Over the past eight years, Marines and Sailors have acquitted themselves with distinction on the plains of Iraq, in the desolate heights of Afghanistan, and through innumerable security cooperation tasks across the globe. Marines everywhere should be justifiably proud of these accomplishments but also realize that much needs to be done to achieve victory in the fight for freedom. The recent decision to increase troop levels in Afghanistan constitutes a call to our Marines and Sailors to continue the extraordinary efforts that have brought us success in the fight thus far. The challenges will be many, but our Commandant remains confident that we will meet them with steadfast devotion to duty, ever mindful of our long legacy. Marines and Sailors in combat remain our only priority, and we will spare no effort in ensuring they receive the support and resources they need.
The Corps is also actively preparing for the future. As detailed in Marine Corps Vision and Strategy 2025 (V&S 2025), the security challenges of the future are going to be daunting. Increasingly, we can expect to face adversaries who will possess a wider array of means to pursue their ends. These means will include fighting among the civilian population and in built-up areas, employing tactics that require more sophisticated technology to counter, and fielding precision weapon systems that provide greater stand-off distance and lethality. We recognize that while these challenges may be increasingly irregular in nature, the requirement will remain for the Marine Corps to be capable of fighting effectively against a range of enemies, from radical extremists to the organized military forces of an opposing nation state. The Marine Corps must be multi-capable across the range of military operations.
In addition to detailing the challenges of the future security environment, V&S 2025 provides an overview of how the Corps will meet these challenges with versatile Marine Air Ground Task Forces, either from the sea or in sustained operations ashore. The document identifies the ten specific strategy objectives that the Marine Corps will achieve while also describing our core competencies
those skills that we provide for the nation's defense. Achieving the objectives of the Marine Corps of 2025 and maintaining proficiency in our core competencies will only be accomplished through an integrated effort to meet current requirements while progressively developing and posturing our forces to meet these goals. We must be able to simultaneously meet our wartime requirements, reconstitute our forces, and take the required actions to prepare for the future.The Plan
To that end, we released the Marine Corps Service Campaign Plan 2009
2015 (MCSCP) in December 2009. This document presents Commandant-level guidance to the deputy commandants and directors at Headquarters Marine Corps, and to commanders in the operating forces, across the time horizon of the Future Years Defense Program (FYDP), in a manner that is actionable toward achieving the objectives laid out in Marine Corps Vision and Strategy 2025. The Service Campaign Plan is intended to provide a means of disseminating guidance and will be maintained by the deputy commandant for Plans, Policies, and Operations. Updates to the guidance contained in the MCSCP will be made as required.The Commandant of the Marine Corps, General James T. Conway explained the plan:
The Marine Corps, while engaged in our nation's battles and meeting other challenges, has taken on the characteristics of a second land army. Our institution must endeavor to return to our naval roots and regain our capabilities across the full spectrum of military operations. To this end, the Marine Corps Service Campaign Plan establishes objectives that will support this goal. The intent of this plan is to provide our commanders with the resources required for success, while simultaneously working toward the objectives outlined in our Vision and Strategy 2025. I encourage all maritime officers to read, discuss, and support the elements outlined in the plan.
The MCSCP establishes two phases across the FYDP in which the Marine Corps will take the necessary steps to continue support to combatant commanders while preparing Marine forces for the future. Phase One extends through Fiscal Year 2011 and Phase Two extends until FY15. Each has general and specific goals. Several elements of guidance from the MCSCP merit highlighting. The increase in Marine Corps authorized force structure to 202,000 Marines will help the Corps to support operations in Central Command and elsewhere while simultaneously re-honing the skills that have atrophied over the past eight years of sustained land combat. This balance between operational support to combatant commanders and core competency training will be achievable when we establish our initial goal of a 1:2 deployment-to-dwell ratio.
A key theme in the Service Campaign Plan is the requirement for the Marine Corps to re-strengthen its long-standing ties with the U.S. Navy. The Marine Corps is a naval force and our partnership with the Navy, and increasingly with the U.S. Coast Guard, is a hallmark of our service that makes us the world's premier expeditionary force. Whether Marine Expeditionary Units on board Amphibious Ready Group shipping or detachments of Marines on board Global Fleet Stations, the synergy in capabilities provided to combatant commanders through the Navy
Marine Corps team has been demonstrated time and again. The demands of combat in Iraq and Afghanistan have come at a high price in Marine Corps experience on board ships our Marines have performed exceedingly well in the sand and dust of Iraq and Afghanistan, but many have limited shipboard experience. This reduction in the proficiency of our amphibious capabilities must be addressed now.The 'Invaluable Option'
Paramount among the skills that have atrophied is amphibious Joint Forcible Entry Operations at the Marine Expeditionary Brigade (MEB) and Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF) levels. The current security environment is highly uncertain and amphibious joint forcible entry remains an invaluable option for our national defense. These operations are among the most complex and difficult military evolutions. To successfully conduct an opposed landing, a sufficient force must be assembled, equipped, and trained to perform the operation. Based on history, modeling, and detailed analysis, the minimum force capability required for a successful opposed landing is a MEF afloat
two MEBs in the assault echelon with a third MEB in the assault follow-on echelon. Anything less than this capability portends failure.The Marine Corps' amphibious capabilities are not limited to offensive operations. The skills required to cross an opposed shoreline are also used in permissive environments where access may be limited to forces operating from a sea-base. Our recent experiences with humanitarian operations from the sea certainly support this assertion. To be credible and effective, whether as a deterrent or in actual execution, our amphibious capabilities need to be tailored to the appropriate level with sufficient proficiency to be executed on demand. The Service Campaign Plan will facilitate this by focusing on rebuilding MEB-level proficiency in amphibious operations during Phase One and progressively working toward MEF-level proficiency in Phase Two.
In addition to MEB- and MEF-level proficiency in amphibious operations, the requirements of joint, multinational, and interagency operations demand focus and training. The Marine Corps has gained substantial experience in all three types of operations in both Iraq and Afghanistan, but we must continue to improve our proficiency. To that end, we will bolster opportunities for training and exercises with joint, multinational, and interagency partners. These exchanges will be insightful and may lead to incorporating greater interagency capabilities with deployed Marine Expeditionary Units, conducting more personnel exchanges with foreign military and interagency partners, and redirecting the Marine Corps' role with our partners. In the final analysis, we will seek to determine how our MEFs can man, train, and equip a Joint Task Force headquarters.
Regional Focus Areas
Operations in Iraq and Afghanistan have provided extensive experience in the kinds of environments that will be typical for future combat operations. A key characteristic has been operating in harmony with the civilian population. As a result, Marines have developed a heightened awareness of the human dimension, particularly language and cultural norms and values that are key aspects of the operational environment. These lessons have been learned and re-learned during the Corps' history, but need to be more effectively incorporated into training and operational preparation. To capitalize on these key lessons from Iraq and Afghanistan, each MEF has been assigned a specific regional focus area to direct training that will build language proficiency and cultural awareness. As we implement the guidance provided in the Service Campaign Plan, we will conduct analyses to determine the degree to which these regional focus areas can be linked to manpower policies and recurrent force deployments to specific areas. Whether in support of combat operations or engagement requirements for combatant commander theater campaign plans, our efforts at regionalizing Marine forces will provide a significant capability for the future.
Finally, guidance in the Service Campaign Plan includes analysis requirements for how Marine component commands assigned to combatant commands are resourced and how the Corps will institutionalize support to Security Force Assistance activities. Both efforts seek to posture the Corps to provide optimum support to the combatant commanders. We recognize that an effective Marine force with which to support engagement and operations is a critical requirement for combatant commanders, and our goal is for the Marine Corps to be the force of choice in every combatant commander's area of responsibility. By achieving optimum resourcing for our component headquarters, balanced with other requirements for the operating forces and the appropriate policies and resources to support security force assistance, the combatant commanders will have significantly enhanced Marine capabilities with which to support their engagement and operational requirements.
The last eight years of war have been a trying time for our Corps and the Department of the Navy. The sacrifices of our Marines and Sailors and their families cannot be overstated, and our nation owes them a tremendous debt of gratitude. However, operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere have yielded a benefit that is not often articulated
not since the closing days of the Vietnam War has the Corps been more seasoned and proficient at warfighting. Hardened by the crucible of combat, our Marines stand prepared and committed as our nation's expeditionary force-in-readiness. The challenges that lie ahead are many, and uncertainty will continue, but Marines everywhere remain confident that we will continue to meet these challenges. The Marine Corps Service Campaign Plan will provide a key element in assuring that our Marines will continue to be ready when our nation needs us most.