Marines stationed in small specialty units—such as radar and artillery—are screened and evaluated to ensure they can handle the high stress and massive workloads. They must be proficient and capable of working many billets without the aid of supervisors or alternate personnel to ease the burden. Nevertheless, many of these Marines fail to maintain their skills at the level the Marine Corps expects.
Is a small specialized unit, with its limited personnel, effective? Can a small unit and its Marines accomplish its mission when called to do so? Can a small unit be expected to perform its duties in a time of war? The small units themselves believe that when called, they will only have to perform their specialties. Marines forget that along with their billet duties they must be basic riflemen and commit themselves to guard duties, patrolling, offensive and defensive engagements, etc., to ensure that the main goal of their unit is accomplished. Commanding officers often set aside training in these areas or spend so little time on them that all aspects of being a basic rifleman are forgotten.
How can a commanding officer put the effectiveness of the unit’s basic mission at such a high priority that in atime of war, everything else—to include the lives of his or her Marines—comes in second? Every Marine is taught that mission accomplishment comes first, but it is hard to accomplish that mission with your unit laying in a pool of blood and with all that specialized equipment smoldering in the background.
Small units are unique in the following ways:
- There is a clear chain of command.
- Individual shops within the unit work well together.
- Commanding officers and sergeant majors have more control over their Marines than they would in a large unit.
- Everyone is involved in operation planning.
- The unit is tight and works well together
- Individual Marines can excel and receive instant requisition.
However, small units are hindered and often fail because:
- Individual Marines hold multiple billets and are spread thin.
- Maintenance shops have massive amounts of equipment but only one Marine to maintain them.
- Staff non-commissioned officers are thrown into billets they know nothing about and are expected to be the responsible officers.
- Training in basic rifleman’s skills is poor, because the Marines do not get enough time behind the weapons.
- Small-arms training is nonexistent.
- Corporals and sergeants are usually the lowest rank in the unit and are viewed as unknowledgeable.
When you ask any Marine in a small unit who is planning for field operations if he has considered security, he will say that it will be taken care of. But when the site is in place and everything is kicking off, where are the fighting holes? Who is putting up the concertina wire? Has a security plan been laid out? Almost every Marine realizes that the site should be secured but often expects others to do it—and this means disaster at all echelons.
There are several levels of blame for this. First to blame is high-tech appeal. Too much reliance is entrusted in this high-tech equipment, and simpler things like infantry weapons often are left to rust. If someone could develop a machine gun that has a monitor and a keyboard, the Corps would be unstoppable. Second to blame are commanding officers and training staffs. Too little training is spent on being a Marine rifleman, and too much training is spent on the Marine specialties. Third to blame are shop chiefs and platoon commanders, because their only concern is whether their high-tech equipment is working. Fourth to blame are NCOs, because they often are too slow to speak up. If NCOs will push the issue far enough, someone will listen. Last to blame is the Marine Corps itself, because it places too high a priority on the high-tech equipment. The Marine Corps is quick to hand out a letter of appreciation to any Marine who spends five hours trouble-shooting a radar, but when was the last time a Marine got such recognition for developing and implementing a impenetrable perimeter?
All these factors lessen small unit effectiveness, but small units can be effective in combat—if only they can better integrate basic Marine skills with their high-tech priorities.
Sergeant Ikenouye is stationed with Marine Air Control Squadron 24, TAOC Detachment (Forward), 4th Marine Aircraft Wing, at Buckley Air National Guard Base, Colorado.