Compass Points – Video of the Future
Marine General Delivers Powerful Address
With February behind us, it means spring is just ahead. Soon the air will be filled, not just with the rich aroma of blossoming trees and flowers, but also with the sound of commencement addresses. After four long years of struggle, proud graduates sit listening to wise speakers who call out the best in the new graduates and the best in their future.
The commencement address focuses not on the struggle of recent years, but on the beginning, the commencement, of all that is to come. Commencement speakers try to leave their audience with a recipe for success.
In his recent thoughtful and motivating address at the Marine Corps Association West Coast dinner, the Commanding General of I Marine Expeditionary Force, Lieutenant General George W. Smith, Jr. delivered a kind of commencement address. He did not dwell on the struggles of recent years. Instead, he spoke of what is best about the Marine Corps and what is best about the future.
General Smith built his talk around one word, 'expeditionary.' He referenced often General Wilhelm's great article, 'Expeditionary Warfare."
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Expeditionary [means] immediately deploying and employing balanced, combined arms and integrated air - ground components of almost any size and configuration. Expeditionary warfare forces can take the shape of their mission or operating environment. They are not bound by tables of organization, but are like kaleidoscopes: changing the mission is like twisting the prism, but instead of a new pattern, a new force will emerge.
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General Smith helps us recall the best of the Marine Corps and the best in the future.
-- He reminds us the Marine Corps is a global expeditionary force not a local, specialized missile force.
-- He reminds us the Marine Corps needs to maintain a robust Maritime Prepositioning Force, not dismantle it.
-- He reminds us the Marine Corps is built in law on three division / wing / logistics forces and those must not be degraded.
Compass Points salutes Lieutenant General George W. Smith, Jr for his talk about the enduring strength of an expeditionary Marine Corps. He provides a recipe for success for the future of the Marine Corps. And he gives a powerful example of the kind of leadership the Marine Corps needs now.
General Smith demonstrated rare vision and calm leadership in reminding the entire Marine Corps community that it is not the struggle of the last four years that matters. Instead, what matters is the commencement of a new future for the Marine Corps, a Marine Corps built on the enduring power and enduring value of our Nation's always ready, always relevant, and always capable expeditionary Corps of Marines.
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Lieutenant General George W. Smith, Jr at MCA West Coast Dinner
https://www.dropbox.com/s/a49arwgs5s9vjvz/LtGen%20George%20Smith%20Speech.mp4?dl=0
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Expeditionary Warfare
By Lieutenant General Charles E. Wilhelm
Marine Corps Gazette June 1995 pp 28-30
I hesitate to co-opt LtGen Smith's comments wholesale in support of the issue at hand, but they are hard to dismiss as accidental critiques of the Corps' initiatives.
First: He pointedly quotes Gen Wilhelm as a voice from the past, one of the giants of the Corps upon whose shoulders we stand, as he defines the nature of an expeditionary Marine.
He outlines the value proposition that each element of the MAGTF brings to the fight. Personally poignant is his description of 7th Marines, led by Col Dave Hart, conducting a series of dismounted attacks over 40km, defeating an enemy in detail in force on force exercises of last year. I was a staff member of 1st MarDiv and witness to this feat. LtGen Smith understates the nature of the fight. It was one between Marines of mettle and grit vs. experimental units with sensors, mobility, and all the promise of an FD2030 unit. The results were devastating for anyone who disbelieves the immutable nature of war.
Finally, he reinforces the nature of "talent leadership" vs. "Talent Management." Identification and retention of individual Marines with superior skillsets is the business of the commander with most direct contact with those Marines. It is not the business of the institution, which cannot and should not institute impersonal policies that value technicians over the Marines that will walk and assault over 40km to victory.
He said he might receive a phone call as a result of that speech or some of its contents. I trust that he, as a Warfighter, has counted the cost.
No matter the result, this speech is worthy of archive alongside the oral histories of our previous Generals, as a seminal moment in the debate and discourse over FD2030.
It’s very refreshing to hear of active duty senior officers speaking out knowing that they are cutting across the grain...LtGen Smith has my utmost respect!