via Marine Times
“A littoral force is only relevant if it maintains the ability to apply force at the time necessary to generate options and influence the greater campaign,” the manual said. “Operating in a distributed environment with limited support and resources will require a force with the warrior mindset, as well as the mental agility to rapidly shift perspectives and generate alternatives.”
Simple question.
How?
How do you maintain a warrior mindset when you're building a push button force?
It gets better though...
“The impending challenge is significant and cannot be met by merely refining current methods and capabilities,” the manual reads.
Marines will operate from expeditionary advanced bases dotted around the islands and atolls within the littorals of any future conflict.
Having Marines spread out will provide a strong force capable of fighting immediately, while holding open key sea lanes.
The dispersion of the bases, along with the Marine Corps’ ability to move forces around different littorals quickly and quietly, will make it hard for the enemy to land a decisive blow against the Marines, while the beefed-up firepower of these small units will make them too strong for any enemy to ignore.
Wow.
I don't get the thinking. They're building a force that is so dangerous to the enemy that IT CAN'T be ignored? Yet they're banking on only the fact that it will 'move quickly and quietly'?
I can't help but think that they will have persistent ISR over the entire region and if these units are indeed that deadly then they will be found, fixed and destroyed.
I can't help but think that they're building a force that if actually employed is designed to be a sponge for enemy fire.
In other words they're building units to be decimated.
This is the kicker though.
Future MEUs will be capable of “operating both from the sea and expeditionary advanced bases,” the report said.
“It will be capable of enabling sea denial and conducting amphibious operations, crisis-response operations, and designated special operations to support the requirements of multiple combatant commanders,” it added.
In 2030 each MEU will look a little different depending on where it is deploying to and the expected missions it will take on. The only constant will be the command element, the manual said.
What kind of "amphibious operations? What kind of crisis response ops? I'm guessing that special operations just means that SOCOM is going to be taking up boat spaces that were once occupied by Marine infantry. Hell to be honest all of our big deck amphibs are gonna have alot of open berthing spots. The future MEU is gonna be light as hell compared to what we had a couple of days.
I've been accused of "not getting it" with regard to this plan. That might be the case but this seems like a Guadalcanal force in the making. This time its being done on purpose, not by circumstances of war.
This force seems like its designed to keep the enemy at bay and if they do come storming out to fight and die in place.
Let's be honest.
Help ain't coming for these Marines if they're found.
But the optimism has me spinning. Not only are they full speed ahead on this plan but they somehow think that they'll keep the flavor of the Marines. They somehow believe that the warrior ethos of the Marine Corps won't be wrecked with this.
I just don't see how they could be so naive.
Regardless. Check out the story here.
