Spot on—fleet ops are the Corps’ soul, and FD2030’s MLR obsession’s bleeding it dry. E=MC² proves it: mass and speed win. Desert Storm’s MAGTFs—88,000 Marines, 144 ships—crushed Saddam in 100 hours. Today’s MLRs? 1,800 bodies, no tanks, no amphibs to move ‘em. Haiti 2010 showed MAGTF’s magic—III MEF hit fast, global, no politics. Now we’ve got zero afloat MAGTFs in the Med or Red Sea, and MPS ships are rusting relics—14 left, down from 33. China’s not the only game; Iran, Russia, Africa don’t care about our Pacific fetish. Scrap this MLR nonsense, rebuild the MAGTF—24 battalions, tanks, amphibs—and keep the fleet rolling. Time’s ticking, and romance won’t save us when the next 9/11 drops.
As I said in previous comments before in other Compass Points articles. Unless CMC commits to reviving the MAGTAF at the headquarters and OPNAV planning level with a justified Plan of Action and Milestone to get Congress to fund it. The Marine Corps is dead in the water. Is a miracle possible? You tell me.
There is a common denominator here. It is a gross lack of integrity for the sake of toxic ambition. To put ships into the category of “temporarily not available” when they are simply unable to get underway in years is lawyer speak and a technicality over morality. Leadership and integrity failures at every level.
The mixing of fuel and sparks is an ongoing farce that has been lied about for decades. Once again integrity would demand truth. Integrity is a rare bird. You can slice and dice this any way you want from “ in the chain of command” to “not really an issue”. Yet, there it is. Undeniable. The proof is revealed daily and denied daily. With a heterosexual and now homosexual environment there is only one draconian solution. Currently DoD is the most LGBTQI, mommy friendly, hook up friendly institution on earth making a college campus or corporations look monastic in comparison. To make matters worse the anointed contend that Jane has the athletic and fighting prowess of Tarzan.
The industrial base to build warships of high quality, quickly simply must be rebuilt as fast as possible. National survival depends on it. In the interim we must buy ships from foreign shipyards as fast as possible and finish them out with the classified portions in the US rapidly. Currently our undersized, over committed, marginally trained Navy cannot control the global SLOC’s. The Marine Corps portion of that mission self cancelled.
Women and homosexuals are a part of the personnel and manning paradigm. That is irreversible and will remain problematic. Three things are policy related and can be adjusted to accommodate reality:
1. The assignment of occupational specialties must realistically be applied to the norms of genders not the 1% outliers. The rejection of this reality will be paid in blood. Integrity in this regard has been absent. If flying a fighter jet requires 20/20 vision, an infantryman must be able to throw hand grenades beyond their bursting radius and prevail in a bayonet fight.
2. Pregnant women, for the sake of the child, mother and the unit must be transferred out of units with a 18 month leave of absence after the first trimester to accommodate birth, bonding and reconditioning for return to active service. Details on pay, benefits, date of rank, obligated service etc TBD.
3. The services must adopt a strict non fraternization policy that forbids any intimate contact between service members regardless of rank, gender, billet or chain of command. No dating, no marriage, no intimacy, no casual physical relationships. This will put a large dent into favoritism, conflict of interest, adverse impacts on unit synergy, sexual harassment, sexual assault and the drama associated with relationship failures. It will not stop the human attraction paradigm of the species but it will reduce it to very clearly defined and understandable parameters. Punishment must be handed out to both parties and the harshest to the most senior. This will take a rewriting of the UCMJ and an acknowledgement that military service is like no other in a modern, liberal society. Of course, love and war are like no other human endeavors and they do not mix well.
Our nation is in a perilous situation. Our global defense needs cannot be met with the force we have. Too small, too poorly trained, too lacking in focus and naively, blissfully unaware on all three counts. We are unprepared for an extended conventional conflict with peers and non peer adversaries let alone a combination of them.
None of the Navy's problems happened overnight. They occurred over many years. The deterioration of the Navy is a real national security concern. The uproar over the Signal chat issue pales in comparison.
Amen. So many tentacles to that beast. I fear only a general war scenario will move the needle off center. I do not question our ability to revive the Corps, but, based on what I hear, read, & see, I do doubt our political will to do much about our predicament. Are my reservations misplaced?
"It is also inescapably true that in a combat unit, the mixing of genders impacts the "Good Order and Discipline" of these units – and that degrades their ability to prepare for combat.
. . . Before women in combat units, there was a vital and palpable cohesion; a glue that bound everyone together. Following the advent of women, a split, throughout the crew, was easily observable."
We have built a culture fearful of making remarks as Gen Barrow made before the SASC. Not sure that dog will walk backwards - though I agree with the spirit of this discussion.
Amen... Google or YouTube search Gen Barrow's July 1991 testimony before the US Senate Armed Services Committee and listen to his truthful, passionate warnings and remarks about this...
Everyone hones in on the 4 Navy shipyards. They only work on nuclear ships and subs in the yards. Haven't seen a conventional ship in Norfolk Naval since the USS Wasp left there in 2008. Their workers do go out to ships and work at the private yards. They are the resident steam "experts" for the conventional powered ships (primarily the LHDs, the last steam powered ships in the Navy).
Most folks have no idea how hard the work is aboard a ship. It is hot/cold and dirty. The rules and regulations clog up repairs and waiting for contract changes to deal with growth work is a constant.
Amid Shortage, Navy Recruiting Program Struggles To Keep Half First-Year Shipbuilders
“The Navy’s effort to recruit thousands of new shipyard workers is suffering from more than half of its recruits leaving the industry within their first year of being hired, a senior Navy official told lawmakers.”
I get the impression from this article that the US Navy is recruiting shipyard workers. If true, WHY? Obviously, they are not very good at and it is another failing program in addition to their shipbuilding and maintenance programs.
A similar situation occurred at the start of WW2 mobilizing the US industries to a war production footing. The question was; should the government tell the auto industry to stop producing cars in favor of military vehicles. The industrialist the President placed on the “proudly dubbed” Council of National Defense Advisory Commission stated that was not needed, just write the contracts and manufacturing managers will handle what they will need including building the factories.
Shipbuilders should be doing the recruiting and training. The NAVY needs to write the contracts with the requirements. The Navy needs to stay focus on the requirements and let the shipbuilders streamline (systemic change) the shipbuilding to meet on time deliveries. If the Navy writes the contracts the shipyards will do the hiring, training and they might even build a new shipyard. After rereading these two GAO reports it seems that the US Navy needs to focus on itself and leave the hiring to the shipbuilders. S/F
Kevin Eyers' assesment of the detrimental effects of this co-ed, gender-intergrated, feminized military is "spot on"! here y'all... DEI and feminization have ruined our "good order and discipline", unit cohesion, and combat effectiveness over the past decade+... the supporters will lambast those of us who call it like it is, claiming that no such proof exists to support our premise... we ain't been in intense ground combat in over a decade (thankfully) but when it does happen again, body bags and failed missions will tell the sad reality of this folly...
Here’s the link to Gen Barrow’s 1991 testimony to the US Senate Armed Services Committee- unabashed leadership. We need more generals like general Barrow to speak truth to power!
Spot on—fleet ops are the Corps’ soul, and FD2030’s MLR obsession’s bleeding it dry. E=MC² proves it: mass and speed win. Desert Storm’s MAGTFs—88,000 Marines, 144 ships—crushed Saddam in 100 hours. Today’s MLRs? 1,800 bodies, no tanks, no amphibs to move ‘em. Haiti 2010 showed MAGTF’s magic—III MEF hit fast, global, no politics. Now we’ve got zero afloat MAGTFs in the Med or Red Sea, and MPS ships are rusting relics—14 left, down from 33. China’s not the only game; Iran, Russia, Africa don’t care about our Pacific fetish. Scrap this MLR nonsense, rebuild the MAGTF—24 battalions, tanks, amphibs—and keep the fleet rolling. Time’s ticking, and romance won’t save us when the next 9/11 drops.
Semper Fi
As I said in previous comments before in other Compass Points articles. Unless CMC commits to reviving the MAGTAF at the headquarters and OPNAV planning level with a justified Plan of Action and Milestone to get Congress to fund it. The Marine Corps is dead in the water. Is a miracle possible? You tell me.
There is a common denominator here. It is a gross lack of integrity for the sake of toxic ambition. To put ships into the category of “temporarily not available” when they are simply unable to get underway in years is lawyer speak and a technicality over morality. Leadership and integrity failures at every level.
The mixing of fuel and sparks is an ongoing farce that has been lied about for decades. Once again integrity would demand truth. Integrity is a rare bird. You can slice and dice this any way you want from “ in the chain of command” to “not really an issue”. Yet, there it is. Undeniable. The proof is revealed daily and denied daily. With a heterosexual and now homosexual environment there is only one draconian solution. Currently DoD is the most LGBTQI, mommy friendly, hook up friendly institution on earth making a college campus or corporations look monastic in comparison. To make matters worse the anointed contend that Jane has the athletic and fighting prowess of Tarzan.
The industrial base to build warships of high quality, quickly simply must be rebuilt as fast as possible. National survival depends on it. In the interim we must buy ships from foreign shipyards as fast as possible and finish them out with the classified portions in the US rapidly. Currently our undersized, over committed, marginally trained Navy cannot control the global SLOC’s. The Marine Corps portion of that mission self cancelled.
Women and homosexuals are a part of the personnel and manning paradigm. That is irreversible and will remain problematic. Three things are policy related and can be adjusted to accommodate reality:
1. The assignment of occupational specialties must realistically be applied to the norms of genders not the 1% outliers. The rejection of this reality will be paid in blood. Integrity in this regard has been absent. If flying a fighter jet requires 20/20 vision, an infantryman must be able to throw hand grenades beyond their bursting radius and prevail in a bayonet fight.
2. Pregnant women, for the sake of the child, mother and the unit must be transferred out of units with a 18 month leave of absence after the first trimester to accommodate birth, bonding and reconditioning for return to active service. Details on pay, benefits, date of rank, obligated service etc TBD.
3. The services must adopt a strict non fraternization policy that forbids any intimate contact between service members regardless of rank, gender, billet or chain of command. No dating, no marriage, no intimacy, no casual physical relationships. This will put a large dent into favoritism, conflict of interest, adverse impacts on unit synergy, sexual harassment, sexual assault and the drama associated with relationship failures. It will not stop the human attraction paradigm of the species but it will reduce it to very clearly defined and understandable parameters. Punishment must be handed out to both parties and the harshest to the most senior. This will take a rewriting of the UCMJ and an acknowledgement that military service is like no other in a modern, liberal society. Of course, love and war are like no other human endeavors and they do not mix well.
Our nation is in a perilous situation. Our global defense needs cannot be met with the force we have. Too small, too poorly trained, too lacking in focus and naively, blissfully unaware on all three counts. We are unprepared for an extended conventional conflict with peers and non peer adversaries let alone a combination of them.
Sounds like just before the start of WWII again and probably won’t be able to recover this time.
None of the Navy's problems happened overnight. They occurred over many years. The deterioration of the Navy is a real national security concern. The uproar over the Signal chat issue pales in comparison.
Amen. So many tentacles to that beast. I fear only a general war scenario will move the needle off center. I do not question our ability to revive the Corps, but, based on what I hear, read, & see, I do doubt our political will to do much about our predicament. Are my reservations misplaced?
"It is also inescapably true that in a combat unit, the mixing of genders impacts the "Good Order and Discipline" of these units – and that degrades their ability to prepare for combat.
. . . Before women in combat units, there was a vital and palpable cohesion; a glue that bound everyone together. Following the advent of women, a split, throughout the crew, was easily observable."
This has been known for many, many decades....even longer. Its been published (James Webb, 1979: https://www.washingtonian.com/1979/11/01/jim-webb-women-cant-fight/), testified to (Gen Barrow at SASC ; https://www.c-span.org/clip/senate-committee/user-clip-women-in-combat-testimony-from-a-marine-corps-generals-opinion/4454887) and debated within our ranks (https://taskandpurpose.com/news/marine-gen-female-infantry-destroyed).
How is it a surprise now?
Gen MCAbee is spot on.....none of these problems happen overnight. We probably can fix maintenance and procurement. Can we fix leadership?
SF
We have built a culture fearful of making remarks as Gen Barrow made before the SASC. Not sure that dog will walk backwards - though I agree with the spirit of this discussion.
Amen... Google or YouTube search Gen Barrow's July 1991 testimony before the US Senate Armed Services Committee and listen to his truthful, passionate warnings and remarks about this...
Everyone hones in on the 4 Navy shipyards. They only work on nuclear ships and subs in the yards. Haven't seen a conventional ship in Norfolk Naval since the USS Wasp left there in 2008. Their workers do go out to ships and work at the private yards. They are the resident steam "experts" for the conventional powered ships (primarily the LHDs, the last steam powered ships in the Navy).
Most folks have no idea how hard the work is aboard a ship. It is hot/cold and dirty. The rules and regulations clog up repairs and waiting for contract changes to deal with growth work is a constant.
Amid Shortage, Navy Recruiting Program Struggles To Keep Half First-Year Shipbuilders
“The Navy’s effort to recruit thousands of new shipyard workers is suffering from more than half of its recruits leaving the industry within their first year of being hired, a senior Navy official told lawmakers.”
I get the impression from this article that the US Navy is recruiting shipyard workers. If true, WHY? Obviously, they are not very good at and it is another failing program in addition to their shipbuilding and maintenance programs.
A similar situation occurred at the start of WW2 mobilizing the US industries to a war production footing. The question was; should the government tell the auto industry to stop producing cars in favor of military vehicles. The industrialist the President placed on the “proudly dubbed” Council of National Defense Advisory Commission stated that was not needed, just write the contracts and manufacturing managers will handle what they will need including building the factories.
Shipbuilders should be doing the recruiting and training. The NAVY needs to write the contracts with the requirements. The Navy needs to stay focus on the requirements and let the shipbuilders streamline (systemic change) the shipbuilding to meet on time deliveries. If the Navy writes the contracts the shipyards will do the hiring, training and they might even build a new shipyard. After rereading these two GAO reports it seems that the US Navy needs to focus on itself and leave the hiring to the shipbuilders. S/F
https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-22-104510.pdf
https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-25-108225
Kevin Eyers' assesment of the detrimental effects of this co-ed, gender-intergrated, feminized military is "spot on"! here y'all... DEI and feminization have ruined our "good order and discipline", unit cohesion, and combat effectiveness over the past decade+... the supporters will lambast those of us who call it like it is, claiming that no such proof exists to support our premise... we ain't been in intense ground combat in over a decade (thankfully) but when it does happen again, body bags and failed missions will tell the sad reality of this folly...
Here’s the link to Gen Barrow’s 1991 testimony to the US Senate Armed Services Committee- unabashed leadership. We need more generals like general Barrow to speak truth to power!
https://youtu.be/fy--whDNNKk?si=V-hoHpYtjfavHLxo