In WWII what the USMC could do that the Army could not do was to assault from water against fiercely defended land terrain, using combined arms methods--air, artillery, specially designed vehicles and craft, storm troops--but deployed from the water, blitzkrieg from the sea. The 18th Airborne could not do that then and cannot do it now. Relevant now? Yes, because sooner or later China will grab Taiwan, and if that goes well the next tier, Senkakus, Okinawa, Luzon, Guam, either immediately or in the course of time. (To protect its coasts, its commerce, its inherent national interests, its way of life, China will tell you.) If the US wants a long term presence in the Western Pacific it will have to take these areas back, the same way the Chinese may take them, by amphibious assault, modern combined arms deployed from the sea.
Also, BTW, you cannot defend a missile base with missiles, or an airbase with aircraft.
Let's see, the Army can deploy a couple of Multi-Domain Task Forces, plus at least a couple divisions tasked to the Pacific, and yet the Commandant still wants this FD mission! We need to do what no one else does: combined arms naval expeditionary warfare!!
I have had difficulty continuing to read Compass Points. As several contributors have noted, the case of exposing FD 2030 as a dumb concept, fraudulently "sold" and with early "divest to invest" has left our Corps unable to perform our missions or show that we comply with Title 10. Given the unimpeachable sources of this case, the facts are clear and it's very late to begin repairing the damage. So what can be done NOW? what recommendations for action are on offer? Who is educating the members of the relevant House and Senate committees and their staffs? Has Sec Nav and Sec Defense bought into the analysis presented here or are they "standing by" for the elections to be over? What relevance does our Corps have to a seizure of Taiwan or the Philippines in November? January? Next Spring? EVER?
I am long out of date but many of the contributors to Compass points were well known to me and I have no reason to believe that they are all demented or have taken up lying. So what's next?
In WWII what the USMC could do that the Army could not do was to assault from water against fiercely defended land terrain, using combined arms methods--air, artillery, specially designed vehicles and craft, storm troops--but deployed from the water, blitzkrieg from the sea. The 18th Airborne could not do that then and cannot do it now. Relevant now? Yes, because sooner or later China will grab Taiwan, and if that goes well the next tier, Senkakus, Okinawa, Luzon, Guam, either immediately or in the course of time. (To protect its coasts, its commerce, its inherent national interests, its way of life, China will tell you.) If the US wants a long term presence in the Western Pacific it will have to take these areas back, the same way the Chinese may take them, by amphibious assault, modern combined arms deployed from the sea.
Also, BTW, you cannot defend a missile base with missiles, or an airbase with aircraft.
Let's see, the Army can deploy a couple of Multi-Domain Task Forces, plus at least a couple divisions tasked to the Pacific, and yet the Commandant still wants this FD mission! We need to do what no one else does: combined arms naval expeditionary warfare!!
I have had difficulty continuing to read Compass Points. As several contributors have noted, the case of exposing FD 2030 as a dumb concept, fraudulently "sold" and with early "divest to invest" has left our Corps unable to perform our missions or show that we comply with Title 10. Given the unimpeachable sources of this case, the facts are clear and it's very late to begin repairing the damage. So what can be done NOW? what recommendations for action are on offer? Who is educating the members of the relevant House and Senate committees and their staffs? Has Sec Nav and Sec Defense bought into the analysis presented here or are they "standing by" for the elections to be over? What relevance does our Corps have to a seizure of Taiwan or the Philippines in November? January? Next Spring? EVER?
I am long out of date but many of the contributors to Compass points were well known to me and I have no reason to believe that they are all demented or have taken up lying. So what's next?