Don’t Touch This Turkey!
A report on the Marine Corps Association luncheon presentation.
It has been reported to Compass Points that a senior Headquarters Marine Corps representative made an unfulfilling presentation at the Marine Corps Association luncheon on November 17, 2022.
We are just a few days away from Thanksgiving. Compass Points knows just how the audience at the MCA luncheon must have felt. Compass Points has a crazy Uncle who subjects everyone at the Thanksgiving table to loud and nonsensical tales. Just as Compass Points tries to always listen politely, no doubt the attendees at the MCA luncheon tried to be just as charitable. It must have been difficult, though, because much of the presentation was either mistakenly wrong or over-zealously wrong. A few specific points.
1. The presentation implies Marines who raise concerns about FD 2030 are out of touch. Not true. Those who express concerns about FD 2030 are a wide and growing group. Many are retirees – some retired years ago, some only months ago, but all remain involved with the defense and national security community as subject matter experts, mentors, teachers, researchers, wargamers, and so forth.
2. The presentation suggests those who raise concerns about FD 2030 are victims of “old-think.” Not true. Those who question FD 2030 advocate instead, a modern Marine Air Ground Task Force equipped with the latest technology, a force able to respond rapidly across the globe on short notice with units able to fire, maneuver, and employ information in an era of precision guided munitions. Nothing old-think about this vision.
3. The presentation also asserts the National Defense Strategy forced the Corps to reorganize around missile batteries and littoral combat teams to confront the Chinese Navy. Not true. Compass Points has been told that the former Secretary of Defense who signed the 2018 NDS has confirmed he never envisioned the Corps’ wholesale restructuring.
4. The presentation suggests that Combatant Commanders wanted Marine Stand-in-Forces. Not true. According to three former Combatant Commanders who Compass Points talked with, Stand-in Forces may have marginal utility in the theaters for which they were responsible, but their successors will continue to need large robust MAGTFs.
5. The presentation asserts tanks and artillery are weapons of the past. Not true. No major military force in the world, except the Marine Corps, has given up either tanks or cannon artillery. None has any plans to. Tanks and cannon artillery are simply too useful. The failure of the presentation to mention what is happening in the ongoing war in Ukraine is astonishing.
6. The presentation fails to explain why advocates of FD 2030 abandon the “single battle” concept, where Marines fight the deep battle, the close battle, and the rear battle. Why forsake the close and rear battle? Why design a force with 14 missile batteries and only 7 cannon artillery batteries? The presentation is befuddling with the claim FD 2030 will add HIMARS batteries. A Headquarters Marine Corps chart shows 7 batteries in 2018 and 7 batteries in 2030. Not one added.
7. The presentation fails to explain how the Marine Corps could afford enough costly missiles for exercises and operations when a single Naval Strike Missile costs $1.7 million.
8. The presentation also fails to explain how these super expensive missiles can be used to execute critical fire missions such as time-on-target fires, long duration prep fires, or high volume final protective fires.
9. The presentation asserts that “programmatically the ACE is in great shape.” Not true. How can Marine aviation be in great shape, programmatically, operationally, or realistically when it has lost approximately thirty percent of its aircraft? In some squadrons, the number of aircraft has been reduced to the point where the ability to operate in accordance with proven doctrine is compromised. That puts lives at risk, now and in the future.
10. The presentation claims that maneuver warfare in the Marine Corps was developed quickly, casually, and without discussion and debate. Not true. The enduring Marine Corps manual, Warfighting, and its philosophy was the product of some 10 years of debate across the Corps and in professional journals, research, studies, a multitude of wargames, and more importantly, hundreds of field exercises.
11. The presentation asserts FD 2030 was developed using the Marine Combat Development Process. Not true. A small group created the concept in a series of closed meetings where the participants were constrained by non-disclosure agreements. General John A. LeJeune, just to name one Marine leader, never used non-disclosure agreements. He believed Marine officers were worthy of “special trust and confidence.”
With Thanksgiving approaching, Compass Points reminds readers that some meals are delicious, but many are not. No doubt the MCA luncheon itself was delicious, but the presentation was not very appetizing. When it comes to presentations, especially near Thanksgiving, never let anyone feed you a turkey so unfit for human consumption.
Compass Points, Thank you! This is the kind of aggressive, on point pushback essential in this campaign. Your takedown of the Spam Turkey being laid out as the real deal is solid gold. I wish the 'Phils' of the debate would function on point as well....however wishing and $1.50 only ever got me $1.50 cup of crummy coffee.
Regarding point #10 it is worth adding that FD 2030's "defensive mental process is the antithesis of the Corps’ maneuver warfare warfighting doctrine." (https://fabiusmaximus.com/2022/09/18/usmc-force-design-2030/)