FD 2030 - USMC Needs Bottom-Up Reform
Marines Must Stay Ready to Fight in "Any Clime and Place"
Author, Marine, and red-teaming expert, Gary Anderson has written a powerful warning for The Defense Post. Anderson warns that with the adoption of FD 2030, the Marine Corps has lost its way, and failed to focus on the need to be ready to fight, not just in one part of the globe, but in ‘any clime and place.” (See link below)
Using history as a guide, Anderson provides pratical steps that junior Marine leaders can use starting today to make sure their Marines are prepared for the unexpected. Andeson’s article should raise conerns among every friend of the Corps, including those in Congress and among the Combatant Commanders.
The Defense Post (thedefensepost.com) November 14, 2022
Too Sino-Centric? US Marine Corps Needs Bottom-Up Reform
Marines must remember that being ready to fight in “any clime and place” is part of our DNA, even if the senior leadership has forgotten it.
By Gary Anderson
. . . Sometimes history presents solutions to current problems. After the disastrous defeat by Napoleon at the battles of Jena and Auerstadt in 1805, the resulting peace treaty virtually emasculated the Prussian Army and forced it into an alliance with France.
Some Prussian officers went so far as to fight on the Russian side against Napoleon. These included Carl von Clausewitz. But many went underground, creating a military reform movement that quietly worked to fix what was wrong with the obsolete system inherited from Frederick the Great in the 18th century.
These young (and some older) officers created a vision that would eventually throw off French chains and enable the Prussians to contribute decisively to the final victory over Napoleon at Waterloo . . .
Gary Anderson was the director of Marine Corps Wargaming and chief of staff of the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab. He lectures on Wargaming and Alternative Analysis (Red Teaming) at George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs.
https://www.thedefensepost.com/2022/11/14/us-marine-corps-reform/
Good suggestions in the article. There is a lot of room for free thinking in anticipating the future challenges for the operating forces, even if a Active Duty Marine is having to live with the current dilemma. This is also an opportunity to anticipate and train around the challenges. Among the many way reform starts, it starts with with Officers and SNCOs, especially those at the Company level, who can think through their training needs and figure out how to address those needs, all in a system built to support that which they are trying to reform. They can mitigate / integrate the Battalion level as needed, and mentor / guide the Squad level and below. That will also build the practical application base that, if it turns out the way I expect, will provide the justification for reform of the changes under FD 2030 (as long as the USMC isn't sidelined as a service in the DOD poker-game before then).