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Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War!
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ARTICLE 04 - U.S. Marine Corps Leading in Transformation
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By Patrick Hayes
>From the fighting tops of a fledgling Colonial Navy, to palm pilots, GPS,
night-vision equipment and laser-guided weapons on the ground in Afghanistan,
the United States Marines have long adapted to their environment and to their
mission. As the U.S. military confronts the harsh realities of terrorism and
asymmetrical warfare in the 21st century, it is encouraging to see that this
elite military service is well prepared for the challenge.
The history of the Marine Corps is a history of the United States: Dating
back to the first seaborne assault against the British forces at New
Providence Island in the Bahamas on March 3, 1776, when Captain Samuel
Nichols landed with 268 Marines to relieve the British of their arms and
gunpowder at Fort Montague - ordnance desperately needed by Washington's army
- each conflict involving the Marine Corps has toughened their resolve to
achieve the objective and accomplish the mission - by being flexible.
Afghanistan is no exception. Nor will the next battlefield be.
Today, the mission changes almost hourly and Marines have had to adapt to
those changes. In recent days, the Marines have been fighting ground forces
probing the perimeter of Camp Rhino near Kandahar, next, seeking out and
destroying terrorists in their own environment, adapting to the changing
terrain and conditions.
While other branches of the U.S. military try to evolve, change, plan, and
reinvent themselves for 21st century missions, ranging from feel-good items
like black berets and questionable PR campaigns, to new aircraft and ship
designs, the training and planning of the Marine Corps has moved quickly and
consistently to face new challenges as they emerge - in some cases before
they emerge. One primary reason is that Marines are survivors, in more ways
than one. The Marine Corps has faced the threat of extinction at the hands of
politicians at almost every stage of its existence, but it has survived by
being flexible.
The basis of the Corps' adaptability is found in its training. At the back
end of that training, Marine recruiting standards are higher than DoD
requirements. Recruiters don't promise a rose garden, mommy's apron strings,
or money for college, but rather seek out those individuals with the desire
to be Marines. The training is intense and the discipline unyielding.
After boot camp, all Marines are sent to Marine Infantry Training Regiments
("every Marine a rifleman"), where they are taught the basics of modern
infantry tactics in a variety of combat scenarios. Even that process has
undergone changes. Within the past few months, the infantry schools at Camp
Geiger, N.C., and Camp Pendleton, Cal. have been extended. Marines learn more
specifics earlier about combat in a Marine rifle platoon. The training is not
only longer, but also tougher. There are more live-fire and assault drills,
and more time for additional physical training. From there, those assigned to
the infantry attend advanced infantry training, or specialist schools,
ranging from rifleman or machine gunner, to anti-tank guided missileman or
mortarman.
After these basic levels of training, "Mud-Marines" (infantry) report to the
Fleet Marine Force and are assigned to ground units on the east or west coast
or overseas. However, the training continues to include special operations,
which has added capabilities to the traditional Marine Expeditionary Units
(MEUs), giving them the capacity to take on whatever type of mission that
arises.
These missions may include airfield or port seizure, security operations,
search and destroy missions, the seizure or recovery of personnel, whether
American hostages or enemy combatants, and the capture of material,
documents, the destruction of munitions and other targets, and defeating
terrorists and guerrillas in unconventional warfare. This Special Operations
Capable (SOC) training is even more critical now, given that the war against
terrorism promises to be long and bloody.
Maintaining effective training facilities, particularly for urban combat, is
another challenge the Marines are confronting. A planned urban warfare
training facility on Guam is currently being considered as an additional and
permanent base for Marine special operations. Closed by the Air Force in 1994
as an unnecessary expense, the 1,750-acre Anderson South Air Force Base,
which includes flight buildings, barracks, single-family homes and mess halls
" … would fill a major deficiency in currently available urban-warfare
training facilities for the Marine Corps," a Marine spokesman recently said.
The Guam site would allow units from Okinawa, Japan and MEUs transiting the
region to train in what former Marine Commandant Gen. Charles Krulak called
the "three-block war" scenario, akin to Afghanistan today. Krulak believed
that Marines could find themselves providing humanitarian aid in one part of
the city, conducting peacekeeping operations in another part, while engaged
in combat operations in a third section. This is far from an unrealistic
scenario when considering the confusion of Afghanistan, or the potential
battles to come.
In a recent article in the Naval War College Review, dealing with the
much-debated transformation of U.S. forces, Dr. Thomas Mahnken wrote, "The
Marines, for their part, should establish experimental units dedicated to
projecting power in the face of capable access-denial defenses and to
conducting military operations in urban terrain."
This, it would appear, is already being done. Currently attached to each MEU
is a Force Recon platoon, which is available for more sensitive, surgical
strikes into or behind enemy lines, or for other limited operations. Also on
board is usually a platoon of Navy SEALs and, as situations may arise, the
two SpecOps platoons can and will work in unison on operations.
Recon Marines, who have received additional specialized training, fall into
several categories, generally Recon battalions and Force Recon companies. The
battalion Recon units are the eyes and ears of the division to which they are
attached, and work within an area of approximately ten-miles of the forward
edge of the battlefield area (FEBA). Force Recon units go well beyond the
ten-mile area and have additional training, which includes insert and extract
methods from fast roping and scuba, to HALO and HAHO parachute jumps.
In addition to SpecOps capable MEUs, other special capabilities are also in
the mix. The Marine Corps Times recently reported that the Corps is moving
forward with plans to formulate an anti-terrorist brigade. Identified as the
4th Marine Expeditionary Brigade (Anti-Terrorism), " … the unit would focus
on deterring, detecting and responding to terrorist attacks." The brigade,
usually made up of three MEUs, will include units such as the
Chemical-Biological Incident Response Force, Fleet Anti-Terrorism Security
Teams (FAST Companies), former Marine security guards throughout the Corps,
and infantry units from Camp Lejune, N.C., where the brigade will be
headquartered and will be available to respond to terrorist incidents both in
the United States and overseas.
Major operational elements are the FAST Company Marines, which were
established in 1987. Each company is comprised of 500 men. Platoons of the
two companies are currently located in Bahrain, Italy and Japan, and respond
to incidents in their TAOR within 24 hours. Although their primary mission is
one of defense and backing up the Marine security guards on station, FAST
Marines are trained in SWAT tactics and close-quarter combat.
Retired Army Gen. Wayne A. Downing, who led the investigation into the 1996
Khobar Towers terrorist bombing attack in Saudi Arabia said, "The U.S. Marine
FAST security teams were the most impressive security forces observed in the
theater. They are superbly trained, well equipped, and well led. They provide
a useful model for development of service training programs."
>From the fighting tops to laser-guided weapons, Marines adapt because they
have had to and are ready for 21st century challenges. Maybe the lesson to be
learned in the current world of terror and upheaval is that prepared, quick
and decisive action may mean the difference between survival and dying. This
is true when dealing with "run-of-the-mill" terrorists who want to hurt their
targets but who also want to live to tell about it. They are dangerous
enough. However, when dealing with Muslim fanatics who are willing to kill
themselves to hit their target, there are no second chances.
As the other military services review their force structure,
weapons-procurement priorities and combat training to deal with the long-term
terrorist threats, they will be well-served also to study how the Marine
Corps has already adapted itself for the new form of war.
Patrick Hayes is a contributing editor to DefenseWatch. He can be reached at
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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ARTICLE 05 - We Must Also Wage War on Inter-Service Rivalries
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By Lt. Col. Matthew Dodd USMC
Everyone knows that our lives, our nation and the world are no longer the
same as they were prior to 8:46 a.m. on Sept. 11, 2001. Just ninety short
days after the tragic events of that day, U.S. forces in Afghanistan are
closing in on the last organized remnants of those responsible for those
events.
As our president continues to remind us, our global war on terrorism does not
end in Afghanistan. If Winston Churchill were alive, he could repeat one of
his more famous quotes to describe where we find ourselves today: "This is
not the end, this is not even the beginning of the end. This is just the end
of the beginning." Poised to close out this first phase of our war on
terrorism, we should reflect on what changes are needed to sustain us through
the next phases of this long-term global campaign.
The biggest change needed is to replace the military's counter-productive
inter-service rivalry mindset (that especially seems to surface in times of
war) with a whole-hearted, team-oriented focus on winning. From events in,
around, and related to our military actions in Afghanistan, it appears that
too many in our military still do not believe in the power of Robert
Woodruff's observation, "There is no limit to what can be accomplished if we
don't mind who gets the credit."
Two incidents in the first ninety days of the campaign indicate that this
rivalry mindset is still infecting our military leadership.
The first incident happened shortly after we began to bomb Taliban targets
inside Afghanistan. Sea-based and forward-deployed naval aviation from
aircraft carriers in the region conducted the majority of the early bombing
missions. These squadrons, unlike their Air Force brethren, did not have to
wait for overflight rights being granted or for host-nation ground base
support for their planes and support personnel.
When the Navy requested precision munitions replenishment, the Air Force
initially hesitated to support the requests. The consensus in the Pentagon
was that the Air Force was frustrated about not having a bigger operational
role. Instead of rallying to support our military main effort, the Air Force
chose to jeopardize our early successes in a ploy to "get in the game"
quicker.
The second incident is described in an article by Katherine McIntire Peters
in the online publication govexec.com on Nov. 29. She quoted Army officers
being upset about Marines being deployed and employed first in what they see
as a typical Army role in Afghanistan. The comments from these Army officers
ranged from questioning the competence of Army leadership in the planning
process (to allow Marines to do an Army mission), to calling the decision by
Central Command CINC Army Gen. Tommy Franks to use the Marines "a slap in the
face."
While the Peters article went on to describe other Army-internal issues, the
comments above portrayed the Marines as opportunistic thieves or a hated
enemy. Fortunately, Franks is a professional who rose above his service
heritage to take advantage of the unique capabilities that his sea-based and
forward-deployed naval forces could provide.
What is most disturbing about these comments is that they are a product of an
accepted and long-tolerated service culture and environment. What is most
dangerous about these comments is the officers' apparent willingness to
force-feed Army units into a situation for which they were not as ready as
the Marines in the area.
Cartoonist Walt Kelly is still famous for his Pogo comic strip in April 1971
in which Pogo states, "We has met the enemy, and he is us." Even after the
slaughter of thousands of civilians, the mobilization of U.S. military power
and a major combat campaign in Afghanistan, for too many military leaders,
the more things change, the more things remain the same - teamwork against an
implacable, deadly terrorist foe will take second place to military service
parochialism.
Failing to rid ourselves of this destructive inter-service rivalry mindset is
more than foolish. It is dangerous and borderline criminal conduct on the
part of experienced military officers who should know better.
Lt. Col. Dodd is the pen name of an active-duty Marine Corps officer
stationed at the Pentagon. He can be reached at [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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