Compass Points - Week in Review
Plus, Articles Link and The Great Golden Goose Fable
April 7, 2024
Happy Sunday!
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Sunday is a good day to look back at the week. We started on Monday with a discussion of the Houthi problem, a small threat that could grow larger. Tuesday argued for the continuing need for Marine armor. On Wednesday and Thursday, we discussed the new SPOT promotion program and the preface to the CMC frag order. We ended the week by highlighting an article by Mike Pompeo as well as a salute to the “Eternal USMC.” In all, it was a week of particularly good discussion.
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Monday 1 April – Houthi High School
The longer the Houthis are allowed to continue to harass Red Sea commercial shipping with missiles and drones, the more the Houthis provide a school for other hostile nations, nation-states, and terrorists on how to distract, harass, and embarrass the US around the globe.
https://marinecorpscompasspoints.substack.com/p/compass-points-houthi-high-school
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Tuesday 2 April – Advanced Armor
Forbes is reporting that Bahrain wants more of them. Ukraine and Israel need them today. Every major military force in the world needs them. The Marine Corps needs them also. The Marine Corps still needs what the Army has described as a "mobile, protected, direct fire system." That acronym would be 'MPDFS' but perhaps it is easier to just call the thing what it has been called for more than 100 years, a tank.
https://marinecorpscompasspoints.substack.com/p/compass-points-advanced-armor
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Wednesday 3 April – SPOT ON!
The Marine Corps announced a new program of its own called, "SPOT Promotion." No, this is not a program to promote more deserving Marines, "on the spot." Instead, the SPOT boards will temporarily promote some officers.
https://marinecorpscompasspoints.substack.com/p/compass-points-spot-on
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Thursday 4 April – Frag Order
It is fitting the Commandant begins his frag order by recognizing that the Marine Corps is special because Marines are special. The Commandant's words are shared by Marine veterans of every rank and MOS, including so many of the most experienced and renowned retired Marine leaders. Senior, retired Marine leaders have long expressed their deep respect, not just for the Marines who served with them, but a deep and abiding respect for the Marines who served in the years and decades after them. Just three examples:
https://marinecorpscompasspoints.substack.com/p/compass-points-frag-order
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Friday 5 April – Re-thinking the Pacific
Pacific nations are not only beefing up their own military forces, they are also recalculating their own China strategies. It is time for the US and the Marine Corps to do some new thinking also. Writing in their article for The Hill, "A new strategic concept could be useful in the US military’s defense of Taiwan" Mike Pompeo and Bryan Clark advocate the US rethink its approach to China in the Pacific by establishing a new "hedge force."
https://marinecorpscompasspoints.substack.com/p/compass-points-re-thinking-the-pacific
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Saturday 6 April – Eternal USMC
There is an eternal Marine Corps as well as a temporary Marine Corps. The eternal Marine Corps is now in its third century of service to the Nation. The eternal qualities of Marines never change, like courage, honor, and fidelity to duty. But not everything is eternal.
https://marinecorpscompasspoints.substack.com/p/compass-points-eternal-usmc
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Compass Points appreciates all the great discussion this week and thanks all our readers who served as seminar leaders this week by providing topics, articles, and comments.
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Articles Link
The link below is the latest updated list of articles discussing Force Design, the future of the Marine Corps, and a better way forward. This is version 6.2.1 of April 4, 2024. Articles are hyperlinked to titles. The primary index (topic areas A-J) consists of 121 articles, authored, or coauthored, by 78 different writers, and published in 39 different media outlets. The index of supporting articles (topic area K) consists of an additional 50 articles, authored or coauthored by 46 different writers, and published in 29 different media outlets.
https://mega.nz/file/MyY3kbiD#wUuUHZaPPOfKTDQH2uRWRJ9d4ed-RebuX7NiZqjnHOE
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In addition, Compass Points has received a retelling of the Marine Corps fable, “The Great Golden Goose with the Small Golden Eggs.”
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The Great Golden Goose with the Small Golden Eggs
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Gather around as we tell again one of Sgt Aesop's most famous Marine fables, “The Great Golden Goose with the Small Golden Eggs” -- also called, “Where do those wonderful golden MEUs come from?”
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One night a Marine was working late, trying to solve the shortage of Marine Expeditionay Units in the world. As everyone knows, the combined arms MEU on global patrol is the golden egg of the Marine Corps and whenever there is a crisis anywhere in the world, the MEU is always nearby, ready to deter, assist, and fight. But the number of MEUs has gone down over the years. Today there are not enough MEUs around the globe. More MEUs are needed. The Marine wrestled with the problem of a global MEU shortage, but he could find no answers. Finally, he fell into a deep sleep. While he was sleeping Sgt Aesop appeared in his dream and told the Marine the fable of "The Great Golden Goose with the Small Golden Eggs."
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Once upon a time there were three Marine brothers, each with their own farms. One Marine had his farm in the East, one in the West, and the third brother had his farm way on the other side of the pond. Each of the three Marines had a very special goose on their farm, a Great Golden Goose. Each Great Golden Goose was not only unusually large, strong, robust, and good looking, but each Great Golden Goose was magical. Each Great Golden Goose laid a small golden egg every day, 365 days a year. The small golden eggs were treasured around the globe. Everyone wanted to see a golden egg. Everyone wanted a golden egg on display in their neighborhood. Everyone wanted more and more golden eggs.
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Eventually the small golden eggs became so famous that even the attention of each of the three Marine brothers became focused not on their own Great Golden Goose that created the small golden eggs, but only on the small, shiny, golden eggs. Each brother no longer had time to feed their Great Golden Goose, to watch over their goose, or take care that their goose remained large, strong, and robust. As time went by and while the golden eggs became more sought after, the East farm goose, the West farm goose, and particularly the goose that lived on the farm way across the pond, all began to grow smaller, weaker, and more sickly. Each Great Golden Goose was no longer able to produce a small golden egg 365 days a year. Now the small, golden eggs were produced only now and then.
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Civilians in the East, in the West, and civilians way over on the other side of the pond grew angry that the three Marine brothers were no longer providing the three golden eggs 365 days a year. They began to tell the three Marines to produce more golden eggs immediately. The three Marine brothers knew there was a problem. The three brothers met in Washington DC for a conference on the golden egg shortage. While they were attending the golden egg conference, each Great Golden Goose was back on the farm growing smaller and weaker and producing still fewer and fewer small golden eggs.
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One consultant at the conference suggested that to get the store of small golden eggs that must be inside, each Great Golden Goose should be sliced open. That way more small golden eggs would be available all at once. The three Marine brothers looked at the consultant and then looked at each other. Without speaking, the three brothers agreed on a drastic course of action. The brothers picked up the consultant and threw him out the window.
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The moral of the story is beware of attending conferences in Washington DC. But the second moral is if you kill the Great Golden Goose, you cannot have golden eggs. Want more golden eggs deployed on amphibious ships, around the globe, 365 days a year? Then, feed the MEF first. The large, strong, robust MEF is the source of all the golden MEUs.
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© JDK 2024
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I was one of many who witnessed the infancy of I MEF as it emerged from its eggshell in 1988. This tiny, struggling,gosling, w an understaffed Command Element, a part time Commander, who was primarily focused as CG First Marine Division. He would visit the Old Wooden Shack that housed the gosling w the time he had available. Previously I shared General Boomer’s article,
Inside the Storm” USNI February 2011”, describing his arrival after the Gosling I MEF had returned from CentComm Exercise Internal Look and “Our Late Caesar” Commandant Gray gave him Command of the Gosling, as it like a Phoenix, a 90 day wonder MEF innovated, borrowed and scrounged its way to Victory in Desert Storm. Today we have witnessed the destruction of the MEF and its Division, Wings, FSSGs. The MEF is emasculated after 4 decades of being honed in battle into a fierce, agile balance MAGTF War Machine capable of Worldwide 24/7 deployment for duty across the spectrum of conflict. In its place we have a set of untested, NDA protected, acronyms, MLRs, SIFs, WEZ, MultiDimensional Wonder Designs of imagined,vacuous, dreams. The Golden Goose has been forced to commit suicide.
Or when will the Toxic USN Admiralty be held accountable for their inability to train and supervise the ancient 24/7 365 ritual taught to us in our basic tracing known as the “Fire Watch”! NYT “Sailor Acquitted of Setting Fire That Destroyed $1.2 Billion Navy Ship
A Navy judge cleared Seaman Recruit Ryan Mays of all charges over the fire that engulfed the U.S.S. Bonhomme Richard in 2020.” The broken USN Personnel System forced Mays upon failing to complete BUDS to finish his enlistment in the bowels of the Bonnie Dick during its upgrade. Then they attempted to make him the scape goat for the Admirals Criminal Negligence. This is standard practice for the USN. Several years ago, I became aware of a highly intelligent college graduate who dreamed of becoming a Navy SEAL, he failed in his quest instead of the USN attempting to find a suitable billet utilizing his education etc. they ordered him to duty refueling helicopters. Fortunately for him I contacted a close friend, a Commander USN Chaplain Corps Ret ,a Combat Chaplain, who I will not name , but is well known to MCCP. After his counsel the lad visited his Navy JAG Officer who upon reviewing the enlistment contract coordinated this individual immediate honorable discharge. This was before the Mandatory Military Covid Madness that remains unresolved for 8500 military personnel wrongfully disciplined, hazed, discriminated and discharged by Secretary Austin, his Service Secretaries, Service Chiefs etc.. Yes the same Secretary Austin who deserted his post for several days and in conjunction left the NCA inoperable.