U.S. Marine Corps in Review

General David H. Berger announced a fundamental shift of direction for the Marine Corps shortly after he assumed duties as the 38th Commandant of the Marine Corps from General Robert B. Neller on 11 July 2019. In his message to the Corps, he emphasized that the need for increased naval integration was a result of “better appreciation of evolving threats to assured access of the global commons.”¹ He simultaneously published his Commandant’s Planning Guidance, a more detailed instruction to senior leaders. In it, General Berger echoed his predecessor’s 2017 testimony to Congress, emphasizing that “the Marine Corps is not organized, trained, equipped, or postured to meet the demands of the rapidly evolving future operating environment.”²

In both documents, General Berger outlined five areas of focus for the Marine Corps that he intends to concentrate on during his four year term as Commandant:

Force Design. Modernize the force to better meet the demanding requirements laid out in the 2018 National Defense Strategy with capabilities that enable Marines “to rapidly transition from a persistent naval forward presence posture to execution of sea denial or sea control missions.”

Warfighting. Enable a naval expeditionary force-in-readiness “prepared to operate inside actively contested maritime spaces.”

Education and Training. Change from an “industrial age model to [an] information age model” providing elite warriors with learning.

Core Values. Continue to instill “the values of honor, courage, commitment” and a warfighting spirit and sense of integrity and individual respect—above “equipment, aircraft, vehicles, or organizational structures.”

Command and Leadership. Focus on ensuring selection of leaders who take care of Marines and “vigorously enforc[e] our high standards of performance [and] conduct.”

The second half of 2019 thus became a period of high expectations about how and when these priorities would be implemented. [Editor’s Note: In late March 2020, General Berger published Force Design 2030, which lays out major force changes, including the elimination of all Marine Corps tank units.]

In his confirmation hearings, then–Lieutenant General Berger told the Senate:

We will need to conduct a deliberate redesign of the force to meet the needs of the future operating environment. We will also need to divest of our legacy equipment and legacy programs and also consider potential end strength reductions in order to invest in equipment modernization and necessary training upgrades.³

He also pronounced what could be called a top-down paradigm shift, when he wrote in the Planning Guidance:

Unless specified within this document, all reference documents from previous Commandants are no longer authoritative; thus, Service and advocate-related publications using the Marine Operating Concept or Force 2025 as “REF A” must be revised. Current advocate plans must be reviewed within the context of this guidance, and appropriate changes made.

Deployments and Operations. For the most part, 2019 operations, deployments, exercises, and programmed readiness modernizations and improvements continued as before, but a distinct move away from operations ashore (after years in Afghanistan and Iraq) could be detected. The Marine Corps executed 249 operations, including 9 amphibious ones, and participated in 151 theater security cooperation events and 68 exercises.⁴ The Marine Corps deployed forces in support of combatant commanders for combat operations, presence, contingencies, crisis responses, security cooperation events, and exercises. These forces primarily deployed as Marine expeditionary units (MEUs), special-purpose Marine air-ground task forces (SPMAGTFs), unit deployment program (UDP) forces, and Marine rotational forces (MRFs).

Marine Expeditionary Units

Four MEUs deployed during the year. In February, the 13th MEU with the Essex Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) returned to the West Coast from a deployment that included support to Central Command combat operations—including the first by the F-35B Lightning II—and training exercises throughout the Seventh Fleet (western Pacific), Fifth Fleet (Central Command), and Sixth Fleet (European Command) areas of responsibility.

In July, the 22nd MEU on board the Kearsarge ARG returned to the East Coast after a seven-month deployment through multiple fleet areas of responsibility. Of note, it participated in Sea Soldier, a bilateral exercise in Oman during March 2019 that focused on interoperability amphibious operations training with that country’s military, including integrated live-fire events at the squad through battalion levels.

The 11th MEU, homeported on the West Coast, deployed with the Boxer ARG from May through November. In July, as the ARG transited the Strait of Hormuz, it was threatened by an Iranian drone. Instead of employing a million- dollar missile, the force used the Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) embarked on board the USS Boxer (LHD-4) to down the threat using electronic jamming technology at the cost of a few kilowatts. The team also participated in Exercise Eager Lion in Jordan in August.

The 31st MEU and the Wasp ARG, based in Japan, conducted multiple deployments in the western Pacific during 2019. In July, they participated in Talisman Saber, the largest U.S.-Australian exercise. Thirty-six ships and more than 34,000 personnel and 200 aircraft participated alongside a small number of troops from Canada, Japan, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom embedded with Australian forces. The exercise included a combined amphibious force landing by the ARG/MEU and both Australian amphibious assault (LHD) ships—HMAS Adelaide and Canberra—supporting Australian Army landing forces, highlighting a major milestone in Australia’s amphibious renaissance.⁵

At the end of the year, the East Coast–based 26th MEU and the Bataan ARG began a six-month deployment to the Persian Gulf, just as events were beginning to heat up in the region.

Special Purpose MAGTFs and Task Forces. Special purpose MAGTFs have more capabilities than MEUs, because they are not limited by amphibious warship capacity. During 2019, SPMAGTF–Crisis Response–Central Command (SPMAGTF-CR-CC) provided continuous presence and support to that area through the rotation of three sets of assigned combined-arms forces from the West Coast’s I Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF). It deployed forces throughout the region, including support to operations and exercises in Jordan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, and Afghanistan. The SPMAGTF also provided a persistent, scalable crisis-response force and a tactical recovery of aircraft and personnel (TRAP) capability that included an alert force composed of organic ground and aviation assets.

Similarly, SPMAGTF–Crisis Response–Africa Command (SPMAGTF- CR-AF) rotated three sets of assigned forces from the East Coast–based II MEF through the command. It conducted crisis response and limited contingency operations and theater security cooperation (TSC) activities to protect U.S. citizens and strengthen U.S. interests in the U.S. Africa Command (AfriCom) area of responsibility.

The SPMAGTF–Southern Command (SPMAGTF-SC) deployed from June to November in multiple countries across the region. This included constructing training facilities for the Guatemalan Army, renovating four schools in Honduras, and improving a hospital in Belize. The ground combat element trained with eight partner nations and supported humanitarian aid and disaster relief efforts in the Caribbean following Hurricanes Irma and Maria as part of Joint Task Force–Leeward Islands.

SPMAGTF-Alaska, a new force built around 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines, with a detachment from Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 361 deployed on board the USS Comstock (LSD-45) and Somerset (LPD-25) during August and September. The forces practiced an amphibious landing and established a forward arming and refueling point (FARP) on Adak, Alaska, an early test of the littoral operations in a contested environment (LOCE) concept.

In addition, SPMAGTF–Customs and Border Protection (SPMAGTF-CBP) provided support to U.S. Customs and Border Patrol with two units—1st Battalion, 4th Marines and Marine Wing Support Group (MWSG) 37—conducting six-month rotations manning mobile surveillance cameras along the southwest border.

In Afghanistan, Marine forces continued to provide the core of Task Force Southwest (TFSW) that trains, advises, and assists members of the Afghan National Army 215th Corps and the Afghan 505th Zone Police. The Marine Corps continued to support the annual rotational deployment of a light battalion from the nation of Georgia to Afghanistan, including assisting with organizing, training, equipping, and certifying the battalions before they deployed to Afghanistan. Marines then accompanied the Georgian battalions in theater, providing support and assistance as they executed their Operation Freedom’s Sentinel quick reaction force mission.

The Marine Security Augmentation Unit deployed its 13-man squads 28 times to reinforce Marine Corps Embassy Security Group detachments at U.S. embassies and consulates during crises, VIP visits, and facility movements.

Unit Deployment Program and Marine Rotational Forces. The unit deployment program has sent battalions, batteries, and squadrons stationed in the United States to Okinawa, Japan, as part of III MEF for six-month deployments since 1977. In 2019, UDP units participated in 31st MEU deployments as well as exercises in the Pacific, including support of the Korean Marine Exchange Program. UDP units also supported the multinational Exercise Cobra Gold in Thailand in February. Besides Thai forces, this annual event included forces from Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, and the Republic of Korea. Cobra Gold 2019 focused on logistical sustainment and interoperability, including engineering and medical tactics, techniques, and procedures.

During April, the 35th Exercise Balikatan was conducted on the islands of Luzon and Palawan in the Philippines against a backdrop of heightened tensions between China and the Philippines. About 4,000 Filipino, 3,500 U.S., and 50 Australian personnel participated. It included counterterrorism, amphibious operations, and aviation training, bilateral planning, subject-matter expert exchanges, and humanitarian and civic assistance projects. The goal was to test and maintain high-level military readiness and enhance military-to-military relations to better address maritime security, territorial defense, and humanitarian disasters. The amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD-1) and a SPMAGTF built around the 4th Marine Regiment were the key U.S. participants. This was the first Balikatan exercise to incorporate F-35B aircraft (from Marine Fighter Attack Squadron [VMFA] 121 on board the Wasp).

The annual six-month deployment to Australia of Marine Rotational Force–Darwin (MRF-D), primarily sourced from III MEF in Japan, was conducted from April to October. This force continued to enhance U.S. and Australian military interoperability, a key foundation to Indo-Pacific regional engagement. In July, an additional Marine infantry battalion reinforced MRF-D and brought the total force above 2,500 personnel for more than 60 days, making this the largest MRF-D deployment to date. MRF-D also included a high-mobility artillery rocket system (HiMARS) platoon. This unit provided live-fire support during Talisman Saber in July.

In August, alongside Australian Defence Force units and a French platoon based in New Caledonia, MRF-D took part in Exercise Koolendong, its culminating live-fire exercise in the expansive Northern Territory of Australia training area. This combined-arms event provided an opportunity to develop bilateral planning and execution of large-scale operations by the two major forces. MV-22 Ospreys from MRF-D marked the end of the rotation by flying across the Pacific from Australia to Hawaii.

Deploying from II MEF on the East Coast and operating from Vaernes and Setermoen, Norway, infantry battalions of Marine Rotational Force–Europe (MRF-E) provided presence, crisis-response, contingency, and theater security cooperation forces for Europe. MRF-E also engaged with partners in multiple countries throughout the Black Sea, Scandinavia, the Baltic Sea, and elsewhere in the region. It conducted peacekeeping training, technical skills familiarization, multilateral amphibious and live fire exercises, and various professional symposia.

Significant Exercises

A number of 2019 exercises occurred in support of European Command, particularly in the far north. While 3d Battalion, 8th Marines, was the core element of MRF-E, it conducted an Arctic cold-weather and mountain-training event—White Ulfberht—with the Norwegian Army in January and February. Other exercises were held in Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, and Scotland. In March, Exercise Northern Wind involved II MEF staff and included drawing on pre-positioned Marine Corps equipment and supplies stored in Norwegian caves.

In June, headquarters staff of the 2d Marine Expeditionary Brigade (MEB)—part of II MEF—and other Marine elements participated in BaltOps on the Baltic Sea, the largest annual maritime-focused exercise in Northern Europe. This was the first iteration led by Second Fleet, weeks after the command achieved initial operational capability and less than one year after it was reestablished. The 2d MEB and Second Fleet staff deployed on the command ship USS Mount Whitney (LCC-20) to build interoperability among allies and partners to manage complex amphibious operations. The exercise also tested modified amphibious tactics that came out of a series of NATO Amphibious Leaders Expeditionary Symposium meetings and wargames.

Building on this exercise, the Navy’s East Coast amphibious force, Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG) 2, joined II MEF forces in Trident Jupiter, the largest live-fire exercise NATO has conducted since the end of the Cold War. This exercise placed Navy and Marine Corps forces under the command of a NATO amphibious task force. It also served in part as a certification event for Naval Striking and Support Force NATO, based in Portugal, and highlighted II MEF’s increasing commitment in support of Second and Sixth Fleets.

In November, more than 12,000 Marines (mostly from the 2d Marine Division at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina) along with Canadian and British forces, conducted a MAGTF warfighting exercise at sprawling Twentynine Palms, California. This was the first unscripted Marine Corps division-level force-on-force exercise in more than 30 years. Besides enabling multiple regiment-size operations and integration of all MEF elements, the exercise tested logistics and facilitated staff operations. It also helped the division understand its units’ electromagnetic and other signature profiles, which an enemy could exploit for targeting, and take actions to mitigate vulnerabilities.

In December, 1st Marine Division led a similar major exercise, Steel Knight, at Twentynine Palms. This was a combined-arms live-fire and maneuver exercise supported by 3d Marine Air Wing, 1st Marine Logistic Group, I Marine Information Group, and the I MEF command element. Steel Knight also included events at Camp Pendleton, California, and Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Yuma, Arizona.

Innovation

The Marine Corps used 2019 to field-test innovative concepts that have been in development for some time but hitherto had been practiced only in simulations and wargames. The Commandant’s Planning Guidance in part builds on and reinforces these warfighting concepts, in particular expeditionary advanced base operations (EABO) and LOCE. These concepts are components of distributed maritime operations, which the naval services are assessing to conduct integrated joint and coalition operations in a contested environment.

In August, III MEF on Okinawa held a series of training exercises to test the principles of EABO, especially projecting distributed long-range firepower to support sea-control operations. This included 31st MEU Marines operating from the Wasp ARG seizing the Ie Shima training facility and setting up a FARP to support a KC-130J aircraft that provided distributed logistics inside the range of an enemy’s weapons. In another event, Marine landing forces seized littoral territory then landed a HiMARS launcher. F-35Bs from the Wasp provided the HiMARS targeting data, demonstrating the future potential for a fully integrated naval targeting, fires, and command-and-control system for sea-control and sea-denial operations.⁶

In October, 3rd Marine Air Wing (MAW) tested the “Lightning carrier” concept off the West Coast by fielding 13 F-35B aircraft from the USS America (LHA-6), more than double the six fixed-wing fighter-attack aircraft normally carried on a large-deck amphibious assault ship. The MAW also tested the highly capable command-and-control facilities on the relatively new LPD-17-class amphibious transport docks, demonstrating the force’s capacity to support a range of operations.

While certainly not as capable as a 90,000-ton nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, a lightning carrier would increase options for fleet commanders to conduct distributed operations. In EABO, it could be employed along with multiple, rapidly deployable, movable FARPs to expand the range of naval strikes.

As the year ended, the America was transiting the Pacific to relieve the Wasp in Seventh Fleet. In part to make up for the America’s lack of a well deck, the USS New Orleans (LPD-18) joined Forward-Deployed Naval Forces Japan in December, increasing from four to five the number of amphibious warships assigned to Amphibious Squadron 11 there.

Modernization Highlights

Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV). In August, the Marine Corps’ JLTV program achieved initial operational capability (IOC), a year ahead of schedule. An Army-led program, the JLTV has begun replacing the aging Humvee fleet—high-mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicles (HMMWV)—in Marine units, starting with I MEF on the East Coast and III MEF in Hawaii and Japan. The many modifications to Humvees to protect against improvised explosive devices eventually created safety issues that drove the need for a new vehicle. The JLTV is currently expected to be a one-for-one replacement of the current HMMWV family with the same performance and payload capabilities but better protection.

Amphibious Combat Vehicle (ACV). In February 2019, after extensive field testing of the 16 original ACVs during 2018 and early 2019—including in high surf and cold weather—the Marine Corps decided to eliminate distinctions between the ACV 1.1 and ACV 1.2 designs. The BAE Systems 1.1 vehicle demonstrated that it could achieve the ACV 1.2 requirements to independently swim and perform all ship-to-shore missions without assistance from a connector. Testing continues on logistics, maintainability, and reliability, as well as limited live-fire testing. The Marines who will conduct the initial operational test and evaluation  received training on the vehicle. A full-rate production decision is planned, following results of initial operational testing and evaluation, later this year.

Armored Reconnaissance Vehicle (ARV). To replace the Corps’ elderly fleet of light armored vehicles (LAVs), the Marine Corps and the Office of Naval Research awarded two contracts in 2019 for prototypes to test advanced technologies. The future ARV system could “provide transformational sensor, communications and combat capabilities to collect and communicate information, while integrating robotics and artificial intelligence technologies in manned-unmanned teams.” Testing on the two prototypes will take place in 2020, and an LAV replacement is expected to be fielded by the end of the decade.⁷

CH-53K King Stallion. The Marine Corps’ replacement heavy-lift helicopter faced a number of challenges during the year. At the beginning of 2019, the seven test models delivered by Sikorsky in 2018 experienced a number of technical issues, especially with the mechanical reliability of the main rotor gear box. By December, these issues appeared to be resolved, after a team of industry and government experts completed extensive modeling and testing of modifications. Initial operational test and evaluation is now scheduled for 2021, and IOC has been pushed back—along with the aircraft’s first deployment—to 2023 or 2024. The Department of the Navy awarded Sikorsky a contract for an additional 12 CH-53K aircraft.

AH-1Z Viper. In late 2019, Light Attack Helicopter Squadron (HMLA) 269 at New River, North Carolina, became the final active-component squadron to finish transitioning from the AH-1W Super Cobra to the advanced Viper model. Only the two reserve squadrons are still flying the older aircraft, and in December, the first reserve unit, HMLA-775, began its transition.

MAGTF Unmanned Aircraft System Expeditionary (MUX). The Marine Corps continued to define its requirements for a large—“Group Five”—unmanned aircraft system (UAS). A key required capability will be for the MUX to provide a persistent or nearly persistent early-warning platform to aid in the defense of amphibious and expeditionary forces, with an initial capability by 2026. As a gap filler, in 2019 the Marines requested funding for three MQ-9 Reaper aircraft for 2020. Since 2018, a contract-piloted and -maintained MQ-9 has supported Marines in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province. However, the Reaper is viewed as only a transitional step. The Marine Corps has abandoned plans for operating the future Group Five MUX system off an amphibious ship and has decided it will be employed from ashore bases.

RQ-21A Blackjack. The Marine Corps completed transition to the RQ-21A medium UAS with the March delivery of the final operational system to Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron 3 at Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, and June’s delivery of the final training system to the fleet readiness detachment at MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina. The system achieved IOC in 2016, replacing the RQ-7B Shadow UAS, which made its final Marine flight in 2018. The Blackjack has a flight endurance of 16 hours and can carry up to 39 pounds of payload. It can operate from sites both ashore and at sea.

VH-92A Presidential Helicopter. In June, Naval Air Systems Command awarded its first low-rate initial production contract to Sikorsky for six VH-92As, following a successful acquisition Milestone-C decision. These aircraft will be delivered to the Marine Corps between 2021 and 2023. In the meantime, testing and system validation will continue, primarily through flight testing at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland. The Marine Corps plans to procure a total of 23 VH-92A helicopters.

Antiship Missiles. In May, the Marine Corps contracted with Raytheon to deliver Naval Strike Missile (NSM) systems for experimentation. The Marine Corps is seeking to integrate the over-the-horizon missile system, which the Navy bought in 2018 for its littoral combat ships, on a land vehicle launcher.

Force Design

In many ways, General Berger’s vision for the future Marine Corps is not a radical departure from his predecessors’ views. However, he has clearly articulated that he is “all in” on the need for greater naval integration and capabilities, changes, and trade-offs necessary to support naval and joint operations—specifically emphasizing China’s “malign activities” at sea.

The Guidance recognizes that great power competition is defining the strategic landscape, with major security challenges on the oceans. This realization is underpinned by the acknowledgment that supremacy at sea can no longer be presumed and that the United States must reacquire the capabilities and capacity to conduct a joint maritime fight to maintain—or even regain—control of vital sea lanes. In April 2019, while he was still serving as the Deputy Commandant and head of Marine Corps Combat Develop Command, General Berger told a  Senate subcommittee hearing:

Fleet Marine Forces Marines (FMF) must be able to persist inside an adversary’s weapons engagement zone (WEZ) as stand-in forces to facilitate the application of lethal stand-off forces and capabilities, while simultaneously supporting broader fleet actions. Whether organized as part of an Expeditionary Strike Group, Amphibious Ready Group, or FMF capability ashore, Marine forces require significant modernization to maintain overmatch of emerging threats and support increasingly contested and distributed naval operations globally.⁸

In the planning guidance, General Berger writes that force design is his “number one priority” and stresses the importance of Marines being able to execute LOCE and EABO and again emphasized persisting inside the enemy’s WEZ. He supports the Lightning carrier concept and proposes pairing big-deck amphibious warships with surface combatants for defense and integration of sensors and weapons.

He told Marines, “We are not defined by any particular organizing construct—[the MAGTF] cannot be our only solution for all crises.” While the MEF “will remain our principal warfighting organization . . . MEFs need not be identical.” Significantly, he also jettisoned both the two-MEB requirement that dictates amphibious ship numbers and directed the Marine Corps to “no longer reference the 38-ship requirement memo from 2019, or the 2016 Force Structure Assessment.” As part of the need for training and education, he instructed the Marine Corps to employ vigorous wargaming, experimentation, and modeling and simulation to test new ideas and concepts.

In probably his most revealing comments about the future force, General Berger wrote in December that he believed the Marine Corps was both over- and underinvested in the ingredients necessary to achieving its required future naval expeditionary force. His list of overabundant capabilities included: manned antiarmor ground and aviation platforms, traditional towed artillery, ground transportation vehicles, short-range mortar systems, and exquisite platforms with unsustainable personnel requirements. At the same time, he listed gaps, including: low-cost, lethal unmanned aerial, ground, and amphibious vehicles for a range of tasks; mobile and rapidly deployable rocket artillery with antiship capabilities; mobile defense systems; signature management capabilities; electronic warfare assets; and expeditionary airfield capabilities. He also stressed the need for more lethal and risk-worthy ships and connectors.⁹

While 2020 will certainly reveal major changes in the structure and organization of the Marine Corps, including the size of the force, General Berger promised Marines: “The structure and composition of the Marine Corps of the future may look much different than the force we all first joined; however, the spirit and ethos of what it means to be a Marine remains unchanged.”¹⁰