View Full Version : Marine Special Ops to Delve More into Unconventional War
The Reaper
12-03-2007, 21:19
This strikes me as arrogant and short-sighted, but what do I know, compared to an "expert" with 5-8 years of UW experience?
TR
Marine Special Ops to Delve More into Unconventional War, Info Ops
By Emelie Rutherford
Inside The Navy
December 3, 2007
Marine Corps Special Operations Command will focus more on unconventional warfare and information operations in the coming years, the head of the burgeoning command said last week. While foreign-internal defense remains the main priority of the 22-month-old command, Maj. Gen. Dennis Hejlik said those two other elements are taking shape.
Hejlik, MARSOC’s commanding general, acknowledged that the idea of the new command dabbling in unconventional warfare did not sit well at first with the Army special forces community. “Point of the fact was that was assigned to us by Gen. [Bryan] Brown, then the SOCOM [Special Operations Command] commander, and he stated I think pretty clearly up front, ‘Develop the capability to conduct unconventional warfare,’ and that’s what we’re doing,” Hejlik said Nov. 29 during a breakfast with reporters.
Acknowledging it was “a little bit hard to go forward with” Army Special Operations Command, Hejlik said MARSOC officials sat down with his Army counterpart, Lt. Gen. Robert Wagner, to plan for the Marine command’s venture into unconventional warfare. “We worked through the format, how we want to start our training, what we need from them, how they can help us, where we are now starting toward unconventional warfare,” Hejlik said about meeting with Army Special Operations Command.
He predicted the Marine special operations command’s unconventional warfare capability will be in good shape in five years. “It probably takes five to eight years to make a great unconventional warrior,” he said.
MARSOC was stood up formally in February 2006 under the direction of former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who wanted a Marine Corps component to SOCOM. Deployments started in August 2006. Marine special operations companies are now in Afghanistan and the Philippines, though none are in Iraq, Hejlik said. Small Marine Special Operations Teams also have been in Chad, Kenya, Mali, Senegal, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Columbia and the Dominican Republic, Hejlik said.
The total force is expected to reach its goal of 2,600 personnel by October 2008. The force is presently made up of 1,700 bodies, or roughly 65 percent of that goal, he said. Hejlik said the special operations command’s core tasks, in order of priority, are: foreign internal defense (first); special reconnaissance (second); direct action (third); unconventional warfare (fourth); combating terrorism (fifth) and information operations (sixth).
While information operations is “important,” Hejlik said it falls sixth on that list “because it’s the hardest for us to develop.” The command does “very little” now in information operations, Hejlik said, citing media outreach and public diplomacy as examples of such efforts. Yet he said information operation efforts eventually will expand and also include areas such as “computer exploitation.”
Still, Hejlik cited several challenges to MARSOC taking on information operations now -- including that the command is not fully staffed, units are deployed around the world and the command does not have “certain authorities to conduct certain types of operations” related to information operations. “For information operations I see us probably three to five years down the road, to be very effective,” Hejlik said.
Marine Corps Special Operations Command has undergone a reorganization since it was stood up last year, he said. While at first the command was “very heavy into direct action,” officials soon realized they wanted the special-operations Marines to do more indirect activities like foreign internal defense and up-front training, he said. “You shape the environment at phase 0 and then hopefully you don’t go into phase 3 and 4,” Hejlik said, explaining the shift in thinking. When MARSOC was first stood up with a heavier emphasis on direct action, he said, “it didn’t take very long to understand that you can go from phase 0 ops, you know, shaping environment, to phase 5 ops pretty quickly.”
When the Marine special operations command stood up, it was focused approximately 80 percent on direct action and special reconnaissance and 20 percent on foreign internal defense. Now foreign internal defense makes up roughly 60 percent of what it does, with direct action making up 40 percent, Hejlik said.
The general admitted this has been an adjustment for seasoned Marines who have been working direct-action special reconnaissance for 10 years. “We’ve got great forces out there that are great at high-value targets, quick hits, hit the target hard . . . what we needed was more of the Marine that can do the foreign internal defense, the training up front,” he said.
A Sept. 5 report from Government Accountability Office (GAO) faulted MARSOC for not having the appropriate balance of personnel or common training standards with SOCOM. The Defense Department generally agreed with the report when it was released and said it is taking steps to address concerns raised in it, according to a Pentagon letter accompanying the report.
Hejlik told reporters he agrees with GAO’s finding that the command’s initial personnel mix was “off balance.” He said the force structure was too light in terms of maintainers and sustainers, and said SOCOM is now studying whether to increase MARSOC’s force structure on the sustainment side. He acknowledged that Marines in the past had trepidations about being part of special operations. “It will take a generation,” for that mindset to completely change, he said.
Somehow, I doubt the Navy is going to pony up additional funds to help the Corp learn to do UW right...I am not sure the Corps has the funding necessary to train folks to do UW right...JFC, what a waste of time and money...IMNSHO...
incommin
12-03-2007, 21:46
Well, you said the magic word....MONEY.... that is what all the services are chasing. If the USMC can get a bigger share, they will branch out.... UW and special ops heavy forces is what Rummy wanted, isn't it?????
Jim
The Reaper
12-03-2007, 21:51
Somehow, I doubt the Navy is going to pony up additional funds to help the Corp learn to do UW right...I am not sure the Corps has the funding necessary to train folks to do UW right...JFC, what a waste of time and money...IMNSHO...
That isn't Navy money, it is SOCOM money. MFP-11.
Imagine how much will have been spent by the time they figure out that they were wrong, and you can't make a great UW warrior in 5-7 years.
TR
Marines are brave, strong, handsome, fearless, physically fit .... and dumb as a rock.
NEVER put a Marine in command of anything other than other Marines.
The United States Marine Corps advertised on televison with cartoon warriors swinging swords at dragons...what kind of recruit do you think that attracts?
"I don't want my Marines to be too smart." (Major, USMC, Clarksville, TN).
"There are two entities that will cause you problems at trials by courts-martial because they do not have a firm grasp of "truth:" pathological liers and --I'm embarrassed to say this but it's true -- Marines." [Instructor, Trial Counsel (prosecuting attorney) Judge Advocate Generals Corps]. (He went on to explain that a Marine's construct of "truth" is influenced by what the Marine perceives 'ought' to be the truth under the circumstances, including what his command has caused him to believe is the desired outcome, rather than an objective perception of reality as seen by the rational observer.)
The mindset of Marines is that they are trained at boot camp to feel as if they, personally, waded ashore at Iwo Jima and stormed Guadacanal. Much like a Jew at a Seder (formal Passover dinner) is supposed to feel as if he -- personally-- escaped slavery at the hands of Pharoh." The truth, of course, is that neither did any such thing, and they live in the glow of idealized abstract glory from other men, at other times, that distorts the reality of what they must do to accomplish the mission before them.
The Reaper
12-03-2007, 22:00
Let's not turn this into organized Marine bashing.
They are great troops, with a specific mission set and institutional focus that IMHO, does not include FID or UW.
That, along with the arrogance by the leadership to believe that UW and FID expertise are easily achieved were my points. You cannot make a SFOB commander and staff, or even an FOB commander, or a Team Sergeant, or a 180A, in less than a generation, much less the staff to teach and train these men. I personally have my doubts on whether the Marine leadership has the right perspective to make unconventional warriors.
Your average Marine is a great light infantryman.
TR
CosaNostraUSMC
12-03-2007, 22:08
Funny thing... my younger brother (who is also a Jarhead) is stationed at K-Bay. I talked with him and a few of his barracks mates, on the telly last night. Word is, MARSOC has been "actively inviting" and practically "begging" for grunts to attend indocs. It used to be, that you had to be recommended by your COC for an indoc. The rate of atrtition at which, grunts with combat action, are exiting the Corps after first term, is killing MARSOCs recrutiment/retention efforts.
You throw the whole, "stand me up a new unit from grassroots... oh and I want it working by revelie", into the mix and you get one f#@ked up SITREP.
IMHO, we should stick to what we do best; Expeditionary, Humanitarian, JTF, and the likes. Keep our Reconnaissance elements in house, and in direct support of our operations in theater, and contingencies that MEF, RCTs and TFs are engaged in.
Roll MARSOC back into the Corps; reinstate, fix, develop and maintain Recon at the Co. and Bn. levels, and continune with Force Reconnaisance as was.
Leave all that other stuff to SFG's and SOC.
Thank the Honourable Mr. Rumsfeld, for his "professional oversight" and setting my Corps back, and our Reconnaisance community in specific from an operational and developmental standpoint, for who knows how long, with his f#@ked up SOC mission statement.
With that said though, we'll continue to see General Hejlik, "move forward" with what he sees as necesary action, with regards to receiving and following orders to accomplish his mission.
CosaNostraUSMC
12-03-2007, 22:40
Marines are brave, strong, handsome, fearless, physically fit .... and dumb as a rock.
NEVER put a Marine in command of anything other than other Marines.
The United States Marine Corps advertised on televison with cartoon warriors swinging swords at dragons...what kind of recruit do you think that attracts?
CSB, please define, "dumb as rocks.".
What qualities do we embody or lack, that brings you to this conclusion?
GratefulCitizen
12-03-2007, 22:51
The mindset of Marines is that they are trained at boot camp to feel as if they, personally, waded ashore at Iwo Jima and stormed Guadacanal.
I doubt the "stormed Guadalcanal" feeling is ubiquitous.
I further doubt the 11,000 Marines involved in the original landings felt that way.
The landings at Guadalcanal encountered little or no resistance.
(Not much of a "storming")
Concerning the Corps indoctrination techniques, to confuse loyalty with a lack of intelligence is painting with a broad brush.
The Marine Corps may have a place in SOCOM but not on the UW front.
The only way I could see this working is if the HQMC "leased" Marines to SF for a period of around 3 years, where they could gain experience in the concepts and
learn/apply the appropriate TTP's. After that time period the Marines would be released to back to MARSOC to teach and mentor.
This would never happen. The Marines have to much misplaced pride, and I don't think the SF would want to train someone that they know is only going to stick around for a few years and then won't have the opportunity to pass on his experience.
They are getting head deep into something they only have a very limited knowledge about, and they have the attitude: "Thanks, but we'll figure it out on our own"
brownapple
12-03-2007, 23:06
CosaNostraUSMC,
Please note the first line of TR's post right after the one that offended you.
I can only speak for myself. My experience with Marines has generally been a good one. As a PL in the 101st Airborne, I dealt with Anglico a lot. They were good troops. Smart, too.
My father's eldest brother was a Marine. A Lance Corporal bandsman (played the Cornet) who ended up picking up a Garand in a place called the Chosin. He's also one of the smartest men that I've ever known, although he wasn't the most tactful.
The Marines are the Marines. They have their role and their place in the defense of our nation. I agree with many here that I don't see that role being UW (I can see them doing some FID, and know they have done some FID here in Thailand with the Royal Thai Marines).
CosaNostraUSMC
12-03-2007, 23:18
Greenhat,
Understood, but... "dumb as rocks."?! Hardly worth a respectable retort.
Excuse me for being what some QPs may consider out of line here, and I'll tone it down since I'm in your house... BUT... WTF?! I know SF are qual'd to do a lot of shit, and I'll be frank when choosing these next words... your tab doesn't qual your comments.
Ease up bud, don't take the comments personally.
Lets get back to the topic at hand.
CosaNostraUSMC
12-03-2007, 23:36
Insert dumb-as-rock-ness here:
brownapple
12-03-2007, 23:38
We can see your post the first time. Ease off the trigger finger.
CosaNostraUSMC
12-03-2007, 23:49
GREENHAT,
After posting I saw TRs post.
I edited, toned down, my post.
CSB, I was surprised to hear that come from a "Professional", that's all.
My point is, UW and all that secret high speed stuff.... it's not our thing, we shouldn't be involved in it. We're quite good at what we do, though, and should stick to it. Our track record speaks for itself as does our service to this Nation historically.
I don't try to speak intelligently as to the goings ons of your Q course or the Pipeline, since I've zero first hand knowledge of the matter. I wouldn't think that a QP would attempt to speak intelligently as to what goes on, with regards to training or cultural indoctrination, in our house without same firsthand knowledge.
I've had positive interaction with QPs on this site. I've had memorable and positive interaction with QPs at my FOB, even when we were called to bail some out of a hairy situation, at risk of loss of life/limb. I've remained respectful as a guest here, and have abided by the rules.
UW, not our place. Expedionary operations and structure, not the Army's place. Neither of us is in a place to decide that though.
I respect CSB, no disrespect meant. Respect is a two-way street.
I would like to think that the QPs of this site, would act in similar accord if the boot was on the other foot. I will not speculate or place words in mouths, though.
As for dragons and swords... again... I'll not attempt to speak intelligently as to that subject, as I've zero first hand experience.
Hadji's and rifles is a different thing, and I've been there done that. Dumb as a rock I may be, but I guarantee those boys are deader than rocks.
rudelsg2
12-04-2007, 00:02
Thanks but NO THANKS, CSB and CosaNostraUSMC for the MILITARY.COM moment.
brownapple
12-04-2007, 00:08
Thanks but NO THANKS, CSB and CosaNostraUSMC for the MILITARY.COM moment.
LMAO ;)
CosaNostraUSMC
12-04-2007, 00:12
Thanks but NO THANKS, CSB and CosaNostraUSMC for the MILITARY.COM moment.
In hind sight, I shoulda passed on that one.
Guess we are dumb as rocks. I thought I saw a hill needed charging, though.:lifter
Guess we are dumb as rocks. I thought I saw a hill needed charging, though.:lifter
Speak for yourself, brother :cool:
They are great troops, with a specific mission set and institutional focus that IMHO, does not include FID or UW.
TR
Given the arguments made here about the paucity of funding, training time and training resources, what bothers me most about this foray into FID and UW is that it implies a failure of leadership. Good leaders would not set their Marines up for failure, nor would they put the hard-earned reputation of the Corps at risk. A good leader would realize that extra funding is not "extra" of it comes attached to a new mission for which it is insufficient.
I admire the "every Marine a rifleman" ethos. The Army, in its own way, is attempting to emulate it with various changes in TRADOC. However, while every Marine may be a rifleman, it does not follow that every mission requires a rifleman.
I'm sure CosaNostraUSMC is the exception to those quotes.
Those are stereotypes. But how do sterotypes become stereotypes? By being true so often that they come to accurately describe the situation.
First, a little background. My father was a career Marine, dropping out of high school and enlisting in 1946 as a buck private and retiring 24 years later as a Major. He was an "old China hand" and a mustang, direct commissioned from Master Sergeant to 2LT because he knew more about radar, electronics, infrared, and targeting than most college trained experts of his day. He is one of the smartest people I know. He was in on the ground floor of aviation electronics (when transistors were invented) and literally "wrote the book" for maintenance and material management when the 3rd Marine Air Wing at Cherry Point bought the AV-8A Harriers from the British in the late 1960's. Until I enlisted in 1970, I lived most of my formative years on Navy/Marine Corps bases, graduating from Havelock High School. I have met and worked with many Marines, from privates in barracks and quarters and post housing, through general officers. As an SF student, I did exercises with Force Recon Marines from Camp Lejeune, in Ranger School we had Marine students. I worked with ANGLICO in Somalia (where we found them shirtless and dozing on their hilltop, doing a little suntan maintenance awaiting the radio call from the carrier that the planes were inbound).
My nephew served a tour in the USMC in the 1990's. At Okinawa, he made it to Lance Corporal (E3) before deciding that a rain shower wouldn't dampen his planned birthday barbeque, so he and his squad took it indoors and lit the barbeque inside the barracks. The "Office Hours" (Article 15) that resulted reduced him to Private First Class (E2) for his ETS. Yes, I'm sure that our young Army stud's in the Ranger Battalions are equally full of piss and vinegar and also do stupid stunts due to immaturity at times, but they are also Special Operations Forces, not Special Forces.
So when a retired USMC Major in Clarksville, TN heard the contents of my classes (for Army reservists being spun-up for deployment) he thought it was "too much" and plainly stated: "I don't want my Marines to be too smart, I want them to let me do the thinking and they do the doing."
For whatever value that mindset may have in ship-to-shore or direct action missions, that is not the mindset of an unconventional warfare operator where the key is centralized planning, but decentralized execution.
Where the bare minimum skill set is cross-cultural communications, language skills, the ability to train, organize and direct indigenous forces, execute propaganda development, conduct quasi-governmental operations (including contracting and population and resource control), engage in diplomacy with governmental and non-governmental organizations; the USMC does not have the training, organization, or mature personnel base to contribute any substantial force to that mission.
Anyway, not my intention to start USMC bashing. The Corps has a proud tradition of being fearless warriors. It has taken Special Forces decades to develop the training, organization, and equipment necessary for the UW mission. The USMC will be totally out of their element in that arena.
Go For Broke
12-04-2007, 13:02
I think that the key issue is the mentality of the Marine Corps itself.
As I understand it, the Marine Corps expects that Marines will serve a tour in the MARSOC, then transition back into the Corps. While this will serve the Corps well with the DA / SR skills, I think that the UW skills / mindset will suffer within MARSOC because of it. If you look at the evolution of SF, from the days when it was a rotational duty (and the careers that "suffered" because of choices made) to today as a branch, I am not sure if the Marines are willing to commit to this. Even the Navy has decided that Special Warfare (1130) should be a seperate and distinct career track. (COL Moroney and others who were there at the time can probably speak more intelligently on this than I).
Marines need to consider, if they want to successfully implement UW even though after modeling themselves on SF, is that SF is regionally oriented at the Group level (BDE equivalent) vice merely Company level, with multiple rotations into the theater (collectively resulting in generations upon generations of experience), has the personnel system (branch) to support continued growth of the individuals within the organization, and most importantly has a dedicated logistical struture to support the individual SFG(A)s vice one Bn for all of MARSOC (MSOAG and MSOBs). This would be comparable to 528th SOSB supporting a single SFG(A) and the Ranger Regiment (with no internal logistical structure for the SFG(A) or Rangers). Even before the GSB concept, there were at a minimum GSCs within Group.
Additionally, look at the skill sets involved. The majority of the MSOAG is composed of shooters / DA mentality folks (Infantry, Indirect Fire, and Light Machine Gunner) or of short range / duration "support" (Radio Operator / IDC) personnel who are not used to working in austere conditions for long-duration with minimal US support.
To date, I have not seen any move towards this concept (modeling on the SF model) other than the basic (12-man) Task Org and the Selection and Assessment Model. The language and cultural orientation is not unique to the MSOAG, the focus of it may be, but language and cultural orientation is rapidly becoming a part of all the Service cultures.
Just my humble $0.02.
V/R,
CosaNostraUSMC
12-04-2007, 13:57
Speak for yourself, brother :cool:
Sorry, brother. Didn't mean to include you. :D
I doubt the "stormed Guadalcanal" feeling is ubiquitous.
I further doubt the 11,000 Marines involved in the original landings felt that way.
The landings at Guadalcanal encountered little or no resistance.
(Not much of a "storming")
Concerning the Corps indoctrination techniques, to confuse loyalty with a lack of intelligence is painting with a broad brush.
What came later?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Tenaru
I doubt my step dad would agree with your comment. What does he know eh? He got his first purple heart there.
I think we should stay out of it. Our force has always been a dedicated expeditionary group with bn recon and force units that do rather well.
GratefulCitizen
03-11-2008, 22:31
What came later?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Tenaru
I doubt my step dad would agree with your comment. What does he know eh? He got his first purple heart there.
I think we should stay out of it. Our force has always been a dedicated expeditionary group with bn recon and force units that do rather well.
I heard many details about the Battle of the Tenaru from a first hand source.
My grandfather was in E company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines.
Look at the map and see where his unit was during that battle.
:munchin
<edit>
You might want to look at the comment in the context of the thread.
My comment was in support of the Marines. It was not a disparagement.
Let's not turn this into organized Marine bashing.
They are great troops, with a specific mission set and institutional focus that IMHO, does not include FID or UW.
Your average Marine is a great light infantryman.
TR
Thank you.
First I would like to say that our track record in battle speaks for itself. We always have and always will do more with less than any other branch of the military.
Every service and every MOS within a service has its fair share of dumbasses and folks that are dumb as rocks. I'm sure one or two have slipped into SF in its 50+ year history.
The problem here is that the DOD in its infinte wisdom has decided that Marines Need to be part of SOCOM. This couldn't be farther from the truth.
The United States Marine Corps is an Expiditionary Force in Readiness.
Every aspect of the USMC is in place to support the role of the infantry. There are no exceptions.
Recon and Force Recon are not in place to support the special operations community. They are in place to provide reconnassaince and intel to feed back to the foward unit commanders in preparation for infantry operations. They also have the capicity to do target softening prior to a major offensive, similar to the role that Russia had in mind for Spetsnaz when it was first created.
This whole notion that they should be part of SOCOM and participate in whatever the flavor of the week is as far as special operations go is nonsense. They need to be detached from SOCOM. There is a reason why they were not included in the first place.
We need to stick to what we are good at. Regardless of how high tech and high speed low drag the battle field gets the military will always need reliable, dedicated and highly competent light infantry troops to fight battles.
USMC infantry does not win wars by itself, but neither does SF and SOF. Just because the penudlum has swung to favoring these units doesn't mean that we need to up and abandon what we have been doing right for over 238 years. Those missions are what turned the USMC into the greatest conventional fighting force in the world.
People in the chain of command today seem to have forgotten that the reason that the Corps has not been shut down and absorbed by the army is because we limit our operational capacity so that we only preform missions that we are good at, thereby being the best at what we do. We do a small number of missions awesomely as opposed to a broad range of missions with mediocre results. We also do more with less. We are the masters of our domain and our domain is the conventional and fluid battelfield. When the Corps looses this perspective we will have lost the greatest assest that we bring to bear.
Now to address a few criticisms of the Corps that stuck out to me, first and foremost every branch of the military has commanders that want to do the thinking for their troops and want them to be stupid.
These men are short sighted and ineffectual commanders with no true leadership ability. Any commander knows that to survive contact with the enemy in the fluid environment of the battle field you must have troops that can think on their own and on their feet.
CSB, the man that made this statement "I don't want my Marines to be too smart, I want them to let me do the thinking and they do the doing."
is a jackass and a poor Marine. I am loath to call him a Marine, I certainly would not consider him a brother. It is that kind of short sighted arrogence that gets men killed and has no place in the military let alone the leadership.
This man obviously managed to blunder his way to the position of major (a feat that can be accomplished in any branch). One of the first things that every Marine is taught are the 14 leadership qualities. We are all expected to eschew them even at the lowest level. Knowledge is the 12th traight.
KNOWLEDGE
Definition: Knowledge is the understanding of a science or art. Knowledge means that you have acquired information and that you understand people. Your knowledge should be broad, and in addition to knowing your job, you should know your unit's policies and keep up with current events.
Suggestions for Improvement: Suggestions for Improvement: Increase your knowledge by remaining alert. Listen, observe, and find out about things you don't understand. Study field manuals and other military literature.
Now as far as our gay ass comercial with the cartoon dragon. Yeah that's embarassing, but as the good Lord said, "let he who is without sin cast the first stone.":D
Sorry, brother. Didn't mean to include you. :D
Reign it in brother. This isn't our house.
Stay safe, don't sillouette yourself.
Thank you.
First I would like to say that our track record in battle speaks for itself. We always have and always will do more with less than any other branch of the military.
Every service and every MOS within a service has its fair share of dumbasses and folks that are dumb as rocks. I'm sure one or two have slipped into SF in its 50+ year history.
The problem here is that the DOD in its infinte wisdom has decided that Marines Need to be part of SOCOM. This couldn't be farther from the truth.
The United States Marine Corps is an Expiditionary Force in Readiness.
Every aspect of the USMC is in place to support the role of the infantry. There are no exceptions.
Recon and Force Recon are not in place to support the special operations community. They are in place to provide reconnassaince and intel to feed back to the foward unit commanders in preparation for infantry operations. They also have the capicity to do target softening prior to a major offensive, similar to the role that Russia had in mind for Spetsnaz when it was first created.
This whole notion that they should be part of SOCOM and participate in whatever the flavor of the week is as far as special operations go is nonsense. They need to be detached from SOCOM. There is a reason why they were not included in the first place.
We need to stick to what we are good at. Regardless of how high tech and high speed low drag the battle field gets the military will always need reliable, dedicated and highly competent light infantry troops to fight battles.
USMC infantry does not win wars by itself, but neither does SF and SOF. Just because the penudlum has swung to favoring these units doesn't mean that we need to up and abandon what we have been doing right for over 238 years. Those missions are what turned the USMC into the greatest conventional fighting force in the world.
People in the chain of command today seem to have forgotten that the reason that the Corps has not been shut down and absorbed by the army is because we limit our operational capacity so that we only preform missions that we are good at, thereby being the best at what we do. We do a small number of missions awesomely as opposed to a broad range of missions with mediocre results. We also do more with less. We are the masters of our domain and our domain is the conventional and fluid battelfield. When the Corps looses this perspective we will have lost the greatest assest that we bring to bear.
Now to address a few criticisms of the Corps that stuck out to me, first and foremost every branch of the military has commanders that want to do the thinking for their troops and want them to be stupid.
These men are short sighted and ineffectual commanders with no true leadership ability. Any commander knows that to survive contact with the enemy in the fluid environment of the battle field you must have troops that can think on their own and on their feet.
CSB, the man that made this statement "I don't want my Marines to be too smart, I want them to let me do the thinking and they do the doing."
is a jackass and a poor Marine. I am loath to call him a Marine, I certainly would not consider him a brother. It is that kind of short sighted arrogence that gets men killed and has no place in the military let alone the leadership.
This man obviously managed to blunder his way to the position of major (a feat that can be accomplished in any branch). One of the first things that every Marine is taught are the 14 leadership qualities. We are all expected to eschew them even at the lowest level. Knowledge is the 12th traight.
KNOWLEDGE
Definition: Knowledge is the understanding of a science or art. Knowledge means that you have acquired information and that you understand people. Your knowledge should be broad, and in addition to knowing your job, you should know your unit's policies and keep up with current events.
Suggestions for Improvement: Suggestions for Improvement: Increase your knowledge by remaining alert. Listen, observe, and find out about things you don't understand. Study field manuals and other military literature.
Now as far as our gay ass comercial with the cartoon dragon. Yeah that's embarassing, but as the good Lord said, "let he who is without sin cast the first stone.":D
Well said, I agree.