Friday, May 05, 2017

Marines in Norway @ STRATMOBEX 17.... photo by Cpl. Emily Dorumsgaard






Interesting.

I grew up reading combat fiction by the likes of Harold Coyle talking about combat in Europe and the Middle East.  Since he was an Army guy the Marines were always an afterthought in his novels.  Marines in Norway always were caught in life and death combat (is there any other?) with Russian Paratroops, Spetsnaz and Naval Infantry.

It was great fiction but I have to wonder.  Why are we there (the Marines)? I'm not being critical of the Corps in any way but wondering about the policy. Trump talked loudly about America First and that our allies should defend themselves.  Now I'm seeing what amounts to almost a return of an Army Division (almost) to Europe and a reinforced MEU spread between Norway and the Black Sea.

Do we need to stress our forces deploying to places where combat is unlikely? I'm not sure and definitely need to chew on this but it seems like a few boys in the Pentagon/White House missed the lessons on "economy of forces" and "how not to break the military".

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