Compass Points - Martin-Baker
What is the priority, the purpose, the goal?
Compass Points - Martin-Baker
What is the priority, the purpose, the goal?
April 10, 2026
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When the US F15 Strike Eagle was shot down in Iran, the pilot and WSO both ejected and were safely carried to the ground in their ejection seats.
That is the purpose of an ejection seat, to get the pilot safely to the ground.
Martin-Baker is the premier ejection seat company in the world. On the May 30, 1949, a Martin-Baker ejection seat was used, for the very first time, to save the life of a young test pilot Jo Lancaster.
Some reports, suggest that after so many years Martin-Baker may be changing their priority. Instead of focusing just on getting the pilot from a disabled plane safely to the ground, Martin-Baker may begin to focus on getting the ejected pilot safely back to base.
Advances have led to aerial drones that can lift more than 500 pounds. The company Unmanned Systems Technology recently compiled a report on 27 leading suppliers of heavy lift drones.
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Explore leading manufacturers of heavy lift drones engineered for demanding applications across military, industrial, and commercial sectors. From multirotor, quadcopter and hexacopter to fixed and tilt-wing configurations, these high-capacity UAVs are designed to carry substantial payloads for tasks like equipment transport, inspection, and aerial data collection.
-- Unmanned Systems Technology
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Martin-Baker is apparently exploring combining an ejection seat with the capabilities of a heavy lift drone. Instead of just getting the pilot safely to the ground, Martin-Baker would be able to get the pilot safely back to base.
Setting a clear priority is crucial for every organization. The priority of getting the pilot safely to the ground is very different from getting the pilot safely back to base.
What is the priority of the US Marine Corps? What should it be?
The current Marine Corps commandant has been clear that the Marine Corps is on ‘a righteous journey’ called Force Design to place small Stand-in-Force sensor and missile units on islands off the coast of China.
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Force Design remains our strategic priority and we cannot slow down.
-- Marines CPG August 2024
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Should the priority of the US Marine Corps be to place small sensor and missile units on islands off the coast of China?
One Marine has a much different priority in mind for the Marine Corps.
In 1972 a young Marine Corps Captain took on the issue of Marine Corps priorities in his article, “Roles & Missions: Time For A Change.”
The article was a sensation. It stimulated discussion and debate throughout the Pentagon. Many senior leaders in the Navy and Marine Corps were angered by the article, including the Commandant of the Marine Corps -- not a good situation for the young Captain.
But the young Captain had already shown his leadership and courage in the jungles of Vietnam and, with his roles and missions article, he began to show his leadership and courage in the halls of power. The young Captain, James H. Webb, Jr., became not only a world famous author of novels and screenplays, but the Secretary of the Department of the Navy, the Assistant Secretary of the Department of Defense, a US Senator from Virginia, and a candidate for President.
Jim Webb has always advocated the Marine Corps remain focused, not on any one mission, any one region, nor on any one way to get the fight; instead, the Marine should focus on readiness.
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During my time in the Marine Corps, every key speech by our top leaders to us, and most of their others given to national media, reinforced the iron-clad guarantee that told us -- and also the nation -- that our mission was readiness. Readiness, not amphibious. Our very history was readiness, small-scale and large-scale.
-- Jim Webb
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Compass Points salutes Jim Webb for his decades of leadership for Corps and Country.
Setting the right priority makes all the difference.
Getting a pilot safely to the ground, or getting the pilot safely back to base?
Focusing the Marine Corps on sensor and missile units off the coast of China, or focusing the Marine Corps on global readiness? Which priority is best for the Marne Corps and best for the Nation?
Future US Presidents will need US Marines to arrive around the globe to the next crisis to deter, assist, rescue, strike, and fight. It is time for the Marine Corps to prioritize global crisis response. When Admiral Cooper called for Marines in the Middle East fight today, he did not express a particular need for the Marine ‘righteous journey’ sensor and missile units. What he wants is all the global, combined arms, crisis response Marines on Navy amphibious ships that he can get. Crisis response Marines on Navy amphibious ships is a priority of the Combatant Commander at war today. Why should the priority of the US Marine Corps be any different?
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Martin-Baker
https://martin-baker.com/news-events/
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Unmanned Systems Technology
Heavy Lift Drones
https://www.unmannedsystemstechnology.com/expo/heavy-lift-drones/
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Compass Points - Webb Interview
Former Navy Secretary puts focus on readiness
July 21, 2025
marinecorpscompasspoints.substack.com/p/compass-points-webb-interview
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James Webb had a precise focus on reality as did his Company Commander in Vietnam, later Col Wylie. By the mid 1970’s and early 1980’s the Corps was restructuring from Vietnam, creating the force and operational philosophies for the future, adjusting to the all volunteer force, trying to reintroduce discipline and being bombarded by a complete cultural change the likes of which had no precedent in Western military culture. This was all happening at the same time and Congress only focused on parts - the wrong parts. The most rational and experienced voices, grounded in history and logic, were often sidelined. That anything appeared on the other side as an elite fighting force remains the legacy of most energetic and intelligent officers to ever serve in our storied Corps. This battlefield was strewn with the bleached bones of many of the very best.
The Corps reached a low point with Gen Berger’s delusional mirage executed in the dark of night. It was a tour de force of deceit and compromises to integrity.
Today the remnants of our Corps are largely irrelevant despite never ending propaganda to the contrary. We have morphed into a light infantry force dependent on air power. From 27 active duty Bn’s of approximately 1000 Marines each it appears we have 21 or less with under 700 Marines. ( don’t show me the T/O. Fall ‘em out in the parade deck). From 27,000 to under 14,000 while we chase the Coastal Artillery fantasy.
The Corps and the Navy are in desperate need of not just new senior leaders but leaders down to the Company and Bn level or this storied institution will find itself a ceremonial remnant. On that note recent photos of our most storied monument is neglected and covered with weeds at its base. I know that task falls tothe Department of the interior. Who cares? Where is the CO Marine Barracks 8th & I? Perhaps she should pay it a visit and FIX it.
James Webb selected and fought for Al Gray as Commandant. To me, that says a lot about the man.