Reception order to deter Russian and Chinese military forces in the North Pacific the Army deployed a missile equipped Multi Domain task Force to a remote Alaskan island . I doubt if a MLR was even in the planning calculations of the combatant commander. One Army element deployed from Hawaii, home of 3d MLR. As a joint planner I would have a hard time figuring out a role in most contingencies for the Marine Corps as it is organized and equipped today.
I have wondered endlessly what was going through the mind of CMC that gave us FD-2030. It occurs to me that the answer might his asking himself the same questions that Smedley Butler was asking late in his career. Neither Marines nor any of the other service chiefs decide where or why Marines will be deployed. These decisions are made by our political leaders and now, as well as in Smedley's era, those decisions have been almost universally bad. Having a "force in readiness" is an invitation for politicians to engage in the "sport of kings" that gets Marines killed and almost always ends with nothing to show for it. Even the Korean war, which at least saved half of the Korean peninsula failed to achieve strategic victory. Do the math, check the scorecard, what benefit to world peace or the advancement of freedom has the blood of so many Marines, soldier, sailors, or airmen been worth the cost. I call it Smedley Butler syndrome, he recognized the stark reality that ignoring General Washington's edict to avoid foreign entanglements is almost always pretty good idea.
Reception order to deter Russian and Chinese military forces in the North Pacific the Army deployed a missile equipped Multi Domain task Force to a remote Alaskan island . I doubt if a MLR was even in the planning calculations of the combatant commander. One Army element deployed from Hawaii, home of 3d MLR. As a joint planner I would have a hard time figuring out a role in most contingencies for the Marine Corps as it is organized and equipped today.
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2024/09/20/us-troops-finish-deployment-remote-alaska-island-amid-spike-russian-military-activity.html
I have wondered endlessly what was going through the mind of CMC that gave us FD-2030. It occurs to me that the answer might his asking himself the same questions that Smedley Butler was asking late in his career. Neither Marines nor any of the other service chiefs decide where or why Marines will be deployed. These decisions are made by our political leaders and now, as well as in Smedley's era, those decisions have been almost universally bad. Having a "force in readiness" is an invitation for politicians to engage in the "sport of kings" that gets Marines killed and almost always ends with nothing to show for it. Even the Korean war, which at least saved half of the Korean peninsula failed to achieve strategic victory. Do the math, check the scorecard, what benefit to world peace or the advancement of freedom has the blood of so many Marines, soldier, sailors, or airmen been worth the cost. I call it Smedley Butler syndrome, he recognized the stark reality that ignoring General Washington's edict to avoid foreign entanglements is almost always pretty good idea.