamic Force Employment concept will change the way the Department uses the Joint Force to provide proactive and scalable options for priority missions. Dynamic Force Employment will more flexibly use ready forces to shape proactively the strategic environment while maintaining readiness to respond to contingencies and ensure long-term warfighting readiness." - NDS 2018 (https://dod.defense.gov/Portals/1/Documents/pubs/2018-National-Defense-Strategy-Summary.pdf)
A Humble contribution to the Fifth Piller, from an old 0302 Infantry War Marine. We have a serious military threat that comes with global Climate change, that no one, (military or any of our civilian Fire Agencies), are tending to. That is Sun Tzu, and his Chapter 12, regarding: Attack by Fire. In his Classic Essay on War entitled "THE ART OF WAR".
In, "Attack by Fire", His final warning was: " It is all well and good to know how to Attack by fire, but it is imparitive to know what to do if an enemy attacks you by fire". "Foreign adventures for security of State my become important, but the main purpose of an Army is protection of the State and the people from Enemy Attack".
We used Fire Attack very well during the fire bombing of Drezdin, Germany, and Tokyo, Japan. General LeMay thought he could win the war via B-29 , low level fire bombing of Japan, and end the war without a costly land invasion that would cost us a million dead Americans.
The problem right now is that Global Climate Change offers our enemy foes both stateless and obvious big countries like China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia The greatest opportunity of all time to destroy entire regions of America by a very cheap and no return address type attack, that would be far more destructive than terrorist type mall shootings, suitcase nukes, or other low intensity attacks.
With our open boarders, a hand full of enemy agents could build ultra-light air craft and simply lie in wait for serious Red Flag Fire Conditions to set on several States. Then preferably at night, they would launch and drop an ignition start every quarter mile in a straight line pattern, perpendicular to strong regional winds. By morning there would be a wall of flames hundreds of miles long gobbling across the terrain.
We cannot even control one ignition start during strong wind and high drought codes. There would be no way to set in Incident Command teams or anything remotely effective to protect the people or their towns. The enemy would be gone.
The wildfire agencies have no idea what to do and they will not listen to what has to be done in order to use military, defensive, mitigation, concepts. It would be like having each homestead or a small town set in grass or wild vegetation, circle up around what needs to survive with three circular control paths around what is to survive.
The military is the only entity with the leadership to fireproof the nation.
The civilian land management cannot do it, the fire management agencies have proven they have no practical solution, or method to use the individual land owner and home owner to be able to confidently save their own families and homes.
look up the following web site: wildfiretoolsmitigation.com Read the headers it will explain the background and the lessons not learned from our past tragic losses. It is the answer to do what Sun Tzu and Wagner Dodge together and old Marine, night-time, patrol base, Liutenant concocted.
Prior to WWII There was a guy, a nut case millionaire, who started building landing craft boats, and filled acres and acres of land with unasked for anfibious landing boats called Higgins. The was no market for these. No Gov't contracts. Higgins knew military would need them. Steven Ambros, in his book on, IKE, said The President, he thought without Higgins having built those thousand and thousands of Higgins Boats, "D" Day in Europe, and all those Marine landings in the Pacific would not have been able to have succeeded.
Please look up : wildfiretoolsmitigation.com the country needs the Marine Corps to help prepare for what we need.
Extreme Wildfire storms are no longer a fire fighting issue. The changing conditions make this a HOMELAND SECURITY & MILITARY DEFENSE SITUATION. Our Beloved Marine Corps has the only leadership capability to carry the simple, safe, systematic, solution to save millions of our citizens from death via FiRE ATTACK.
Captain "troop" Emonds. 0105082, TBS CLASS May 1968 , Vietnam 1968, 1969, 1970
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.
Good point; one note in the interest of precision marksmanship. General Neller purposely published 'Advance to Contact' as a Frago to General Dunford's Guidance, which expressly remained in effect under General Neller ("2. General Dunford’s previous guidance remains in effect. This FRAGO is meant to be an extension, update, and refined course to CPG-36."). General Dunford's CPG-36 included the following: "Combining the best virtues of both sailors and soldiers, our Marines have developed a sense of elitism forged in the crucible of our shared training experiences and reinforced by the **esprit de corps** (asterisks added by me for emphasis) and cohesiveness of our small units.
This idea of being an elite force was captured by General Krulak, our 31st Commandant, in Leading Marines: “A sense of elitism has grown ... from the fact that every Marine, whether enlisted or officer, goes through the same training experience. Both the training of recruits and the basic education of officers... have endowed the Corps with a sense of cohesiveness enjoyed by no other American service.”".
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 ?
Consider the Japanese on Saipan as the MLR a Robust Stand In Force, it was annihilated !
Needless to say, Compass Ponits has humbled the writer to almost embarrassed by the post today. But again the fight is on, and “The Generals” and all else writ large are the on the march. As important as the four pillars are at articulating just what needs be done, our Fifth Piller or however we all wish to characterize our unique common bond aka Ethos is a big part of why Chowder Society II and everyone involved will prevail and rebuild a robust Marine Corps. Let the haters hate, we have work to do. Standing by for further instruction. Further, as it used to be in the Marine Corps Gazette the in “The nobody asked me but” comments will continue unabated.
Congratulations. “Ethos Explained
Aristotle (the ancient Greek philosopher and scientist) first defined ethos, along with logos and pathos, in his treatise on rhetoric, Ars Rhetorica. Together, he referred to ethos, logos, and pathos as the three modes of persuasion, or sometimes simply as "the appeals." Aristotle believed that in order to have ethos a good speaker must demonstrate three things:
Phronesis: Sound reasoning, and relevant experience or expertise.
Arete: Moral character.
Eunoia: Good intentions towards the audience.
Aristotle argued that a speaker in possession of these three attributes will naturally impress the audience with his or her ethos, and as a result will be better able to influence that audience. Over time, however, the definition of ethos has broadened, and the significance of the three qualities Aristotle named is now lost on anyone who hasn't studied classical Greek. So it may give more insight into the meaning of ethos to translate Aristotle's three categories into a new set of categories that make more sense in the modern era. A speaker or writer's credibility can be said to rely on each of the following:” An extraordinary and ancient pillar. Thank you Charles….yes I looked it up.
Hey Marine, Publishers are looking for articles from Marines other than retired generals. I've read all your posts and you are a talented writer. Chowder Society II can assist with editing and finding outlets for articles. Topics--thoughts about the way ahead for our Corps. We know how a few former leaders screwed things up, now how can today's leaders fix it. PKVR
When we have a candidate article we send it to you via the message function on this app?
General Van Riper, I believe the operative phrase is “Sir, yes Sir!” More than happy to contribute in any way possible to the Chowder Society II efforts. Agreed, the many problems have been identified, now where do we go from here? It is too easy to say the chow is lousy, okay, now how can it be made better. “Leading” verses “managing” seems a good place to make a point. As to talented writer, I just write what is on my mind, so looking forward to your guidance! Needless to say, as it was so yesterday, with CP making a point to post the Fifth and Silent Pillar comments, this opportunity to help, to give back, is beyond humbling. There are a lot of really good writers here at CP! That said, please provide further guidance or commanders intent. “Grab a book, get busy,” becomes grab a pen get busy! CW, Jr.
PS One of the problems has been some people, not wanting to listen or hear from Retired Generals…some people just need a good whack with a canoe paddle for being just plain rude. Throw ignorant in for good measure….well enough said on the matter.
Amen!
Runner up for for a fifth pillar: "USMC, as the singular inherently Joint Service, provides the initial Forces around which supporting and follow on Joint Forces will form.". The NDS 2018 had the following guidance, and I've always wondered why the USMC of 2019-2020 did not lean into this more since it was tailor made for the robust modern MAGTF:
"Dynamic Force Employment. Dynamic Force Employment will prioritize maintaining the capacity and capabilities for major combat, while providing options for proactive and scalable employment of the Joint Force. A modernized Global Operating Model of combat-credible, flexible theater postures will enhance our ability to compete and provide freedom of maneuver during conflict, providing national decision-makers with better military options.
The global strategic environment demands increased strategic flexibility and freedom of action. The Dynamic Force Employment concept will change the way the Department uses the Joint Force to provide proactive and scalable options for priority missions. Dynamic Force Employment will more flexibly use ready forces to shape proactively the strategic environment while maintaining readiness to respond to contingencies and ensure long-term warfighting readiness." - NDS 2018 (https://dod.defense.gov/Portals/1/Documents/pubs/2018-National-Defense-Strategy-Summary.pdf)
Ohrahhhh!
Troop Emonds,
A Humble contribution to the Fifth Piller, from an old 0302 Infantry War Marine. We have a serious military threat that comes with global Climate change, that no one, (military or any of our civilian Fire Agencies), are tending to. That is Sun Tzu, and his Chapter 12, regarding: Attack by Fire. In his Classic Essay on War entitled "THE ART OF WAR".
In, "Attack by Fire", His final warning was: " It is all well and good to know how to Attack by fire, but it is imparitive to know what to do if an enemy attacks you by fire". "Foreign adventures for security of State my become important, but the main purpose of an Army is protection of the State and the people from Enemy Attack".
We used Fire Attack very well during the fire bombing of Drezdin, Germany, and Tokyo, Japan. General LeMay thought he could win the war via B-29 , low level fire bombing of Japan, and end the war without a costly land invasion that would cost us a million dead Americans.
The problem right now is that Global Climate Change offers our enemy foes both stateless and obvious big countries like China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia The greatest opportunity of all time to destroy entire regions of America by a very cheap and no return address type attack, that would be far more destructive than terrorist type mall shootings, suitcase nukes, or other low intensity attacks.
With our open boarders, a hand full of enemy agents could build ultra-light air craft and simply lie in wait for serious Red Flag Fire Conditions to set on several States. Then preferably at night, they would launch and drop an ignition start every quarter mile in a straight line pattern, perpendicular to strong regional winds. By morning there would be a wall of flames hundreds of miles long gobbling across the terrain.
We cannot even control one ignition start during strong wind and high drought codes. There would be no way to set in Incident Command teams or anything remotely effective to protect the people or their towns. The enemy would be gone.
The wildfire agencies have no idea what to do and they will not listen to what has to be done in order to use military, defensive, mitigation, concepts. It would be like having each homestead or a small town set in grass or wild vegetation, circle up around what needs to survive with three circular control paths around what is to survive.
The military is the only entity with the leadership to fireproof the nation.
The civilian land management cannot do it, the fire management agencies have proven they have no practical solution, or method to use the individual land owner and home owner to be able to confidently save their own families and homes.
look up the following web site: wildfiretoolsmitigation.com Read the headers it will explain the background and the lessons not learned from our past tragic losses. It is the answer to do what Sun Tzu and Wagner Dodge together and old Marine, night-time, patrol base, Liutenant concocted.
Prior to WWII There was a guy, a nut case millionaire, who started building landing craft boats, and filled acres and acres of land with unasked for anfibious landing boats called Higgins. The was no market for these. No Gov't contracts. Higgins knew military would need them. Steven Ambros, in his book on, IKE, said The President, he thought without Higgins having built those thousand and thousands of Higgins Boats, "D" Day in Europe, and all those Marine landings in the Pacific would not have been able to have succeeded.
Please look up : wildfiretoolsmitigation.com the country needs the Marine Corps to help prepare for what we need.
Extreme Wildfire storms are no longer a fire fighting issue. The changing conditions make this a HOMELAND SECURITY & MILITARY DEFENSE SITUATION. Our Beloved Marine Corps has the only leadership capability to carry the simple, safe, systematic, solution to save millions of our citizens from death via FiRE ATTACK.
Captain "troop" Emonds. 0105082, TBS CLASS May 1968 , Vietnam 1968, 1969, 1970