U.S. Marine Corps in Review

“Wood now U.S. Marine Corps entirely.”

—Major Maurice Shearer, Commanding Officer, 3d Battalion, 5th Marines, 26 June 1918

Commandant of the Marine Corps (CMC) General Robert B. Neller in May 2018 echoed the iconic report from Belleau Wood of a Marine battalion commander 100 years previously. General Neller was in France for the centennial tribute to the sacrifices of Marines who fought there—a spot many hold to be where the modern Corps came of age. Recalling the contribution of those Marines who in June 1918 fought with ferocious courage to blunt the Germans’ desperate final drive to break the Allies’ will, the general highlighted the Marine Corps’ unshakable generational bond. “Today, we are performing our duty to uphold the legacy—the tenacity and fighting spirit—of those who came before us,” he noted.

General Neller’s annual January “Message to the Force” gave orders for how Marines should undertake this duty. He emphasized actions necessary to adjust training “to contest a peer adversary” and “to improve readiness by adopting new processes to be more innovative, fit, educated, and resilient.”¹ In the past year, Marines focused on operational excellence, readiness, war-fighting innovation, modernization, and internal challenges and opportunities. These efforts were aided in part by the end of sequestration in 2017, which enabled the Marine Corps to achieve greater budgetary consistency for modernization and readiness.

Consistent themes throughout 2018 were the changing operational challenges and the increasingly contested maritime environment resulting from emerging competitors. Long-held assumptions—sea control would remain secure; the force should focus on power projection; fighting for maritime control would be unnecessary—no longer could be taken for granted. In response, Marine Corps leaders reemphasized closer integration of the Navy–Marine Corps team. In his annual testimony to Congress on the current posture of the Marine Corps, the Commandant made several points clear:

The Marine Corps will adapt its global posture. As a naval force, deployed Marines [predominantly] reside aboard ship, fully integrated with the Navy and expanding the competitive space and advantage of the Joint Force. The ocean provides flexibility, freedom of maneuver, survivability, and agility. . . . Hitting a moving target is much more difficult than one that has been in the same position year after year, . . . [affording] much greater unpredictability—imposing a cost on any competitor. In recent history, we have found our forces tied to fixed locations in special arrangements to support necessary requirements during times of increased instability throughout specific regions of the globe. We must put these forces back on [ships.] . . . This postures us to assure partners and allies, compete with rivals, and defeat violent extremist organizations. We recognize the continued issues with our amphibious, maritime, and expeditionary ship inventory; however, we must focus on increasing the capabilities of the ships we do have, while developing cheaper alternatives for more permissive environments.²

Operational Excellence

Over the course of  2018, Marines conducted 72 operations, including 5 amphibious operations, 50 theater security cooperation events, and 21 named exercises.³ The reduction in the number of highlighted operational events from previous years is less indicative of a slower operational tempo than of a renewed focus on improving readiness. The Marine Corps also placed greater emphasis on the quality of exercises rather than their quantity. In his posture statement, the Commandant underscored that the current 1:2 deployment-to-dwell ratio is unsustainable and that the force must return to a 1:3 ratio (normally 7 months deployed and 21 months at home) to preserve time required for training for all missions and to achieve balance for individual Marines and their families.⁴

A significant enhancement to the Marine Corps’ operational forces during 2018 was the integration of F-35B Lightning II strike fighters into deploying forces. In March, F-35B aircraft from Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 121—based at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, since 2017—embarked with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), based in Okinawa, on board the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD-1). This marked the first operational deployment of the aircraft with a MEU. During their spring patrol, the 31st MEU and the Wasp amphibious ready group (ARG) conducted training exercises across the region, including mechanized and heli-copter-borne raids and noncombatant evacuations exercises.

Most significant, in 2018 F-35Bs conducted the first combat missions by any U.S. Joint Strike Fighter variant. In mid-July, the 13th MEU embarked from the West Coast with the USS Essex (LHD-2). The MEU’s aviation combat element included a detachment of F-35B aircraft from VMFA-211. In September, the F-35Bs, operating under Fifth Fleet control, bombed targets in Afghanistan in support of Operation Freedom Sentinel. By the end of the deployment, the planes had flown more than 100 combat missions with more than 50 days of combat flying and 1,200 flight hours in support of operations in Afghanistan as well as Iraq and Syria (in support of Operation Inherent Resolve). In addition, the MEU committed an infantry platoon and a CH-53E detachment to Iraq to provide a theater reaction force, and the MEU’s artillery battery deployed an M777 howitzer platoon to Syria.⁵

The 26th MEU on board the Iwo Jima ARG deployed from February to August, conducting exercises in Romania, Israel, Djibouti, and Jordan. Demonstrating increased disaggregate capabilities and dynamic employment, the ARG’s three ships in June were spread out in the Baltic Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Gulf of Aden. During this period, the dock landing ship USS Oak Hill (LSD-51) supported NATO’s BaltOps 2018 exercise, which included forces from 16 allied and partner nations, about 5,000 personnel, 42 surface ships, a submarine, and more than 60 aircraft. The Oak Hill Marines conducted amphibious landings in Poland and Lithuania as part of a combined landing force.

The Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force (SPMAGTF) rotations continued to augment combatant commanders with Marine Corps capabilities beyond those provided by MEUs. SPMAGTF–Crisis Response-Africa (SPMAGTF-CR-AF), using two rotations of assigned units and operating out of Spain, conducted exercises in Spain, Italy, Germany, and Ghana in 2018. Continuing to coordinate with growing allied amphibious capabilities, SPMAGTF-CR-AF participated in January in landing operations with the Spanish Marine Corps and embarked forces on board two Spanish ships, the LHD Juan Carlos I and the amphibious transport dock Galicia. The SPMAGTF also supported theater security cooperation events in Uganda, Cameroon, Morocco, Ghana, Senegal, and Gabon.

SPMAGTF–CR–Central Command (SPMAGTF-CR-CC) operated under the operational control of Task Force 51/5th Marine Expeditionary Brigade (TF 51/5), the uniquely integrated naval amphibious forces led by a Marine brigadier general. The SPMAGTF provided persistent capabilities in support of Operation Inherent Resolve, including alert ground and aviation assets and a company-sized crisis response in support of the theater. The SPMAGTF also trained and supported contingency operations, employing the expeditionary sea base USS Lewis B. Puller (ESB-3), also under TF 51/5 control.

Task Force Southwest, a Marine Corps advise-and-assist command in Afghanistan, continued to support training of Afghan National Defense forces. In support of operations in Helmand Province, the Marine Corps contracted for and deployed an MQ-9 Reaper to provide surveillance and collect intelligence. The capability, manned and operated by contractors, provides organic support to Marines in Afghanistan. (The Marine Corps eventually wants to own and operate Reaper aircraft itself.) Also, the Marine Corps continued to train Georgian national forces in preparation for their rotational deployments to Afghanistan and to provide “advise, assist, and accompany” support to the Georgian light infantry battalions in Afghanistan.

From June to November 2018, SPMAGTF–Southern Command (SPMAGTF-SC) conducted theater security cooperation activities with partners in Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. About 300 Marines, including reservists, operated part of the time from the USS Gunston Hall (LSD-44) and ashore at Soto Cano Air Base, Honduras. In addition, for the first time the SPMAGTF-SC included partner nation officers on its staff, moving closer toward a vision for a multinational task force in the future.⁶

Marine Corps mobile training teams, assisted by some 200 Mexican Marine instructors, conducted 16 iterations of instruction to more than 1,300 Mexican Marines during the year. This training sought to increase the professional capacity of partners for multiple missions, including enhanced counternarcotics and counter–transnational organized crime operations in support of U.S. Northern Command’s theater campaign plan.

Marine Rotational Force–Darwin (MRF-D) deployed to Darwin, Australia, from April to October. With approximately 1,500 Marines—including an infantry battalion, an artillery battery, and eight MV-22B Osprey tiltrotor aircraft—the force participated in the annual exercise Southern Jackaroo with Australia’s 3rd Brigade and elements of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF). In addition, the MRF-D’s engineer platoon embarked on the LSD HMAS Choules and participated in a French-led multi-national humanitarian assistance and disaster relief exercise in New Caledonia.

The Black Sea Rotational Force (BSRF) based in Romania was formed around 1st Battalion, 6th Marines. BSRF engaged partner nations in Europe and the Caucasus region. This included support of NATO Operation Saber Strike, a U.S. Army Europe–led live-fire exercise involving more than 18,000 participants, conducted throughout Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland. Saber Strike 2018 also included reservists from the 4th Marine Logistics Group and artillery Battery I, 3rd Battalion, 14th Marine Regiment. At the end of November, the Marine Corps announced that the BSRF deployments would end and that instead rotational forces to Norway would increase.

The first of these expanded Norway rotations began in October, with the deployment of the 3rd Battalion, 8th Marines, to conduct cold weather training and enhance military relations with Norwegian military forces. While this is the fourth deployment of Marine Rotational Force–Europe (MRF-E), previous iterations involved only a few hundred Marines while this enhanced operation included a battalion of more than 700.⁷

A Marine reserve infantry battalion—2nd Battalion, 23rd Marines—for the first time in several years was activated and deployed to Okinawa in October as part of the unit deployment program. Originally, a battalion from the 5th Marine Regiment based at Camp Pendleton had been scheduled for this deployment, but it was tasked instead to support testing and evaluation of the new Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV).⁸

Force Structure 

Congress authorized an expansion of active-duty Marine Corps end strength from 185,000 Marines to 186,100, while the selected reserve strength remained at 38,500. On 31 December, the on-hand personnel strength of the service stood at 185,830 active-duty Marines and 38,413 selected Marine reservists.⁹ The ground operating forces remained built around 24 active infantry battalions and 8 reserve infantry battalions.

Marine Corps aviation units maintained 18 active and 1 reserve fighter-attack squadrons. During 2018, the active squadrons consisted of 10 F/A-18 Hornet squadrons (A, C, and D models), 5 AV-8B Harrier II squadrons, 2 fully operational F-35B Lightning II squadrons, and one squadron, VMFA-122, transitioning from the Hornet to the F-35B. Medium-lift aircraft increased to 17 active squadrons with the August activation of VMM-362 at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego, California. The squadron is expected to be fully operational by 2020. In addition, the second and final reserve MV-22B squadron, VMM-774, completed its transition to the new aircraft in April 2018. 

In May, Marine Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron (VMAQ) 3, from Cherry Point, North Carolina, deactivated, leaving VMAQ-2 as the last EA-6B Prowler squadron. (The Prowler’s final sundown occurred in March 2019 with VMAQ-2’s deactivation.) In addition, the RQ-21 unmanned aerial system (UAS) began replacing the RQ-7 Shadow UAS in support of MEUs, regiments, and Marine Special Operations Command (MARSOC) forces.

Investments throughout the year began to create significant improvements in aviation readiness. As General Neller told Congress in December, Marine squadrons are achieving “readiness rates above service combat readiness standards for the first time since sequestration. Average flight hours per aircrew increased from 13.5 in [fiscal year (FY)]16 to 17.9 in FY18, an increase of 32.6 percent,” with sustainment of this hard-earned progress continuing in future budgets. In addition, he noted that ground equipment readiness also improved: “Over the [past] three years, average readiness for mission-essential equipment has increased to 92 percent in the active component.” He also highlighted that, over the same period, the readiness of materiel loaded on maritime prepositioning force ships has increased to 95 percent.¹⁰ Before leaving office, Secretary of Defense James Mattis established an aggressive goal for the Department of Defense to achieve an 80-percent mission-capable rate for fighter aircraft by the end of FY2019.

Improving Readiness 

Multiple 2018 exercises focused on supporting Europe’s northern flank. In addition to June’s BaltOps and Saber Strike and the expanded deployment of MRF-E to Norway at the end of the year, the 24th MEU deployed with the Iwo Jima ARG during October and November in support of Trident Juncture, a high-end NATO Article 5 exercise involving 41,000 allied personnel—the largest NATO exercise since 2002. The MEU/ARG conducted operations in both Iceland and Norway, testing its ability to operate in extreme weather and difficult terrain. Trident Juncture also served to certify the NATO Response Force. Marines from II Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF) attended the Norway School of Winter Warfare in January and February, and units from the MEF participated in an exercise at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, in February and March. Elements from the Marine Corps’ 4th Tank Battalion, a reserve unit, participated in a multinational exercise in Finland in May, while at the same time a reserve battery from 5th Battalion, 14th Marines, participated in a combined-arms exercise in Lithuania.

Rim of the Pacific (RimPac) 2018 was a major naval exercise for the Pacific Fleet and Marine Corps Forces, Pacific, conducted in and around Hawaii in August. A key highlight was the embarkation of U.S. Marines and their amphibious assault vehicles (AAVs) on board the Australian LHD HMAS Adelaide. Marines from Okinawa-based III MEF participated in Operation Balikatan 2018 with the Armed Forces of the Philippines in May, conducting a number of activities to enhance partner capabilities that culminated in a combined-arms live-fire exercise. In addition, a squad of Marines embarked on the French LHD Dixmude during May and June. The squad also participated in a multilateral amphibious exercise that included French and Indonesian ships and marines in landings near Surabaya and Lombok.

In January and February before its deployment, 13th MEU conducted a bilateral amphibious training event with Japanese forces at Camp Pendleton, California, to enhance interoperability and mutual amphibious capabilities. The exercise concluded with U.S. Marines and JGSDF conducting an amphibious raid, MEU-level staff planning, and a company-sized amphibious assault by both surface and air. At nearly the same time in Japan, U.S. Forces Japan (USFJ) conducted a biennial joint/bilateral command-post exercise that prepared USFJ, Japan Joint Staff Office battle staffs, and service components to focus on executing theater plans. Also, VMFA-121 executed a bilateral air combat training exercise with the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) at Misawa, Japan.

Warfighting Innovation and Modernization

As the third decade of the 21st century is about to dawn, the Marine Corps recognizes that the strategic environment is becoming marked by revisionist and revanchist powers, long-term strategic competition, and rogue regimes that possess advanced, lethal, and disruptive technologies. As part of a naval expeditionary force, the Marine Corps must play an integral role in denying freedom of maneuver to deter adversaries, and—when necessary—it must be capable of exploiting, penetrating, and degrading advanced adversary defenses in all domains in support of naval and joint force operations. It must be able to impose costs, control key maritime and littoral terrain, shape the operational environment in support of integrated sea control and maritime power projection operations, and impose its will in all domains while under attack.

Recognizing these challenges, the Marine Corps continued to develop and wargame new concepts for supporting more-distributed naval operations focused on securing and sustaining sea control. The expeditionary advanced base operations (EABO) concept—supporting the joint maritime fight for control from dispersed shore sites and isolated islands and atolls—and associated requirements for new forces, novel employment of current forces, and logistical support were the focus of these efforts. The Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory continued to explore new technologies for improving the Corps’ cyber capabilities, leveraging emerging artificial intelligence and additive manufacturing technology, and using unmanned systems. 

In June, the Marine Corps announced that the next phase of the Sea Dragon 2025 experiments would focus on operations in the information environment—and that I MEF Information Group (I MIG) would be designated the primary force for this effort. In support of greater dispersion on the battlefield and the need for improved access to fires and information, Marine Corps leaders approved altering the structure of Marine rifle squads to include a technical manager to control unmanned systems and an assistant squad leader to manage information.

The Marine Corps has six priority modernization focus areas, highlighted below, that support coordinating with the Navy to build a 21st MAGTF to meet the demands of emerging strategic challenges and develop a more distributed, lethal, and resilient force.

Command and Control (C2) for a Contested and Degraded Information Environment. The Marine Corps is working to build a resilient C2 network, integrated with Navy and joint-force networks, that will allow for timely and persistent information exchange while enhancing battlefield awareness to dispersed MAGTF tactical units. Networking-on-the-move (NOTM), fused integrated naval network (FINN), terrestrial wideband transmission system (TWTS), MAGTF integrated C2 (MIC2), and MAGTF digital interoperability upgrades are expected to significantly increase and ensure capabilities associated with maneuver and fires across the battlespace. 

Long-Range and Precision Fires. The modern battlefield requires forces capable of conducting lethal strikes at range, in depth, and with precision from air, land, and sea. The Marine Corps’ investment in the fifth-generation F-35B/C aircraft, development efforts to acquire a maritime Group 5 MAGTF Expeditionary UAS (MUX) equipped with precision weapons; a guided multiple-launch rocket system alternate warhead; ground-based antiship missiles; as well as ground vehicles and long-range unmanned surface vessels armed with loitering munitions enabled by low-cost UAV swarming technology (LOCUST) are seen as important capabilities to increase lethality and options for expeditionary forces in support of a naval campaign in a contested maritime environment.

The MUX eventually will replace the interim MQ-9 Reaper currently employed in Afghanistan. Because of the state of technology required to supply a shipboard, runway-independent aircraft at an acceptable cost, the Marine Corps in March divided the MUX program into two capability tiers. The first includes early warning, intelligence and surveillance, electronic warfare, and communication-relay missions. These capabilities will enable greater independence of amphibious forces from a carrier or expeditionary strike group. The second tier would field offensive air support with aerial escort and an unmanned cargo mission.

Operations in the Information Environment.  Rising adversaries use the information environment to manipulate facts, mobilize mass perceptions, contest U.S. ability to command and control forces, and undermine traditional U.S. military advantages. Fading assumptions about dependable and uncontested access to the electromagnetic spectrum are similar to the paradigm shift for sea control and maneuver. The established Deputy Commandant for Information (DCI) and the MIG are developing the new concepts, doctrine, organizational requirements, and capabilities required to enable effective planning and integration of operations in the information environment (OIE). with traditional military activities to enhance lethality and the Corps’ competitive advantage.

Air Defense. Forward deployed and stationed Marines are now vulnerable to attack in ways not considered for decades. Most lack sufficient protection from and resilience after long-range kinetic attacks. This jeopardizes the operating force’s ability to prepare, project, and sustain combat power, although expeditionary forces operating away from bases in a distributed and dispersed manner provide some degree of resilience through distributed mass and reduced signatures. The Marine Corps is considering reestablishing a medium-range air-defense system, as well as counter–cruise missile defenses, and a squad-level counter-UAS.

In March, the Marine Corps’ Ground/Air Task Oriented Radar (AN/TPS-80) achieved initial operating capability. The first phase of this system significantly improves the performance and resilience of the MAGTF’s air-defense capabilities with more-mobile air-defense and air-surveillance coverage. It also integrates fully with the common aviation command-and-control system (CAC2S) to achieve a significant integration of sensors and weapons across the naval and joint battlespace. In 2018, the first increment of the Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS), the ground-based air-defense system, began its engineering and manufacturing development phase, the first step toward replacing Stinger missile systems in the low-altitude air-defense battalions.

Protected Mobility and Enhanced Maneuver. To distribute and concentrate forces and effects, the Marine Corps must be able to maneuver to positions of advantage and engage and defeat threat forces in all geographic, topographic, and climatic environments—from littoral waterways to urban areas.

In June, the Marine Corps awarded BAE Systems a low-rate initial production contract for 30 eight-wheeled amphibious combat vehicles (ACVs), winning the competition to replace the venerable Vietnam-era amphibious-assault vehicle (AAV). Originally, the ACV was supposed to provide a more limited interim ACV 1.1 capability, but BAE’s mature prototype has many of the ACV 1.2 capabilities, which should accelerate introduction of desired capabilities into the fleet. In part because of the advanced capabilities of the BAE ACV, the Marine Corps canceled a planned upgrade to some current AAVs and in December awarded BAE Systems a contract for 30 additional vehicles. To replace the aging light armored vehicle (LAV), the Marine Corps began exploring technologies for the armored reconnaissance vehicle (ARV) that is still in the conceptual stage. In December, the program executive officer, land systems, announced that the service would begin fielding the JLTV. The JLTV will be a one-for-one replacement of the current “Humvee” family with the same performance and payload capabilities but with better protection.

Logistics. In a distributed and contested environment, logistics take on greater significance as a key enabling function requiring global logistics awareness, diversified distribution, improved sustainment, and installations optimized to support sustained operations. This requires innovative approaches, the ability to leverage new technologies, and integration with Navy, joint, and coalition forces. For example, the Marine Corps procured 160 3-D printers, which so far have produced more than 83 Naval Air Systems Command–approved aviation parts and 125 ground parts. Additional investments in developing enhanced logistics C2 systems, bulk-fuel transportation and storage, and unmanned logistics systems, including quadrotor cargo delivery systems and littoral connectors, are paving the way toward next-generation logistics.

In May, the Marine Corps accepted the first CH-53K King Stallions from Sikorsky. These eventually will replace the fleet of CH-53E aircraft with 200 King Stallions, capable of carrying three times the legacy helicopter’s payload. Seven test models were delivered during the year; however, by early 2019 a number of problems, including poor mechanical reliability of the main rotor gear box, had delayed the planned December 2019 initial operational capability milestone until 2021.¹¹

Challenges and Continuity

The Marine Corps suffered two fatal aviation accidents in 2018. In April, a CH-53E crashed near El Centro, California, killing all four crew members on board. In December, a KC-130J and an F/A-18D collided off the coast of Japan during an aerial refueling, killing all five crew members on the tanker as well as the Hornet’s pilot. The Hornet’s weapon systems officer survived but was injured. In September, the first F-35B crash occurred near Beaufort, South Carolina, but the pilot ejected safely. Earlier in March, an AV-8B in Djibouti crashed during takeoff, also with the pilot safely ejecting.

In September, Hurricane Florence hit the Carolinas and caused significant destruction at Camp Lejeune, the major East Coast Marine Corps base. In November, the Marine Corps informed personnel with orders to Camp Lejeune that base housing would be unavailable until completion of repairs to the approximately 70 percent of the quarters that suffered some damage. By December, estimates for infrastructure repairs on the base had reached roughly $3.6 billion.¹²

In addition to the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Belleau Wood, 2018 also marked the centennial of the first female Marines. Marines celebrated the milestone of Opha Mae Johnson’s 1918 enlistment and of the more than 300 women who answered the nation’s call that year, establishing a trailblazing legacy. The year also marked the 50th anniversary of some of the Marine Corps’ most ferocious battles during the Vietnam War. The defense of the outpost at Khe Sanh from determined North Vietnamese attacks and the bloody urban battles in Hue during the Tet Offensive continue to inspire Marines and provide crucial lessons for warfighting today. In October, President Donald Trump awarded Sergeant Major John L. Canley the Medal of Honor for his actions at Hue while serving as the company gunnery sergeant of Company A, 1st Battalion, 1st Marines. Canley was cited for leading the company for three days after the commanding officer became seriously wounded; personally leading attacks into enemy-held buildings; and carrying casualties to safety while wounded himself.

As the Commandant highlighted in his guidance at the beginning of the year—and the legacy of those such as Major Shearer at Belleau Wood and then-Gunny Canley at Hue demonstrates—“In combat, we will be tested in ways that we cannot imagine. Yet, if we focus on preparedness, readiness, agility, and lethality; we will prevail on the battlefield.”