Happy 249th birthday to the U.S. Marine Corps! We start this issue with the winners of our annual Marine Corps Essay Contest.
Marine Corps Major Dilan Swift took first prize with “Mad Max Imperatives for the Stand-In Force.” Drawing on the Hollywood post-apocalyptic movie franchise, Major Swift writes, “The Marine Corps must embrace a paradigm rooted in . . . first principles of simplicity, sustainability, and survivability.” Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel Bryan Lusczynski’s “The Stand-in Force Has to Maneuver” commanded second prize and calls for the creation of an organic maneuver capability for the surface domain. The Marine Corps “is now testing a maritime reconnaissance company, which will operate a new kind of purpose-built tactical boat—the Multi-Mission Reconnaissance Craft—and companion unmanned surface vessels to support the stand-in force and others operating in the littoral.” Army Major Austin Schwartz won third prize by asking and answering this question, “When the Marine Corps needs armor, it will call on the Army. Will either service be ready?” His essay, “The Marine Corps and Army Must Integrate Armor in Amphibious Ops” essentially says, “No, they aren’t ready now,” but offers ways the two services can prepare.
Training for Marine aviation technicians is the topic of Chief Warrant Officer Brian Brewer’s “Aviation Maintenance: A Critical Vulnerability in the Marine Corps.” Brewer notes that the Marine Corps has been fielding more and more technologically advanced aircraft—including the MV-22 Osprey and the F-35B/C Lightning II strike-fighters—but training for the Marines who maintain those platforms has not kept pace.
Most readers are familiar with the so-called Fat Leonard scandal that derailed many leaders and severely damaged the Navy’s reputation in the 2010s. As is often the case, the service made a strong course correction in the wake of that scandal, but Navy Commander Grant Bryan and Lieutenant Commander Matt Hipple argue that the service overcorrected in ways that reduced logistical effectiveness in the Indo-Pacific. Their commentary, “Fat Leonard Still Weighs on WestPac Logistics” offers examples of current inefficiencies and ways the Navy can fix them.
Finally, because it is election season and emotions about partisan politics are running hot, it is worth reminding that active-duty service members take an oath to support and defend the Constitution—not to any particular party or candidate. Navy Captain Dave Richardson and Marine Corps Colonel Eric Reid have neatly summarized “Permitted and Prohibited Political Behavior in the Naval Service.” They rightly point out, “Leaders must step in when the line becomes blurred for military members between their obligations and rights as citizens to participate in their democracy and actions that sow disunity in the ranks and erode belief in a nonpartisan military loyal solely to the Constitution.” Hopefully, next month will find us on the other side of a free and fair election with a peaceful transfer of power underway.
