Congressional Research Service March 8, 2024 Number of Active Duty General and Flag Officers It is a critical time in the history of Our Republic. Table 3. All 5 Active Duty General and Flag Officers total number 809. 4Star Army 15, Navy 7, Marine Corps 2, Air Force 11, Space Force 2 Total 37. 3Stars Army 44 Navy28, Marine Corps 16, Air Force 39, Space Force 5. Total 132. Perhaps the USMC tradition of having Generals tender their letter to retire and the CMC then picks those he desires to nominate to continue to serve be applied to all services ie 169 currently serving 3 and 4 star Generals and Admirals be subjected to a review of their performance based on merit and performance vice their appointment being based on race, gender, support for CRT, DEI, and in the case of the USMC failure to obey 10 US Code 8063-United States Marine Corps : composition;function. A board chaired by the Vice President of the United States w members he chooses conducts a review and determines continued service or retirement with nominations of replacements 3 and 4 star officer submitted to the President. A similar board must be convened for all Senior Executive Service Billets in DoD and all other Federal Agencies. Semper Fidelis.
The senior leadership in the US Government, be they Generals or SES’s and other are the problem, not the solution. The results speak for themselves. We keeping going back to those who failed yesterday for tomorrow’s solutions. What could be dumber? If 20% survive the scrutiny it might be too many.
Dereliction of duty, insubordination, disrespecting the US Congress by failing to meet the duly authorized Title X mandates, failure to report fully on the fitness for active duty, etc etc. Whether the Vice President or SecDef review each 3 and 4 star flag officer, all should come to their appointment with a letter of resignation in hand.
1. The Corps is making itself irrelevant at super sonic speed. Short range, slow missiles on islands and coral reefs in one theater. There is no way you need 160,000 Marines to be a stationary coastal defense force unable to move or be resupplied. All three other services have better capabilities. We gave ourselves a mission we cannot accomplish.
2. Why can’t we supply Ukraine as well as our own forces at the same time? Because we let our industrial base atrophy. If we can’t supply Ukraine, we could not have supplied ourselves in a medium sized conflict. We do not have the depth to fight a war over Taiwan. Get over it and prepare for the next fight.
3. Urban warfare is the graveyard of military forces. You can train all you want and become highly proficient. It will still consume you. Sending highly trained troops into the meat grinders of urban combat is a criminal act. It is like assaulting into artillery barrages and machine gun fire. People who dabble in this are delusional. Come up with something new other than infantry house to house, room to room.
Very disappointing that these conversations even occur. They reveal a deep seated ignorance.
Sir, couldn’t agree more. But we STILL talk about the “3 Block War and the 4 Floor Assault”.
Back to the Corps’ latest brilliant idea, the new and improved “Marine Defense Battalion”. Armed (sometime in a galaxy far away) with a slow short-range missile that is already obsolete, under manned, logistically isolated, and exposed to the enemy (the Swift, Silent, and Deadly went out when I was still a Butter Bar), Corps leadership will fill a lot of body bags.
If Corps leadership really wanted to field a naval attack missile the Corps has them in the inventory, and it has almost double the range of the phantom NAM. It is the ATACMS. From Wikipedia:
“M48 (Block I/Block 1 Unitary [initially] Block IV/Block 4 [later],[76] Quick Reaction Unitary [QRU], MGM-140E [initially] or MGM-168A)[45] is a variant of MGM-140B ATACMS Block IA,[77] a High-Explosive (HE), single-stage, Solid-Propellant (SP), Inertial-Navigation-System (INS)/GPS guided, missile containing the Quick Reaction Unitary (QRU) warhead,[78] missile with GPS-aided guidance. It carries the 500-pound (230 kg) WDU-18/B penetrating high explosive blast fragmentation warhead of the US Navy's Harpoon anti-ship missile, which was packaged into the newly designed WAU-23/B warhead section. There were 176 produced between 2001 and 2004, when production ceased in favor of the M57. Operational since 2002.[79] During Operation Iraqi Freedom, 16 were fired at Iraqi targets and a further 42 were fired during Operation Enduring Freedom.[41][59] The remaining ones are in the US Army and US Marine Corps' arsenal. Range: 70–300 km (43–186 mi).”
I can’t help but wonder what thoughts run through the brain housing groups of the “whiz kids” at HQMC and Quantico.
Further, a full review of the waste, fraud and abuse associated with FD2030 and Divest to Invest. One can be assured if anyone in a public corporation tried the absolute nonsense that has been going writ large in the DOD and in specific in the Marine Corps for the last 8 years, they would fired, and if civil or criminal charges merited face legal proceedings. Let’s ask the smartest guy in the room how it worked at Enron when the big lie came tumbling down. What’s that Jeff? Oh prison sucked, we can bet it did. As General Van Riper made clear a while ago, “no is watching the store.” Well let’s hope for some new and vigilant store managers.
…“Oh let’s just quit on everything. We’ve got some drones,” Paparo said sarcastically. “Alright, well the [People’s Republic of China]’s got 2,100 fighters,” he continued. “They’ve got three aircraft carriers. They have a battle force of 200 destroyers. Oh well roger, we’ve got a couple drones. No problem . . . ."
Is anyone in the Federal Government (including DOD) helping this guy? The strategic shift from Afghanistan and the Middle East was supposed to start in 2019. Yet the US seems to be wrapped around the axle of the Ukraine and Israeli-Houthi-Hamas war supported by Iran, Russia, and the CCP. I am sure the CCP is thinking that every arty round, missile and piece of equipment that goes to Israail and Ukraine is support we can't give to Taiwan. Is US State Department shoring up and writing treaties with the friendly countries of the “First Island” Chain, including Korea, Japan, Philippines, and Indonesia. Lets not forget the Malacca Strait, India and especially TAIWAN? Is our State Department attempting to establish a “great power competition” strategy to counter the CCP when they are significantly “out pacing” us with their “Belt Road Initiative”? Why does the US DOD leadership have the Armed Services chasing a 1950’s Cold War containment strategy (Island Chain Strategy)? The US Army seems to be trying to help with their MDTF (Multi-Domain Task Force). The US Air Force is looking at potential bases in the Pacific. The US Navy can’t build a combat ship on time nor manage the maintenance of their ships? SECNAV was embarrassed when Congress called him out on 28 amphibs when the law they passed calls for a minimum of 31 amphibs. To top off this rant, we have the US Marine Corps chasing a defensive strategy with the MLR and eliminating combat power for experimentation.
The right way to do experimentation is the TF58 story. https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Portals/7/combat-studies-institute/csi-books/the-mattis-way-of-war.pdf At the beginning of the Afghanistan War, the CENTCOM Combatant Commander stated that land locked Afghanistan did not provide the opportunity for amphibious operations. USMC Lieutenant General John G. Castellaw (USCENTCOM Chief of Staff) knew the Marines had to get into the Afghanistan fight. General Castellaw knew he had the CENTCOM Exercise Bright Star scheduled and had the foresight to use this exercise to “experiment”. This is where the TF58 experiment was born and General Mattes brought it home with a 350 nautical mile operation into Afghanistan.
General Mattes reached into his MAGTF tool bag made up of two MEUs for a Combatant Commander who was told his initial operational plan needed to be more “imaginable”. The 101st Air Borne clamed bragging rights for a 170 mile penetration into Iraq during Desert Storm. At 350 miles, TF58 almost doubled that accomplishment. Imaginable is defined as capable of being conceivable. Hey! Combatant Commander you need to always invite the Marines to the party to add some color and “imagination”.
Congressional Research Service March 8, 2024 Number of Active Duty General and Flag Officers It is a critical time in the history of Our Republic. Table 3. All 5 Active Duty General and Flag Officers total number 809. 4Star Army 15, Navy 7, Marine Corps 2, Air Force 11, Space Force 2 Total 37. 3Stars Army 44 Navy28, Marine Corps 16, Air Force 39, Space Force 5. Total 132. Perhaps the USMC tradition of having Generals tender their letter to retire and the CMC then picks those he desires to nominate to continue to serve be applied to all services ie 169 currently serving 3 and 4 star Generals and Admirals be subjected to a review of their performance based on merit and performance vice their appointment being based on race, gender, support for CRT, DEI, and in the case of the USMC failure to obey 10 US Code 8063-United States Marine Corps : composition;function. A board chaired by the Vice President of the United States w members he chooses conducts a review and determines continued service or retirement with nominations of replacements 3 and 4 star officer submitted to the President. A similar board must be convened for all Senior Executive Service Billets in DoD and all other Federal Agencies. Semper Fidelis.
The senior leadership in the US Government, be they Generals or SES’s and other are the problem, not the solution. The results speak for themselves. We keeping going back to those who failed yesterday for tomorrow’s solutions. What could be dumber? If 20% survive the scrutiny it might be too many.
Spot on as always.
Dereliction of duty, insubordination, disrespecting the US Congress by failing to meet the duly authorized Title X mandates, failure to report fully on the fitness for active duty, etc etc. Whether the Vice President or SecDef review each 3 and 4 star flag officer, all should come to their appointment with a letter of resignation in hand.
1. The Corps is making itself irrelevant at super sonic speed. Short range, slow missiles on islands and coral reefs in one theater. There is no way you need 160,000 Marines to be a stationary coastal defense force unable to move or be resupplied. All three other services have better capabilities. We gave ourselves a mission we cannot accomplish.
2. Why can’t we supply Ukraine as well as our own forces at the same time? Because we let our industrial base atrophy. If we can’t supply Ukraine, we could not have supplied ourselves in a medium sized conflict. We do not have the depth to fight a war over Taiwan. Get over it and prepare for the next fight.
3. Urban warfare is the graveyard of military forces. You can train all you want and become highly proficient. It will still consume you. Sending highly trained troops into the meat grinders of urban combat is a criminal act. It is like assaulting into artillery barrages and machine gun fire. People who dabble in this are delusional. Come up with something new other than infantry house to house, room to room.
Very disappointing that these conversations even occur. They reveal a deep seated ignorance.
Sir, couldn’t agree more. But we STILL talk about the “3 Block War and the 4 Floor Assault”.
Back to the Corps’ latest brilliant idea, the new and improved “Marine Defense Battalion”. Armed (sometime in a galaxy far away) with a slow short-range missile that is already obsolete, under manned, logistically isolated, and exposed to the enemy (the Swift, Silent, and Deadly went out when I was still a Butter Bar), Corps leadership will fill a lot of body bags.
If Corps leadership really wanted to field a naval attack missile the Corps has them in the inventory, and it has almost double the range of the phantom NAM. It is the ATACMS. From Wikipedia:
“M48 (Block I/Block 1 Unitary [initially] Block IV/Block 4 [later],[76] Quick Reaction Unitary [QRU], MGM-140E [initially] or MGM-168A)[45] is a variant of MGM-140B ATACMS Block IA,[77] a High-Explosive (HE), single-stage, Solid-Propellant (SP), Inertial-Navigation-System (INS)/GPS guided, missile containing the Quick Reaction Unitary (QRU) warhead,[78] missile with GPS-aided guidance. It carries the 500-pound (230 kg) WDU-18/B penetrating high explosive blast fragmentation warhead of the US Navy's Harpoon anti-ship missile, which was packaged into the newly designed WAU-23/B warhead section. There were 176 produced between 2001 and 2004, when production ceased in favor of the M57. Operational since 2002.[79] During Operation Iraqi Freedom, 16 were fired at Iraqi targets and a further 42 were fired during Operation Enduring Freedom.[41][59] The remaining ones are in the US Army and US Marine Corps' arsenal. Range: 70–300 km (43–186 mi).”
I can’t help but wonder what thoughts run through the brain housing groups of the “whiz kids” at HQMC and Quantico.
Further, a full review of the waste, fraud and abuse associated with FD2030 and Divest to Invest. One can be assured if anyone in a public corporation tried the absolute nonsense that has been going writ large in the DOD and in specific in the Marine Corps for the last 8 years, they would fired, and if civil or criminal charges merited face legal proceedings. Let’s ask the smartest guy in the room how it worked at Enron when the big lie came tumbling down. What’s that Jeff? Oh prison sucked, we can bet it did. As General Van Riper made clear a while ago, “no is watching the store.” Well let’s hope for some new and vigilant store managers.
From the INDIOPACOM Combatant Commander:
…“Oh let’s just quit on everything. We’ve got some drones,” Paparo said sarcastically. “Alright, well the [People’s Republic of China]’s got 2,100 fighters,” he continued. “They’ve got three aircraft carriers. They have a battle force of 200 destroyers. Oh well roger, we’ve got a couple drones. No problem . . . ."
Is anyone in the Federal Government (including DOD) helping this guy? The strategic shift from Afghanistan and the Middle East was supposed to start in 2019. Yet the US seems to be wrapped around the axle of the Ukraine and Israeli-Houthi-Hamas war supported by Iran, Russia, and the CCP. I am sure the CCP is thinking that every arty round, missile and piece of equipment that goes to Israail and Ukraine is support we can't give to Taiwan. Is US State Department shoring up and writing treaties with the friendly countries of the “First Island” Chain, including Korea, Japan, Philippines, and Indonesia. Lets not forget the Malacca Strait, India and especially TAIWAN? Is our State Department attempting to establish a “great power competition” strategy to counter the CCP when they are significantly “out pacing” us with their “Belt Road Initiative”? Why does the US DOD leadership have the Armed Services chasing a 1950’s Cold War containment strategy (Island Chain Strategy)? The US Army seems to be trying to help with their MDTF (Multi-Domain Task Force). The US Air Force is looking at potential bases in the Pacific. The US Navy can’t build a combat ship on time nor manage the maintenance of their ships? SECNAV was embarrassed when Congress called him out on 28 amphibs when the law they passed calls for a minimum of 31 amphibs. To top off this rant, we have the US Marine Corps chasing a defensive strategy with the MLR and eliminating combat power for experimentation.
The right way to do experimentation is the TF58 story. https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Portals/7/combat-studies-institute/csi-books/the-mattis-way-of-war.pdf At the beginning of the Afghanistan War, the CENTCOM Combatant Commander stated that land locked Afghanistan did not provide the opportunity for amphibious operations. USMC Lieutenant General John G. Castellaw (USCENTCOM Chief of Staff) knew the Marines had to get into the Afghanistan fight. General Castellaw knew he had the CENTCOM Exercise Bright Star scheduled and had the foresight to use this exercise to “experiment”. This is where the TF58 experiment was born and General Mattes brought it home with a 350 nautical mile operation into Afghanistan.
General Mattes reached into his MAGTF tool bag made up of two MEUs for a Combatant Commander who was told his initial operational plan needed to be more “imaginable”. The 101st Air Borne clamed bragging rights for a 170 mile penetration into Iraq during Desert Storm. At 350 miles, TF58 almost doubled that accomplishment. Imaginable is defined as capable of being conceivable. Hey! Combatant Commander you need to always invite the Marines to the party to add some color and “imagination”.