Optimizing the Marine Corps for small wars

[William F. Owen]

“Paramount among these demands will be the requirement for Marines to train and mentor the security forces of partner nations in a manner that empowers their governments to secure their own countries,” he said.

Why would that be a Marine mission? It doesn't have anything to do with what Marines do. OK, they may have done it in the past, but isn't the army far better resourced to handle this?

Based on threat assessments projected through 2015, Marines face a spectrum of operations, the report said: stability and support; small wars and counterinsurgency; humanitarian assistance, disaster relief and nation-building; peacekeeping operations; combating terrorism; counterproliferation and nonproliferation; combating drug trafficking and crime; and non-combatant evacuation operations.

So if this was a threat assessment, why are they talking about "types" or "styles" of operation and not talking about the threats? I understand the article is written for folks with no military understanding, but this must be dumbing the idea down to it's bare bones.

[RJ]

I suspect someone who has read the 52 page document will share it with us and either answer your questions or someone else will.

I suspect the Ambhib Navy will support the shift and all those admirals digging up gator navy missions to keep the boats afloat and tuned up.

[TT]

Quote:
Originally Posted by RJ View Post
“Paramount among these demands will be the requirement for Marines to train and mentor the security forces of partner nations in a manner that empowers their governments to secure their own countries,” he said.

Wilf posted:
Why would that be a Marine mission? It doesn't have anything to do with what Marines do. OK, they may have done it in the past, but isn't the army far better resourced to handle this?

I am not speaking on the basis of any ‘insider’ knowledge, for I have no such info. So these are just some thoughts:

This mission does fit from what I heard articulated at conference a couple of weeks back about the new Cooperative Maritime Strategy -- which was that the USMC was very keen in developing the Strategy that conflict prevention be elevated to be of equal importance with warfighting. It ‘may’ also be that this mission is attached to, or related to, the USNs move to work with other naval forces to develop better partnerships with them as part of its increasing focus on Phase 0 operations (conflict prevention).

Beyond that, the article suggests that the USMC does not see being involved, or would prefer not to be involved, in any long term, ground wars in the future (if it can avoid this). Another thought is that if the era of big footprint operations will pass once the US draws down in Iraq, then this mission provides a persistent role in the Long War, which seemingly is the working title of the briefing.

Quote:
Originally Posted by RJ
Based on threat assessments projected through 2015, Marines face a spectrum of operations, the report said: stability and support; small wars and counterinsurgency; humanitarian assistance, disaster relief and nation-building; peacekeeping operations; combating terrorism; counterproliferation and nonproliferation; combating drug trafficking and crime; and non-combatant evacuation operations.

Wilf posted: So if this was a threat assessment, why are they talking about "types" or "styles" of operation and not talking about the threats? I understand the article is written for folks with no military understanding, but this must be dumbing the idea down to it's bare bones.

I the take point that this list is a list of ‘capabilities’. But has not the US shifted, or tried to shift, to capabilities based planning on the premise that this is the best means to be as prepared as possible for futurer risks, dangers and threats that are uncertain? ‘Bout the only thing missing in the list is conventional force-on-force, and that was mentioned elsewhere as not being a likely prospect in the short to mid term.

[Granite_State]

Good to see this thread still kicking. What I meant in my original post, and I probably wasn't clear enough, was an issue of prioritizing threats and future missions. This isn't to say the Marine Corps can wash its hands of a role in large-scale conventional conflict, or amphibious landing/forced entry, just that it seems to me that small wars, "hybrid wars", and the advisory role should be number 1. Amphibious operations may well be 1A. Obviously a combined-arms force of 175,000 cannot be confined to a couple of roles, but it seems like a waste of money and (more importantly) time to be preparing just as much for a peer competitor as for the next small war in the Middle East or elsewhere.

This would also seem to be in accord with General Conway's worries about the Corps getting too heavy.

But if someone on here who's been through OCS, TBS, or SOI recently could tell me I'm way off base, and the Marines have swung too far in the other direction, I'd love to hear that.

[jcustis]

Why would that be a Marine mission? It doesn't have anything to do with what Marines do. OK, they may have done it in the past, but isn't the army far better resourced to handle this?



So if this was a threat assessment, why are they talking about "types" or "styles" of operation and not talking about the threats? I understand the article is written for folks with no military understanding, but this must be dumbing the idea down to it's bare bones.

The Marine Corps has conducted theater engagement for a long time. There is even a Security Cooperation Center aboard Quantico that serves as the hub of sorts.

In its capacity as an amphibious-capable force, the Corps has provided a lot of bilateral training and support with many other nations facing littoral threats, like the Philippines. And since the PI has its own Marine Corps, I don't think utilizing the Army to be the lead makes sense.

Even though it may simply be a hallmark of the past, I think the Corps is just as effectively resourced to provide security training/assistance to other nations. True, we would serve as better enablers of SFers working the FID mission in the backwaters of the world, but if the Groups are going to continue to be hard-pressed as part of the Long War rotations, the gaps have to be filled somehow.

I think that there is a definite and clear distinction between a team catching a helo in to train the indigenous security forces of a state that cannot muster armor formations or air forces, and tasking a MAGTF to focus (instead of conduct as a sideline event) on bilateral exercises and security cooperation engagement that aims at maintaining professional standards within the HN military and making the country as a whole more effective a defeating forces opposed to our national interests. Back as far as 2005, the Corps has been looking at ways to leverage off its unique abilities and skill sets to help the overall fight, not to be the new game in town and break rice bowls that have belonged (and rightly so) to snake eaters with the USA.

[RJ]

jcustis is correct in the role of the Marine Corps is assisting training other nations forces is correct.

In March of 1960 my Battalion along with most of the 3rdMarDiv. conducted a large amphibious landing at Formosa. We, 3/5 went ashore via the "Peter" and "Mike" Boat route by climbing down nets in to the assualt craft. Made a classic amphib landing near Kao-Hsiung, Formosa. Once ashore we linked up with a Nat. Chinese Infantry Co. and boarded helicopters and did a vertical envelopment shift inland about 20 miles.

When the whole Bn. finished the airlift we moved out ot that air head and maneuvered back towards the City of Kao-Hsiung. The name of the training exercise was "Operation Blue Star" .

M-3/5 spent two days at the Chinese Marine Corps home base and worked with them on tactics.

They were primarily a Raider Style Unit and I rembeber their 9 man squads had two Thomson Sub-machine guns for every M-1 Garand rifle.

Lt. Col. Houghton was forever finding us new faces to work with. Chinese Marines, PI Army, Royal Warwicks near Hong Kong, etc.

We were not uncomfortable in mixing with those units and comparing our tactics to theirs.

I just finished Hog Pilots and Blue Water Grunts and there were a couple of small Marine training units in out of the way places, in that interesting read.

It could be a culture deal that dates back to the Banana Wars where Marines traind "Native Constablary Units" to fight "bandits".

[Rex Brynen]

Army, Marines give waivers to more felons, CNN, 21 April 2008.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Army and Marine Corps are allowing convicted felons to serve in increasing numbers, newly released Department of Defense statistics show.

...

It also allowed two people convicted of making terrorist or bomb threats to enlist in 2007, up from one the year before.

The Marines did not immediately respond to request for comment.

Well, that's one way of optimizing for the GWoT...

[Ken White]

weren't crimes are today 'felonies.' The bomb threats were probably made when they were High School students. Few years ago there was a lot of that down here, got 'em out of classes for half a day sometimes while the Bomb Squad and the dogs swept the building. Got too expensive, so all the states started prosecuting for it. The kids generally get costs, restitution and probation.

You left out the fact that they aren't waiving drug sale offenses; they'll waive burglary and even manslaughter as they should, IMO but not pushing.

Be great to not need waivers, we could do that in an ideal world. It's not an ideal world; never has been and is unlikely to ever be one...

That's another article that's much ado about nothing. The NCOs and Officers will gripe because it makes their jobs slightly harder but by and large it'll make little difference. We've been there before and it doesn't break anything.

[ODB]

Not to hijack the thread but wanted to add to the waivers. 16 year enlisted career and still going. Had a DUI in high school, was a high school dropout (did summer course to get my diploma), I was an overall hell raising teen. Let's see, 16 years later, SFC in SF, a few credits shy of my MBA, wonderful daughter, been married 10 years, the list goes on. Personally I'll take a kid with a chip on his shoulder who messed up as a teenager, certain attitudes cannot be trained. Many of these kids are the same ones who don't know how to quit. They get their immaturity out at an early age and learn their lessons while they are young. Honestly how many people out there have not made mistakes? Some are unlucky and get caught. Finally over the years I have seen and lead many soldiers who grew to become productive members of society.

Don't be too quick to judge the waivers!

[Surferbeetle]

The military provides a chance to realize one's potential. Throughout the years the majority of folks that I have seen coming in the door want to do well and are trainable, and I am for the most part still impressed with the new folks coming in. I was worried about attrition rates among LT's in the late '80's and how it seemed that many good folks were taking the money and running during when the Berlin Wall came down, however the US military hung tough during those turbulent times and I suspect that we will continue to do so...

As a general note to try and get back to the thread, I have enjoyed working with the CAG in particular, as well as the Marines in general...their planning methods are different that what I am used to as a soldier, but they certainly take care of business.

[RJ]

This was the end of an article on the Waiver Issue about a week ago.

The stats in the article showed the waiver troops were making Sgt. an average of 4 months faster than the troops who entered from High School with out a spot on thier file.

The waiver troops also reinlested at a higher percentage rate.

"Army officials say getting a waiver is a long and difficult process, particularly for those who have been convicted of a serious offense. Serious offenders have their records reviewed and must get approval from as many as nine different analysts and officers — up to the rank of general.

Gen. William Wallace, commander of the Army’s Training and Doctrine Command at Fort Monroe, Va., dismisses the notion that waivers are creating more disciplinary problems in today’s Army.

Instead, he said, when the Army brings in a young person who made a mistake and got past it, most likely “they will be a better person for having made that mistake and learned from it, than perhaps somebody who didn’t make the mistake and didn’t have the opportunity to learn.”

Wallace speaks from experience.

As a teen he was taken into custody in his hometown of Louisville, Ky., when — as he put it — “I took an expensive baseball and put it in a not-so-expensive baseball box, and tried to check out with it.”

He remembers the black and white police car pulling up, loading his and his friend’s bicycles in the back and taking him downtown to the station where his father had to pick him up.

He laid out the sobering experience on his application for West Point several years later and, he recalled this week, “somebody looked at that application and said ‘he apparently learned something from the experience and we’ll give him an opportunity.”’

Wallace, a four-star general whose chest full of awards now includes two Distinguished Service medals, five Legion of Merit awards and an Army Commendation Medal for valor, said the Army has an obligation to give young people a second chance to make something of themselves.

“I am less concerned about the raw material that we receive than I am about the product that we produce,” he said.

[Nomad]

Ahhhh.... here we are in 2010... we are making progress...

Title: Corps to have mandatory cultural training

Marines to be assigned area of specialization
By James K. Sanborn - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Sep 13, 2010 16:44:27 EDT

http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news...ining-091310w/

Fighting in any clime or place means Marines often come into close contact with people of all nationalities and cultures. An intimate understanding of those cultures can make the difference between mission success and mission failure. That’s why the Marine Corps is now rolling out mandatory cultural training that will assign most Marine a specific region of specialization that they will study for the duration of their career.

The program, which will include reservists, will begin in late August with first and second lieutenants, but eventually be expanded to all enlisted Marines ranked sergeant and above, and all officers up to colonel.

The Regional, Culture, and Language Familiarization Program was created by the Marine Corps Center for Advanced Operational and Cultural Learning at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va. Eventually, officers and enlisted Marines will be assigned to one of 17 global regions of study, which they will focus on for the duration of their careers, according to Marine Administrative Message 468/10.

“When you get turned to the south or diverted to the west, you need to have people that are organic to your staff that understand the region,” said retired Col. George Dallas, the center’s director.

For example: the recent humanitarian relief efforts in Haiti in response to January’s earthquake. Marines who spoke Creole or French and understood Haiti’s culture were indispensable during those relief efforts, Dallas said.

The hope is to have at least one or two Marines in every unit who have a solid understanding of any region to which Marines could be called.

The program was prompted by goals set forth in the Commandant’s Planning Guidance, a 2006 report issued by Commandant Gen. James T. Conway, and the Marine Corps Service Campaign Plan for 2009-2015. Both emphasized the need to bolster the Corps’ expeditionary mission. In response, plans were made to carve up the globe into spheres of responsibility for each Marine Expeditionary Force, under the assumption that regionally focused forces are better at forging lasting partnerships with locals. The new training helps meet that mission.

Captains can expect to begin taking courses by November. Sergeants will follow in the spring. Dallas said he hopes all Marines will be studying their regions within a year and a half

“We are not trying to add a lot of new requirements,” Dallas said. “We are trying to take existing things [Marines] have done, or will do, during their career and amplify the cultural, regional lessons tied to it.”

That means Marines will be encouraged to adjust training and education to their geographic assignments. For example, analyzing books on the Commandant’s Reading List through a cultural lens.

Marines still will be required to take additional lessons online through MarineNet. They will complete short quizzes throughout their course of study and a 100-question final exam at the end of each study block.

There will be several blocks over a Marine’s career, each completed every few years, coinciding with career progression. Failure to complete a block could adversely affect a Marine’s career, although it is not a prerequisite for promotion.

When assigning regions, a Marine’s history will be taken into account. That includes prior education, native culture or birthplace. The number of available slots for each region will be determined by three variables: requests from combatant commanders, requests from unit commanders and Corps threat assessments. More Marines will be assigned to volatile regions, as it is where they are most likely to deploy.

Officers at The Basic School submit a wish list of their top three regions. Platoon commanders then work with them to find the right fit.

Once the program is in full swing, enlisted Marines will be assigned regions at random, based on demand, but they will be able to appeal their assignment.

Not everybody will get their first choice, but leaders will give prior knowledge strong consideration, for both officers and enlisted.

The program was made to span a Marine’s career to allow time to develop an in-depth understanding of an assigned region, Dallas said.

“Understanding the culture, the region, the language to a limited degree, allows a commander to better and more effectively shape his battle space,” Dallas said. “It helps him understand the human dimension, anticipate human reactions. If you can do that, you can influence friends and manipulate enemies.”

REGIONS OF STUDY
The 17 global regions Marines will be assigned to study under a new cultural education program, with examples of what each region includes:

• Central Africa: Republic of the Congo, Angola, Cameroon.

• Eastern Africa: Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia.

• North Africa: Egypt, Libya, Morocco.

• Sahel: A narrow band stretching across Africa, where the tropics meet the deserts.

• Southern Africa: Botswana, Namibia, South Africa.

• West Africa: Senegal, Nigeria, Liberia.

• West South Africa: Namibia.

• Central Asia: Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.

• Northeast Asia: Japan, South Korea, North Korea.

• South Asia: Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh.

• Southeast Asia: Vietnam, the Philippines, Cambodia.

• Arabian Gulf: Iran, Kuwait, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates.

• Levant: Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Israel.

• Balkans: Albania, Boznia and Herzegovina, Serbia.

• Mexico, Caribbean, Central America.

• South America: Peru, Columbia, Brazil, Venezuela.

• Transcaucuses: Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan.

— Source: Marine Corps.