Why do so many experienced Marine leaders, who only want a stronger Marine Corps, see FD 2030 not as a creative step forward, but, instead, as a catastrophic step back? In his article in the Marine Corps Gazette, Bing West, former assistant secretary of defense and a combat Marine, questions why FD 2030 is not strengthening a force-in-readiness.
Marine Corps Gazette, August 2021
A Force-in-Readiness,
or in Stasis?
Five questions about FD 2030
By Bing West
. . . For the Marine Corps, the narrower question is whether the
benefits of Force 2030 outweigh its opportunity costs. Over the past century,
America has fought six major wars and a dozen smaller conflicts. Naval
planners foresaw the 1942–45 War in the Pacific; all other wars and crises were not
anticipated. So, the odds are about five to one that the next conflict will not be
a naval conflict with China. Force 2030 may be a force in stasis, never employed.
Force 2030, however, did give up tanks and many howitzers. Defense Secretary Jim
Mattis and retired General Robert Neller invested heavily to modernize the essence of
the Marine Corps—the squad. Their shared assumption was that close-in combat
remained the lodestone of the Marine Corps . . . .
Mr. West is a former Assistant Secretary of Defense and combat Marine. He has
written ten books about Marines in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan. His latest is
The Last Platoon: A Novel of the Afghanistan War.
As a former 0321 from too many years ago, an old MCIWS, and as a guy who had to baby sit Bing West in Iraq...I have to say, I don't understand what his problem is with the USMC leveraging it's future to create the Pacific Maritime Reconnaissance Regiment (-/+). It's also going to help with improving the swim qualification rates that are problematic...right? (the sarcasm is accurate, as are the autobiographical points. The USMC is having, and is always having, problems with swim qual; usually local problem pushed off as a service wide issue, because qualification ≠ training. Last note - it was interesting having West and General Smith ride along with us for a bit; I actually had to threaten them to get their SUV out of the middle of the road since I wasn't going to be responsible for them getting run over by a passing Amtrak on my watch).