Compass Points - Week in Review

Marine Corps must report to Congress.

Compass Points - Week in Review

Marine Corps must report to Congress.

February 18, 2024

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Happy Sunday!

Sunday is a good day to look back at the week. We started on Monday discussing the MAGTF. Later in the week, we discussed drones, Harriers, the COFA nations in the Pacific, and a critical report the Marine Corps is required to submit to Congress by February 15, 2024. In all, it was a week of particularly good discussion.

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Monday 12 Feb – One Trick Pony

Can the Maine Corps today best serve the Nation by becoming more of a narrow, regional force or should the Marine Corps become more of an always ready, balanced, global, crisis response force? General Anthony C. Zinni addresses the issue in his remarks called, "A One Trick Pony."

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Tuesday 13 Feb – Drones Overhead

Aerial drones, along with their unmanned ground and underwater cousins, are a powerful new technology. Like any new technology, drones are generating new counter technologies.

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Wednesday 14 Feb – Report Due

In the most recent National Defense Authorization Act, Congress imposed a requirement for a special and comprehensive report about the Marine Corps' Force Design decisions. The due date for the report to Congress is February 15, 2024.

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Thursday 15 Feb – Jumping on Houthis

Capt Earl Ehrhart is currently stationed onboard the USS Bataan operating off the coast of Israel just north of the Red Sea. Capt Ehrhart is a Harrier pilot and every day he climbs into his aging Harrier and flies out to meet some of the most advanced threats in the world, Houthi missiles and drones.

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Friday 16 Feb – Pacific Friends

One of the keys to US security in the Pacific is Guam; it sits nestled directly adjacent to the safety of the COFA nations, Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of Marshall Islands. The US has promised funding to the COFA nations but has not paid.

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Saturday 17 Feb – Drones & JAWS

The topic of drones has generated much discussion online and off. Among the many interesting and thoughtful comments received by Compass Points is one from Lt Col Travis Hord, USMC, a student at the Joint Advanced Warfighting School (JAWS) at the National Defense University.

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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. Many thanks!

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- - - - - Compass Points Mission & Values - - - - -

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Compass Points Mission

Provide an independent source of broader thinking, deeper understanding, and better decisions, for a stronger Marine Corps.

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Compass Points Values

We believe the Marine Corps must be responsive, relevant, and ready today, and more so tomorrow.

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We believe the Marine Corps is never owned by any small group of people, but is always held in sacred trust by every Marine and friend of the Corps, past, present, and future.

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We believe Marine Corps success in garrison, in the field, and in operations is a complex ecology of the physical, the intellectual, and the spiritual.

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We believe in the complexity of combat.

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We believe good data is good, but waiting for more and more data is not necessarily better.

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We believe no information system can or will sweep away the fog of war.

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We believe nothing is more uncertain than certainty.

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We believe planning is good, but first plans rarely survive first contact.

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We believe Marines must prepare to battle skilled, devious, and unpredictable adversaries.

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We believe Marines must be always ready to locate, close with, and destroy the enemy by fire and maneuver, or repel enemy assault by fire and close combat.

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We believe in combined-arms, multi-mission capable Marine Corps units that can quickly arrive anywhere, and address any conflict or crisis.

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We believe the Marine Corps must experiment with new technology constantly, and adopt it prudently.

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We believe in practicing and perfecting proven methods, while also experimenting with and adopting new methods.

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We believe in the Marine Corps culture of teamwork, trust, creativity, and courage.

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We believe in candid culture among Marines, never cancel culture.

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We believe the strength of the Marine Corps comes from the valor at the heart of each Marine. Each Marine draws strength from the entire Corps of Marines. Together, all Marines are joined across time and geography by the unbreakable red stripe of service.