Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
New London (CT) Day
June 19, 2008 Commandant: Corps needs to be able to help build without losing its fighting edge
By Jennifer Grogan
Newport, R.I. - The commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps said Wednesday that the service has to be a “two-fisted fighter,” able to fight wars and respond to skirmishes or provide humanitarian assistance around the world.
”We think we need to do both and that involves a reorientation of our training,” Gen. James T. Conway said at the U.S. Naval War College. “We've taught our lieutenants how to destroy things. We need to teach them how to protect things.”
He described it as a “softer power,” engaging nations that are willing to accept help before “extremism becomes attractive.”
Conway said he would soon approve a vision statement for the Marine Corps that describes their strategy through 2025.
He discussed this strategy with leaders in business, government and the military attending the college's 59th annual Current Strategy Forum.
One asked whether Conway was worried that the Marines would “lose their hard edge.”
”Not really. Our lieutenants have a natural bent,” he said, which made the audience members, especially the Marines, laugh.
”You adapt but you never lose that war-fighting spirit as a Marine,” Conway said.
What the Marines have partially lost, Conway said, is their “expeditionary mindset” because the service has essentially become a second land Army in Iraq.
”I have an entire generation now of young enlisted Marines and officers who have never been aboard a ship … If you have a cot, three squares (meals) a day and Haagen-Dazs for dessert, that is not expeditionary,” he said.
The Marines need to be able to step off ships, see “essentially a moonscape,” and say, “Home, I love it,” Conway said.
Participating in counterinsurgency operations has usurped their time for developing amphibious and jungle skills and the service needs to get back to its “core competencies,” Conway said.
About 26,000 Marines are serving in Iraq, almost exclusively in Al Anbar Province. They are doing “nation building” and that is not a Marine Corps mission, Conway said. Another 4,000 are in Afghanistan. At least two standing requests for Marines in Afghanistan cannot be met because there are not enough forces available, Conway said.
Conway said Iraq is the nation's first priority, followed by Afghanistan, then the health of the military and problems elsewhere in the world.
But he said he believes al-Qaida now views Iraq as a “lost cause” and has shifted focus to Pakistan and Afghanistan. He said it is only a matter of time before the Marines start to leave Iraq and senior leaders will have to decide whether to let them rest at home or send them to Afghanistan.
”If you check the national priorities, there is no question in my mind where that regiment will need to go,” Conway said.
June 19, 2008 Commandant: Corps needs to be able to help build without losing its fighting edge
By Jennifer Grogan
Newport, R.I. - The commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps said Wednesday that the service has to be a “two-fisted fighter,” able to fight wars and respond to skirmishes or provide humanitarian assistance around the world.
”We think we need to do both and that involves a reorientation of our training,” Gen. James T. Conway said at the U.S. Naval War College. “We've taught our lieutenants how to destroy things. We need to teach them how to protect things.”
He described it as a “softer power,” engaging nations that are willing to accept help before “extremism becomes attractive.”
Conway said he would soon approve a vision statement for the Marine Corps that describes their strategy through 2025.
He discussed this strategy with leaders in business, government and the military attending the college's 59th annual Current Strategy Forum.
One asked whether Conway was worried that the Marines would “lose their hard edge.”
”Not really. Our lieutenants have a natural bent,” he said, which made the audience members, especially the Marines, laugh.
”You adapt but you never lose that war-fighting spirit as a Marine,” Conway said.
What the Marines have partially lost, Conway said, is their “expeditionary mindset” because the service has essentially become a second land Army in Iraq.
”I have an entire generation now of young enlisted Marines and officers who have never been aboard a ship … If you have a cot, three squares (meals) a day and Haagen-Dazs for dessert, that is not expeditionary,” he said.
The Marines need to be able to step off ships, see “essentially a moonscape,” and say, “Home, I love it,” Conway said.
Participating in counterinsurgency operations has usurped their time for developing amphibious and jungle skills and the service needs to get back to its “core competencies,” Conway said.
About 26,000 Marines are serving in Iraq, almost exclusively in Al Anbar Province. They are doing “nation building” and that is not a Marine Corps mission, Conway said. Another 4,000 are in Afghanistan. At least two standing requests for Marines in Afghanistan cannot be met because there are not enough forces available, Conway said.
Conway said Iraq is the nation's first priority, followed by Afghanistan, then the health of the military and problems elsewhere in the world.
But he said he believes al-Qaida now views Iraq as a “lost cause” and has shifted focus to Pakistan and Afghanistan. He said it is only a matter of time before the Marines start to leave Iraq and senior leaders will have to decide whether to let them rest at home or send them to Afghanistan.
”If you check the national priorities, there is no question in my mind where that regiment will need to go,” Conway said.