It pains me to even ask this but the Commandant has laid out his cards and while I don't like his plan I can't help but think that Congress will do as Congress always does.
It'll fall back on the idea of "listening to the Generals".
With that being said I don't think the Marine Corps will be a viable ground combat force going into the future.
From my chair the hardwon gains of WW2 are being tossed away and we're doing the modern day version of climbing the masts to shoot at enemy ships and conduct small (and I do mean small) raids (how you square that mission set with a force of around 150K...which I think we'll soon see as an end strength..is beyond me...it would seem to be far too large a force with such a limited mission).
So with the thought of protecting this great nation what should we do?
If the Marines won't change course (and confidence is NOT HIGH that this group at HQMC will do so) then what do we do?
Fortunately (or unfortunately if you're in my shoes), we can turn to the US Army.
It's really quite obvious.
If the Marine Corps is going to vacate the mission that they pushed to get instituted into law then someone has got to do it. If not us then it's got to be them...the United States Army.
Make the 25th Infantry Division the new Amphibious Assault Force for the United States of America.
If you think about it they have all the tools to conduct an unopposed landing. In the future they can tailor themselves to become more capable in this regard...forcible entry will fall into their wheelhouse.
I'm pretty sure LAVs are going good bye. I'm also quite confident that the Amphibious Combat Vehicle isn't long for service in the USMC (if it actually makes it into service at all).
So what does that give us?
The Army just needs to piggyback off USMC development on the ACV and acquire that vehicle for the 25th ID. Tanks can remain as they are. The CH-47 has already been demonstrated to be quite capable of operating from ship, the V-280 can be adjusted to make the transition and the Apache can be navalized to do the deed too.
Their M-777's are used (were) by the USMC so that's easy, their trucks can also be navalized and let's be honest. For the most part they'll be landing feet dry since we'll have an over abundance of LCACs now.
The real issue will be mindset but that's not gonna be a hurdle. The Army can adopt the mission and put their spin on the thing.
Knowing them they'll probably throw in an airborne company or two and claim enhanced capability by the time they're thru.
It sucks but its a necessity considering the moves being made by the Marine Corps.
I'm not happy about it but we're doing it to ourselves.
I don't consider this an "if" but rather a "when" if Berger's plan comes to fruition.
The only real question after that is how long the Marine Corps lasts before bean counters realize that the pigeon hole mission set that the Corps set up (what remains of its mission) can be accomplished by Air Force/Navy Air and specialized Army artillery. No United States Marine Corps needed.
