Compass Points - Rebalanced MAGTF - 2
Time to upgrade and restore.
January 31, 2024
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In the Compass Points of January 29, 2024, General Krulak and General Zinni shared their thoughts on, "The Need to Rebalance the MAGTF." The two senior Marines are leading a growing discussion about the Marine MAGTF. In recent years, the Marine Corps has taken its focus off the global MAGTF and focused instead on small units of Marines on islands in the Pacific. World events are showing the US still needs the powerful, flexible, crisis response force that only a MAGTF can provide. General Krulak and General Zinni continue their comments on the future of the MAGTF, "The Realities of Rebalancing the MAGTF."
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THE REALITIES OF REBALANCING THE MAGTF
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Charles C. Krulak and Anthony C. Zinni
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General Zinni and I wrote about the critical need to rebalance the MAGTF as a result of the "Divest to Invest" actions taken while pursuing the implementation of FD 2030.
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We now must face the realities of the impediments to rapid rebalancing.
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1. The vast majority of "divestment" has taken place while much of the benefits of "investment" are still to be found in the out years. People and capability are gone and that is a fact.
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2. Many in the DON, DOD, Congress, and Think Tanks remain convinced that FD 2030 it an innovative path forward and will help solve the problem posed by the "Pacing Threat." They have been very vocal in their support and will be uncomfortable with the idea of rebalancing...especially if is additive to the budget.
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3. We are convinced that Marine Corps Leadership is becoming aware that the execution of "Divest to Invest" came too fast. The need to rebalance to meet near-term commitments with a Corps primarily focused on one threat and one geo-location is becoming apparent daily. One need only look at the world today to see that a 169,500-person Marine Corps with significant divested capability, is no longer the 911 Force the Nation can count on. Expecting a quick solution to this problem is wishful thinking. Using the Marine Corps Combat Development Process, the Leadership must reevaluate the concept to ensure a Marine Corps capable of global response across the spectrum of conflict. The concept should leverage technology to restore maneuver in a Mature Precision Strike Regime (MPSR). Then through experimentation, wargames, and input from the fleet, determine the necessary capabilities needed to execute that concept, and then determine requirements and prioritize those requirements to achieve those capabilities. The current Commandant and his Leadership Team can start this process but will need to walk a tightrope because of budgetary considerations and potential pressure from "higher ups." This will not be easy, and we should not expect miracles. To rebalance to meet the world that is in the here and now and, at the same time, to also address the one that is coming will take the action of several future Commandants.
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While this rebalancing is taking place, the Corps needs to remember the words of Lt.Gen. Victor "Brute" Krulak,
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...while the functions we discharge must always be done by someone, and while an organization such as ours is the correct one to do it, still, in terms of cold mechanical logic, the United States doesn't need a Marine Corps. However, for good reasons which completely transcend cold logic, the United States wants a Marine Corps.
-- Lt.Gen. Victor H. Krulak
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Why do Americans want a Marine Corps? Because our ethos demands that when the whistle blows, the individual Marine will pick up their helmet and pack, put on their flak jacket, grab their weapon and march/fly to the sound of the guns and the smell of cordite, fight and win!! This is our reputation, our legacy, and our ethos. We cannot let any of these defining traits slowly go away for lack of capability.
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4. Finally, this is NOT simply a Marine Corps problem. The Navy is out of balance too. Getting the Navy into balance is a very long-term proposition. The cost and lead time in shipbuilding is a multi-year proposition and we are not sure that the DOD budget can absorb what needs to be done anytime soon.
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5. Bottom Line: The stress and strain on the MAGTF is becoming apparent. Rebalancing will take place because we cannot survive if it doesn't. Rebalancing the MAGTF will not be easy, and it will take time, but it will happen.
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General Krulak and General Zinni
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--General Charles C. Krulak, USMC, (ret) is a career infantry officer. His last assignment was as the 31st Commandant of the Marine Corps.
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--General Anthony C. Zinni, USMC, (ret) is a career infantry officer. His last assignment was as the Commander, US Central Command.
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Compass Points thanks General Krulak and General Zinni for their timely warning both on the need to rebalance the MAGTF and on the realities of rebalancing the MAGTF.
The proponents and planners and “thinkers” of FD2030 are undaunted, they believe that anyone who does not agree with they and FD2030, are Zoombie’s, we are walking dead, unwilling to accept their view of modern warfare and how it will be fought. Stalled trench warfare in Ukraine, nothing to see here folks. Rockets from mobile launchers which are hard to find and respond to from Yemen? Nothing to see here folks. Hell, NATO is an offensive juggernaut just waiting to take on that evil empire of Russia. Missile technologies, stranded Marines, Stand In Forces, all good. The belief seems to be that the independent consultants report that the Congress has commissioned to analyze the nature and conduct of a future Marine Corps will either codify their views and support FD2030 or it won’t, and regardless FD2030 is now baked in doctrine and we Marines that don’t like it, can S1 and S2. “So there then” as they say in Maine. The certitude of their position is stunning, if we don’t get and accept the stunning results of dozens of war gaming table top exercises that prove how brilliant FD2030 is, than we can skip the rockers at the home for old Marines and head for Canada and into the MAID program as soon as feasible. When the notion of rebalancing the MAGTF comes up it will be met by these elite warriors immediate dismissal, old thinking. One can see the future though, dozens of “majors” commissioned through the rockets in Silicon Valley program dipping their Doritos in the onion dip next to their joy stick in joint base Stockton California. Relief of the next 26th MEU floating in an amphibious group in rusting hulls off the coast of some far off land? Nothing to see here folks. FD2030 is here to stay. Well, we will see about that. Those in the fight against it, were tortured by professionals. Sometimes drip, drip, drip works, and my money is on Task Force Krulak, Zinni and Conway. One thing is for sure we will go down swinging.
MAGTF 2030 is going to be the ugliest
baby made of over-SLEP'd equipment, emerging tech and concepts pressed into roles they were not intended for, a lot of COTs equipment that never should have been needed, some Comp-B, an AI Turkey, and this one trick you need to know that makes it work....