Compass Points - Forge of War
Manufacturing the MAGTF
July 7, 2023
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In 1940 before the United States entered World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt said that while the United States was not directly fighting in the war, the United States would serve as the “arsenal of democracy.” From that year until the end of the war five years later, the United States was able to manufacture an incredible number of planes, ships, tanks, trucks, and guns of every description.
Just one example. In 1940 the United States produced 331 tanks and self-propelled guns. Then in 1941 the United States produced 4,052 and in 1942 increased that to 24,997. The arsenal of democracy was one of the keys to winning the war.
Unfortunately, the U.S. manufacturing arsenal today has mostly disappeared. In his article for the The Federalist, "The Decline Of American Manufacturing Inevitably Means An Empty Wartime Arsenal” author Nathanel Blake sounds the alarm about the decline in American war production.
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From advanced weapons systems to the ordinary artillery shells that Ukraine needs by the thousands a day, America cannot produce enough to keep up with demand. And we lack the infrastructure and resources to quickly close the gap. The United States is unable to sustain its ambition of being the “arsenal of democracy,” regardless of how enthusiastically supporters of Ukraine try to cast our aid to the Ukrainians in such terms. Meanwhile, Russia is in position to slowly grind out a victory and annex much of Eastern Ukraine. Yes, it will rule over rubble, but it will have won and inflicted a humiliating defeat on the West in the process . . .
Industrial policy is defense policy. The ability to build is essential to our national defense . . . We are being taught this lesson at the expense of Ukrainian lives. Hopefully, we learn it before it costs us American lives as well.
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For the Marine Corps, besides the normal manufacture of weapons and equipment, there is a need for a special kind of manufacturing facility. The three Marine Expeditionary Forces (MEF), one on the East Coast, one on the West coast, and one in Okinawa, Japan are the manufacturing source for something the Marine Corps must never run short of, the deployed Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) embarked on amphibious ships. The Marine Expeditionary Unit does not and cannot spring from itself. It is manufactured, equipped, trained, and prepared by the MEF. Without three full strength MEFs there cannot be three deployed MEUs ready to respond to crises worldwide.
In its own way, the Marine Expeditionary Force is, itself, an arsenal of democracy. The strength of the three Marine Expeditionary Forces helps keep the United States strong. Compass Points salutes all those in Congress and beyond working to keep the Marine Expeditionary Forces strong, so the MEFs can continue to provide fully capable Marine Expeditionary Units around the globe.
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The Federalist (thefederalist.com) 07/06/2023
The Decline Of American Manufacturing Inevitably Means An Empty Wartime Arsenal
By Nathanael Blake
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As the official rep for FD2030, I submit the following: "My friends, let me mumble something about 3d printed F35 fan blades, as if the MLR will be printing replacement components while foraging on some tropical paradise in the Pacific. If this does not address your manufacturing concerns, then let me further suggest automation and advanced machine learning as words I find appropriate to say in response. In Ukraine, they are using cheap 3d printers to make plastic bodies for sUAS....and I will insinuate that they are also printing the electric motors and Integrated Circuit components for those sUAS, because I don't really care about the realities of 3d printing, cold spray, and other additive manufacturing technology in application. It sounds like magic future tech, so I am down with it, because it affords us the opportunity to say words like "iterate", which we all know is very cool to say, whether used in appropriate context or not. Now, I know there is a concern about how and where we will provide the energy requirements to our various systems and I tell you that it has been barely an inconvenience. By automating (fairy dusting) logistics in our war-games and exercises so that they remain immune to enemy action, we have consistently demonstrated the veracity of our New Logistics Concept. In fact, by automating (fairy dusting) logistics, we have created a whole new avenue of quantum dual state logistics...one in which the logistical concept is both proven (through wargaming) and undemonstrated/undefined. This post industrial approach answers potential concerns, while allowing us room to experiment in order to develop the necessary logistical doctrine and related TTPs. Which brings us back to autonomy and machine learning. Thank you and, as the Romans would say, verum ex nihilo."
Our inability to mobilize has been recognized but not acted on long ago. The process of designing and building a plane, mass producing it, building infrastructure and simulators, training pilots and maintainers and subsequently training the units is very time consuming. In light of the time frames required, mobilization is an antiquated concept. Every war will be a come as you are event. The false promise of perfect intelligence, target acquisition and precision weaponry cause leaders to abandon the concept of mass. Our enemies can do the high school math to calculate when we will run out of platforms, ammunition and trained people.
While I do not like sports analogies they are useful for the person not steeped in military concepts. So, if your football team is a mere 15 superb players, just enough pads and gear for 18 players you will never win a championship. You will not have the ability to scrimmage, you will run out of players and out of equipment. We, of course, know this. It is how we ground the Wehrmacht, Luftwaffe and Japanese Fleet to dust. And then, we got stupid. We embraced technology to reduce mass instead of augmenting mass. As squadrons, battalions and ships became more capable we reduced their numbers which ultimately reduced our endurance and effectiveness. We even discarded functioning platforms to buy fewer of the newest ones. The drive to divest the A-10 is a perfect example. Final thought: when a nation of 330 million decides that 1.5 M individuals in uniform, with a small percentage in operational units, is adequate for our world wide challenges you know someone is delusional.