Compass Points - Operational Audit
Time to audit Marine capabilities.
Compass Points - Operational Audit
Time to audit Marine capabilities.
February 5, 2025
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Congratulations to the Marine Corps! For the second year in a row the Marine Corps has successfully passed its financial audit.
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The U.S. Marine Corps has now passed its audit for a second straight year while the rest of the Defense Department is still working toward the goal. “Independent auditors verified that the Marine Corps’ financial records are materially accurate, complete, and compliant with federal regulations and issued an unmodified opinion for Fiscal Year 2024,” the service announced in a Feb.4 statement.
. . . The Marine Corps is now taking additional steps beyond passing an annual audit to “stabilize” its new accounting system and procedures, according to the statement.
-- Defense News
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Now that the Marine Corps' financial audit has been successfully completed, it is time for the Marine Corps to embark on an even more important audit. The Marine Corps needs an operational audit. It is time for the Marine Corps to audit its own operational capabilities. While it is laudable that the Marine Corps' financial books are in order, that is not enough. Do the Marine Corps' current worldwide warfighting capabilities meet with all applicable operational standards?
The operational audit of the Marine Corps would need to audit every aspect of the Marine Corps capabilities. The operational audit of the Marine Corps would include a thorough review of Marine Corps DOTMLPFP. DOTMLPFP is an acronym for doctrine, organization, training, materiel, leadership & education, personnel, facilities, and policy. Each item of DOTMLPFP would need to be audited to see if each one fully complies with and contributes to Marine Corps' worldwide crisis response capabilities.
An operational audit of Marine Corps DOTMLPFP would reveal many gaps in current Marine Corps capabilities, but even before the DOTMLPFP examination, the operational audit should begin with US Code Title 10 §8063.
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§8063. United States Marine Corps: composition; functions
(a) The Marine Corps, within the Department of the Navy, shall be so organized as to include not less than three combat divisions and three air wings, and such other land combat, aviation, and other services as may be organic therein. The Marine Corps shall be organized, trained, and equipped to provide fleet marine forces of combined arms, together with supporting air components, for service with the fleet in the seizure or defense of advanced naval bases and for the conduct of such land operations as may be essential to the prosecution of a naval campaign. In addition, the Marine Corps shall provide detachments and organizations for service on armed vessels of the Navy, shall provide security detachments for the protection of naval property at naval stations and bases, and shall perform such other duties as the President may direct. However, these additional duties may not detract from or interfere with the operations for which the Marine Corps is primarily organized.
(b) The Marine Corps shall develop, in coordination with the Army and the Air Force, those phases of amphibious operations that pertain to the tactics, technique, and equipment used by landing forces.
(c) The Marine Corps is responsible, in accordance with integrated joint mobilization plans, for the expansion of peacetime components of the Marine Corps to meet the needs of war.
-- US Code Title 10, §8063
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Even a cursory review of US Code Title 10 would raise many questions for the operational auditors.
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1. Does the Marine Corps now have the required "three combat divisions and three air wings" when Marine infantry and aircraft have been reduced? How can the 3rd Marine Division meet the requirement to be a full combat division when it has been stripped of most of its infantry? How can air wings be full airwings when they are missing aircraft and aircraft support units?
2. How can the Marine Corps meet the requirement for "other services as may be organic therein" when it has cut or eliminated armor, artillery, heavy engineering, snipers, and MPs?
3. How is the Marine Corps "organized, trained, and equipped" to provide "forces of combined arms" when it has turned combat regiment into less capable missile units, and cut or eliminated units, equipment, and capabilities necessary for forces of combined arms?
4. How has the Marine Corps turned its focus from its combined arms, crisis response, and focused instead on small missile units in the Pacific when "additional duties may not detract from or interfere with the operations for which the Marine Corps is primarily organized."?
5. How is the Marine Corps focusing on tactics, technique, and equipment used by missile units when it is required to focus on "those phases of amphibious operations that pertain to the tactics, technique, and equipment used by landing forces."?
And finally in the list of questions to get the operational auditors started, how can the Marine Corps be the Nation's combined arms global crisis response force when it is unable today to put even one Marine Expeditionary Force on the world's oceans?
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Good luck to the auditors who will audit the Marine Corps' operational capabilities. It will be a challenge to review the Marine Corps' actual current units, equipment and capabilities. The auditors must drill down to ground truth of what the Marine Corps can actually do today. Here is a warning for the operational auditors. The result of an operational audit of current Marine Corps capabilities is not likely to be as neat and tidy as the financial audit.
Compass Points congratulates the Marine Corps for successfully passing its fiscal year 2024 financial audit. The Marine Corps' successful financial audit sets the example for the other services. Now the Marine Corps, the Department of Defense, and the American people can have confidence that the Marine Corps' financial performance meets all applicable financial standards.
Beyond a financial audit, the Marine Corps needs an operational audit. It is time for the Marine Corps to audit its own operational capabilities. While it is laudable that the Marine Corps' financial books are in order, the United States does not depend on the Marine Corps for its financial prowess, it depends on the Marine Corps for its global, crisis response, 9-1-1 capabilities. Does the Marine Corps' current worldwide warfighting capabilities meet with all applicable operational standards? Extremely doubtful. The operational auditors should start with Title 10 and move on to DOTMLPFP.
Passing the financial audit is a nice accomplishment. But if the Marine Corps passes its financial audit while at the same time failing the operational audit of its worldwide crisis response, 9-1-1 capabilities, there is a big problem. The Nation does not need and cannot afford a narrow, regional Marine Corps focused on island missile units in the Pacific. The Nation needs a global, first to fight Marine Corps, that can arrive quickly at the scene of any crisis ready to deter, assist, or fight.
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Defense News - 02/04/2025
Marine Corps Passes Second Straight Audit As Other Services Lag Behind
By Jen Judson
Congratulations to the Corps for passing their financial audit. They have been able to balance the checkbook and know where the major end items are. Companies do this regularly — and go bankrupt. Did you write the checks for the right things? Does counting every canteen assure two canteens per man? Does accounting for rounds expended translate to rounds in the V Ring?
The intangibles are hard to measure and make the difference. I am glad that the audit went well. The Corps tries very hard to excel at everything it does. In the end, Love and War are not subject to the competence of the accountants. Both are like no other human endeavor and are judged differently. I have no idea if the Corps passed an audit in 1942. I do know what they did in 1943, 44 and 45. The American people will forgive you for overspending. They will not forgive you for losing.
Congratulations to the Corps for passing their financial audit. They have been able to balance the checkbook and know where the major end items are. Companies do this regularly — and go bankrupt. Did you write the checks for the right things? Does counting every canteen assure two canteens per man? Does accounting for rounds expended translate to rounds in the V Ring?
The intangibles are hard to measure and make the difference. I am glad that the audit went well. The Corps tries very hard to excel at everything it does. In the end, Love and War are not subject to the competence of the accountants. Both are like no other human endeavor and are judged differently. I have no idea if the Corps passed an audit in 1942. I do know what they did in 1943, 44 and 45. The American people will forgive you for overspending. They will not forgive you for losing.
The Duke of Wellington had some things to say about accounting as this letter of 1812 to the National Office attests:
https://search.app/R9Zrj15jMmz96ZN98
USMC power is the MAGTF with an expeditionary capability other services say they can perform this capability but USMC has the integrated team that can deploy to worldwide regions and sustain the force. It’s time for the Force Design “plan” to go back to the MAGTF and stop the focus on Taiwan. PRC is global and the Corps needs to be globally focused with the necessary equipment to accomplish the mission/s.