Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Mideast Stars and Stripes
February 3, 2008 By Leo Shane III, Stars and Stripes
WASHINGTON — Are the first-in-fight Marines becoming slow and soft?
Corps Commandant Gen. James Conway acknowledged Friday that he worries frequently that the nonexpeditionary nature of operations in Iraq has begun to fundamentally change Marines’ missions and mind-sets.
“We are the nation’s premiere expeditionary force, and we have been now for decades,” he said. “But we now have a generation of young men and women who do not have a complete understanding of what expeditionary is.
“That people now believe that three squares a day courtesy of KBR and a cot is expeditionary, that is just not true.”
Conway said he hopes refocused training and re-emphasis on the traditional role of the Corps can fix that, but he noted that combat missions in Iraq demand a different approach.
Marines’ typical body armor is much heavier than it was during the initial invasion in 2002, and vehicles such as the Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles the service uses would never meet the quick-strike requirement of the past.
“The dilemma that I have on my plate weekly is how do we get back, because there is a real decision out there that is going to have to be made in terms of the weight of the force,” he said.
“The ships and the airplanes can only carry so much. Yet there is a force-protection requirement out there that leadership bears for its Marines. What is that balance?”
Conway said new technologies, like improvements in body armor and the planning of the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, should provide some relief. But he also added that in the future combating roadside bombs will likely still present some difficult weight-or-speed questions for war planners and combat commanders.
The commandant said Navy and Marine planners have already begun some of those missions discussions, mapping plan and operations philosophies for years to come.
Implementing those changes and long-term training will likely wait for a significant drawdown in current operations overseas. While several Marine units will leave Iraq over the next few months, about 3,200 Marines are scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan this spring.
February 3, 2008 By Leo Shane III, Stars and Stripes
WASHINGTON — Are the first-in-fight Marines becoming slow and soft?
Corps Commandant Gen. James Conway acknowledged Friday that he worries frequently that the nonexpeditionary nature of operations in Iraq has begun to fundamentally change Marines’ missions and mind-sets.
“We are the nation’s premiere expeditionary force, and we have been now for decades,” he said. “But we now have a generation of young men and women who do not have a complete understanding of what expeditionary is.
“That people now believe that three squares a day courtesy of KBR and a cot is expeditionary, that is just not true.”
Conway said he hopes refocused training and re-emphasis on the traditional role of the Corps can fix that, but he noted that combat missions in Iraq demand a different approach.
Marines’ typical body armor is much heavier than it was during the initial invasion in 2002, and vehicles such as the Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles the service uses would never meet the quick-strike requirement of the past.
“The dilemma that I have on my plate weekly is how do we get back, because there is a real decision out there that is going to have to be made in terms of the weight of the force,” he said.
“The ships and the airplanes can only carry so much. Yet there is a force-protection requirement out there that leadership bears for its Marines. What is that balance?”
Conway said new technologies, like improvements in body armor and the planning of the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, should provide some relief. But he also added that in the future combating roadside bombs will likely still present some difficult weight-or-speed questions for war planners and combat commanders.
The commandant said Navy and Marine planners have already begun some of those missions discussions, mapping plan and operations philosophies for years to come.
Implementing those changes and long-term training will likely wait for a significant drawdown in current operations overseas. While several Marine units will leave Iraq over the next few months, about 3,200 Marines are scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan this spring.