Compass Points - Marine Hammer
Plus, Happy Birthday Chesty Puller!
Compass Points - Marine Hammer
Plus, Happy Birthday Chesty Puller!
June 26, 2025
.
Is it possible that operation Midnight Hammer could be followed in some other part of the world by operation Marine Hammer?
.
Before getting to current world events, there is nothing more important than wishing, Happy Birthday to Chesty Puller. Lewis Burwell Puller was born June 26, 1898, in West Point, Virginia. Chesty Puller received more combat awards for valor in combat than any Marine, including 5 Navy Crosses. He fought in battles at Guadalcana, Chosin Reservoir, Inchon, and many others. What would Chesty Puller say about the Marine Corps today? He might repeat one of his most famous quotes, “Old breed? New breed? There’s not a damn bit of difference so long as it’s the Marine breed.” Happy Birthday Chesty Puller!
.
More details are coming out about the amazing operation, Midnight Hammer, the successful strike on three Iranian nuclear sites.
.
-------------------
-------------------
.
More than 125 aircraft, including 7 B-2 stealth bombers, snuck into Iran while other B-2s were sent to Guam as decoys.
Details continue to emerge after the United States struck three nuclear facilities in Iran last night. As we reported earlier, a strike package which included seven B-2 Spirit stealth bombers attacked the Fordow, Natanz and Esfahan nuclear sites in the night between Jun. 21 and 22, 2025.
. . . In a briefing with reporters, the Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and the Chief of the Joint Staff Gen. Dan Caine provided details about the operations, which has been dubbed “Operation Midnight Hammer.” The operation was described as the biggest attack mission ever performed by the B-2 Spirit and, with an 18-hour duration, the longest B-2 mission since the opening of the Afghanistan war in 2001.
Hegseth said the operation “took months and weeks of positioning and preparation,” with Caine further stating “in a matter of weeks this went from strategic planning to global execution.” This included about 30 tankers, which were deployed the night between June 15 and 16, most of them landing at Ramstein Air Base in Germany and at Morón Air Base and NAS Rota in Spain, as well as Lajes Air Base, in the Azores, which is another location commonly used to support flights over the Atlantic Ocean.
-- The Aviationist
.
-------------------
-------------------
.
Operation Midnight Hammer showed the power of the United States military, particularly the Air Force's B-2 Spirit stealth bombers. For the strike mission on the Iranian nuclear sites, there was no better solution than the B-2. And yet there is much more to any nation’s defense than just one stealth aircraft. The NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte announced that NATO nations had agreed to up their defense spending to 5% of GDP. Note that “thousands more” armored vehicles and tanks are high on the NATO list.
.
-------------------
-------------------
.
And last week, NATO Defence Ministers agreed ambitious new targets.
The exact details are classified but we need:
A 400% increase in air and missile defence.
We see in Ukraine how Russia delivers terror from above.
So we will strengthen the shield that protects our skies.
Our militaries also need thousands more armoured vehicles and tanks.
Millions more artillery shells.
And we must double our enabling capabilities, such as logistics, supply, transportation, and medical support.
Allies will invest in more warships and aircraft. To give just one example, America’s Allies will procure at least 700 F-35 fighter jets in total.
— NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte
.
-------------------
-------------------
.
The US military, just like the NATO military. needs a full toolbox of capabilities. As powerful as the B-2 is, it is not the solution for every mission. For some missions another solution will be required. At another time, in another place, somewhere around the world the US may need to launch another operation, a different kind of operation, Operation Marine Hammer.
Operation Marine Hammer will involve one or more deployed Marine combined arms MAGTFs. As part of the discussion of Operation Midnight Hammer, Compass Points provided the Xanadu Thought Experiment, a scenario about a Marine MAGTF deployed to a crisis in an African nation. The scenario invited readers to discuss the units, equipment, and capabilities a deployed Marine MAGTF has today, and what it does not have.
Many readers responded online and off with their own view of MAGTF capabilities. One detailed comment was from Compass Points reader, Greg Falzetta. Compass Points thanks Greg Falzetta for his insightful comment on the power and flexibility of the Marine MAGTF.
.
-------------------
-------------------
.
Greg Falzetta commented on your post Compass Points - Iran Strike.
A LOT of assumptions on your part Col.
1. To hold and secure the LZ AND the embassy will require a security element that also needs fire support. You’ll need to move the security in by helos. Assuming a 90% full combat mission availability you’re down to 14 helos/tilt rotors. Assuming a full infantry company you’re down to two uncommitted companies. Since the area around the capital is under fire, assume that this won’t be an in/out mission. Remember the enemy has a say, and plans don’t survive the first shot. Remember Mogadishu? In and out right? What could possibly go wrong. Assume that the security element is there for 8-12 hours, and is in contact with the enemy. How much time to reconstitute, and receive and plan after a new frag order is given?
2. Snipers employment is well suited to the evacuation part of the mission. Let’s say 2 teams of a sniper and a spotter. I’m not sure how many teams are in the GCE, but let’s assume 4. You’re down to 2 available teams and you’re not even done your NEO. Since snipers are primarily an ISR asset, will you employ your last 2 teams in a pre-embassy rescue? If so how do they get in and out? Again assuming a 90% full combat mission readiness you have at best 2 UH-1s. One is the GCE commanders C&C aircraft. So you’re down to 0 until the first UH-1 returns and is turned around. Assuming that the aircraft has no mission critical “down gripes”, you’re looking at 30-60 min. turn around.
3. Counter-Battery Fire is GENERALLY not the primary mission of a single artillery battery, it’s a dedicated (think direct support at a battery level. Remember fire support missions are by doctrine only assigned down to the artillery battalion level, with dedicated battery a special case, a MEU one of them.) battery situation. All that being said, how do you get your entire battery ashore? LCUs/LCACs? But you have them assigned to evacuate people from the port. What’s the plan, insert the battery at the port and assign a dual mission to the landing craft? Is that the best place to insert them? What’s the condition of the port? Will it be a contested landing? How long will it take for the battery to occupy a tactically sound position? Do you wait for the battery? Even a hasty battery occupation takes time. Let’s assume 60 minutes to off load, find a tactically sound position and occupy it and be ready to service calls for fire.
4. Fire & Maneuver Plan. ACV and LAVs do have swimming/fording capabilities. Do you know the conditions of the near bank, the far bank, and river conditions? Do you employ an ISR asset to reconnoiter the planned crossing point? How about alternate and tertiary crossing points? Is the river defended? Are your two remaining maneuver companies enough to force a river crossing if need be? Do you know if the enemy has SAMs or AAA? It doesn’t take much to go from a low threat to a high threat environment. Are supporting arms, both aviation and artillery/ mortars fires planned AND adequate to handle a contested crossing? That’s all I’ve got, but it seems Col. as if you’ve got more unanswered questions than answered. Nice playing the game with you.
-- Greg Falzetta
.
-------------------
-------------------
.
Any discussion of the Marine MAGTF rapidly begins to illustrate both the power and the complexity of MAGTF operations. The flexibility of the MAGTF always brings with it complexity. The wide range of missions that the MAGTF can be tasked with cannot be executed without constant study and training. At one time the Marine Corps concentrated on the difficult subject of MAGTF operations.
Today, the best way for the Marine Corps to help the US project combat power around the globe is for the Marine Corps to rediscover its focus on MAGTF operations. Time for the Marine Corps once again to concentrate on the MAGTF units, equipment, and capabilities. In addition, MAGTF operations require trained and educated MAGTF operators who can drive the MAGTF through its entire range of capabilities.
Congratulations to the US Air Force and the amazing B-2 Spirit stealth bomber. As powerful and flexible as the global Marine Corps MAGTF is, a Marine MAGTF cannot do what the B-2 can do. Some missions will require the B-2. On the other hand, the reverse is also true. As amazing as the B-2 is, it cannot accomplish the range of missions that the global Marine MAGTF can.
Secretary Hegseth said the Midnight Hammer operation “took months and weeks of positioning and preparation.” DOD planners must understand that a forward deployed Marine MAGTF is always nearby, ready to arrive off the shore of any crisis, not just to strike targets, but to strike, fight, deter, evacuate, rescue, restore order, and more.
For the next operation Midnight Hammer, the US should, once again, call on the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber. For the next operation Marine Hammer, howver, the US should call on a forward deployed, restored, enhanced, combined arms Marine MAGTF, and send in the Marines!
.
- - - - -
.
The Aviationist - 06/22/2025
Operation Midnight Hammer: How U.S. B-2 Bombers Struck Iran Undetected
By Stefano D'Urso
https://theaviationist.com/2025/06/22/operation-midnight-hammer/
.
- - - - -
.
NATO - 06/09/2025
Building a better NATO: Secretary General's Pre-Summit Speech at Chatham House
https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/news_236119.htm
.
- - - - -
.
Compass Points - Iran Strike
US hits Iranian nuclear sites
June 22, 2025
marinecorpscompasspoints.substack.com/p/compass-points-iran-strike
And BZ to the Army Patriot soldiers who bravely stood in the breach and shot down the incoming Iranian missiles targeting the American base in Qatar. And to the Navy submariners who flawlessly executed their TLAM mission. Our Nation is blessed to have such wonderful men and women standing the watch while we are allowed to sleep comfortably in our warm beds.
"All that said, if a member of a NATO military were hypothetically to ask me whether NATO countries should acquire first-person view drone capabilities, based on my experience and given the current state of the technology, I would probably say no, whether they are radio-controlled or fiber-optic. The vast majority of first-person view drone missions can be completed more cheaply, effectively, or reliably by other assets. Furthermore, other authors have noted that drones still do not come close to matching the effects that can be achieved by massed artillery fires. Additionally, experts on artillery systems consistently note the greater reliability and range of artillery."
The last sentence........wow.
https://warontherocks.com/2025/06/i-fought-in-ukraine-and-heres-why-fpv-drones-kind-of-suck/?utm_campaign=dfn-ebb&utm_medium=email&utm_source=sailthru