History keeps speaking. First and foremost, anyone who believes a war with China will be limited to Indo-Pacific island rings and Taiwan is smoking cigarettes without filters. It is improbable China will be the only belligerent. A World War should be anticipated. There are valid concerns about FD cuts in armor, artillery, engineer and aviation. Supposedly to pay for ships that don't (and won:t) exist while supporting a concept with no logistics plan, no air superiority, or even the diplomatic capability to position Marines inside the PLAN WEZ without starting the war.
Not enough attention is being paid to the most crucial cut of them all. That is the cut in the numbers of infantry Marines. When the balloon went up for Korea it became an all hands on deck to get a Marine regiment and then followed by a Marine division fleshed out sufficiently for the Korean War. Reserve Marines who had never been to boot camp were deployed as infantry.
When the decision was made in 1965 to use Marines to begin the buildup for Vietnam it became another all hands on deck Marine Corps wide effort to meet the infantry manpower requirements for lll MAF.
If decisions are not made soon to reorient the Marine Corps back to its MAGTF ideology, that conceptually dates to the 1950's, it can be anticipated, if war breaks out, that the fate Gen. Lou Wilson faced about the future of the Marine Corps will occur. Marine battalions and squadrons will be piecemealed out to Army commands. Both the infantry and the aviation assets will be crucial to the world war effort. Korea and Vietnam history lell us this is so. SF
Very concerning comments from PVR: “It was only a few days after CMC met with all former CMCs in August and heard the concerns of nearly all of them that he issued his flawed Commandant's Planning Guidance indicating he chose to ignore those concerns; apparently he intends to move full speed ahead with Force Design 2030 though he dropped the date.” Why did General Smith drop the date? Maybe because he is not going to get small amphibs and long-range anti-ship missiles/mobile launchers in timely manner?
The most concerning comment: Unless CMC is given new direction from SECDEF or SECNAV to make changes, there are no indications he will do so. Did the idea of Marines on small islands with anti-ship missiles, that provide Naval TFs the ability to “pivot” and maneuver in the East and South China Sea, come from with the SECNAV and CNO? Was this "planning guidance” issued without due consideration and evaluation of technology and logistics? If these questions are true, and not the rambling thoughts of a tired old Marine, why didn’t two Commandant’s have the strength of courage to say this is a bad idea, and instead let's concentrate on the real problem of not enough amphibious ships and provide the Combatant Commanders the Crisis response forces they need.
History keeps speaking. First and foremost, anyone who believes a war with China will be limited to Indo-Pacific island rings and Taiwan is smoking cigarettes without filters. It is improbable China will be the only belligerent. A World War should be anticipated. There are valid concerns about FD cuts in armor, artillery, engineer and aviation. Supposedly to pay for ships that don't (and won:t) exist while supporting a concept with no logistics plan, no air superiority, or even the diplomatic capability to position Marines inside the PLAN WEZ without starting the war.
Not enough attention is being paid to the most crucial cut of them all. That is the cut in the numbers of infantry Marines. When the balloon went up for Korea it became an all hands on deck to get a Marine regiment and then followed by a Marine division fleshed out sufficiently for the Korean War. Reserve Marines who had never been to boot camp were deployed as infantry.
When the decision was made in 1965 to use Marines to begin the buildup for Vietnam it became another all hands on deck Marine Corps wide effort to meet the infantry manpower requirements for lll MAF.
If decisions are not made soon to reorient the Marine Corps back to its MAGTF ideology, that conceptually dates to the 1950's, it can be anticipated, if war breaks out, that the fate Gen. Lou Wilson faced about the future of the Marine Corps will occur. Marine battalions and squadrons will be piecemealed out to Army commands. Both the infantry and the aviation assets will be crucial to the world war effort. Korea and Vietnam history lell us this is so. SF
CMC Smith hasn’t learned anything from Custer at the Little Big Horn…Still bringing knives to a gunfight, with no regard for his troops.
Very concerning comments from PVR: “It was only a few days after CMC met with all former CMCs in August and heard the concerns of nearly all of them that he issued his flawed Commandant's Planning Guidance indicating he chose to ignore those concerns; apparently he intends to move full speed ahead with Force Design 2030 though he dropped the date.” Why did General Smith drop the date? Maybe because he is not going to get small amphibs and long-range anti-ship missiles/mobile launchers in timely manner?
The most concerning comment: Unless CMC is given new direction from SECDEF or SECNAV to make changes, there are no indications he will do so. Did the idea of Marines on small islands with anti-ship missiles, that provide Naval TFs the ability to “pivot” and maneuver in the East and South China Sea, come from with the SECNAV and CNO? Was this "planning guidance” issued without due consideration and evaluation of technology and logistics? If these questions are true, and not the rambling thoughts of a tired old Marine, why didn’t two Commandant’s have the strength of courage to say this is a bad idea, and instead let's concentrate on the real problem of not enough amphibious ships and provide the Combatant Commanders the Crisis response forces they need.
These two Commandants haven’t learned anything from guys like Custer at the Little Big Horn…Still bringing knives to gunfights.