Compass Points - Tech Tools

New technology is only a tool.

Compass Points - Tech Tools

New technology is only a tool.

June 24, 2026

.

The Compass Points post, “Bloody Struggle,” has stimulated wide discussion on the importance and limits of military technology. One experienced Marine shares his thoughts about technology and war.

.

----------------------------

----------------------------

.

War is Still Chaotic, Bloody, & Deadly

By Charles Krulak

.

Paul K. VanRiper and Robert H. Scales, Jr. have written key thoughts on what has become a central point in 7 years of discussion and debate: the need for Marines to be able to mass combat power.

Unfortunately, there are too many who read a post like “Compass Points - Bloody Struggle” as the views of “old Marines who long for the past” and who:

1) Do not understand the value and scope of technological advancements, and

2) Do not have the current security clearances to allow them to understand the significance in the change in the character of war.

NOTHING could be further from the truth!

We DO recognize the changing character of war and applaud and seek any and all advantages that technology brings to our warfighters.

Our KEY point is that the nature of war has not changed. It is chaotic, bloody, deadly, and unforgiving of mistakes.This fact has not changed, not in centuries and not today.

Cyber will not allow you to cross a minefield or river. Drones and loitering munitions will lose their effectiveness in triple canopy jungle, in heavily forested areas, or subzero conditions.

Mass in Marines and equipment are still critical. Prompt and secure delivery of logistical support is still vital.

Warfighters need many “arrows in their quiver” and technology only provides some of them. Technology certainly does not change the nature of war, nor does it validate a strategy of “Divest to Invest.” In the next chaotic, bloody, and deadly conflict, Marines, once again, will need to be able to quickly mass combat power at the right time and place.

-- General Charles Krulak, 31st Commandant of the Marine Corps

.

----------------------------

----------------------------

.

The ability of Marines to use forward deployed MAGTFs to mass combat power is declining.

In an exclusive investigation, Newsmax is reporting that, “Marines Could Go Year Without Full-Unit Deployment on Ships.”

.

----------------------------

----------------------------

.

The overlaps in ship shortages will hit hardest during the second half of fiscal 2027, hamstringing Marine deployments at a period when they could be needed to deter Chinese aggression against Taiwan.

“That’s when things are going to dry up,” the military official said.

The result will be more missed or incomplete missions for the 2,000- to 2,500-strong forward-deployed Marine response forces and fewer options should they be needed in an emergency, according to Mackenzie Eaglen of the American Enterprise Institute.

“It’s in a crisis state,” Eaglen told Newsmax. “It means that there have been missions from the National Command Authority, from decision-makers in Washington, D.C., and the Marine Corps, but they lacked the transportation to get there and prosecute that mission. And another service had to fill the gap multiple times in the last five years.”

. . . What’s lost when Marines cannot deploy aboard a full amphibious ready group is what another official referred to as “sovereignty afloat” — the ability to project force without asking a foreign nation’s permission.

. . . “That’s why every combatant commander is requesting an ARG/MEU — because it means if a problem starts, there will be Marines there within hours,” Keenan added.

-- Newsmax - “Marines Could Go Year Without Full-Unit Deployment on Ships”

.

----------------------------

----------------------------

.

Again and again, there are reports that regional combatant commanders want more US Marine crisis response forces on Navy amphibious ships. Marine crisis response forces, however, do not begin with Navy amphibious ships, they begin with the three large Marine Expeditionary Forces, I MEF, II MEF, and III MEF.

Only one of the three crucial MEFs is forward based in the Far East. Instead of expanding, enhancing, and upgrading the combined arms combat power of III MEF, the Marine Corps has spent the last several years, reducing and removing combined arms, crisis response combat power from III MEF. The Marine Corps’ global, combined arms, crisis response units need to be upgraded with the latest technology, but technology alone cannot substitute for the range of Marine crisis response missions.

Compass Points salutes General Charles Krulak for his decades of service to Corps and Country and for his timely reminder that the next conflict will require more than just technology, it will require well trained Marines who arrive quickly to any crisis ready to deter, assist, rescue, strike, and fight.

.

- - - - -

.

US Army War College, Parameters Autumn 1997 - Volume 27, Number 3

Preparing for War in the 21st Century

By Van Riper, Paul K. and Robert H. Scales, Jr.,

https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters/vol27/iss3/

.

- - - - -

.

Newsmax - 06/22/2026

Newsmax Exclusive: Marines Could Go Year Without Full-Unit Deployment on Ships

By Carla Babb

https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/marines-deployment-amphibious-ships/2026/06/22/id/1260517/

.

- - - - -

.