So I’ve sat in on a couple media interviews with LtGen George J. Flynn, USMC. He is the Deputy Commandant for Combat Development and Integration, i.e…..the future. Of course you don’t make general by throwing out bold, radical statements to the media, but there were a few interesting nuggets in what he has been saying.
On the Future of the Corps
“In eight years of a land war, where the Corps has been acting as if we are a second land army, we need to get back to our amphibious, expeditionary roots.” Nothing new here, but it at least shows a priority of where we want to go. Evidenced by a recent amphibious training exercise Dawn Blitz in Camp Pendleton, CA, and one coming up this summer on the east coast. Dawn Blitz was the largest amphibious training exercise in the past four years.
[The Corps] “is the nation’s sea-based crisis-response force.” Watch this flavor….if a new widget doesn’t help us do this, it’s not as valuable.
On Ground (or sea) Vehicles
In the design of a ground vehicle, LtGen frequently refers to an iron triangle, “Performance, Payload and Protection.” You can protect the heck out of vehicles, but then they don’t move as well [MRAP’s], or you can move faster with little protection [LAV’s]. “We think mobility provides some level of protection” said the general as he was asked for a response to the development of the new (50 - 70 ton) Army combat vehicle. That explains the Corps’ proposed vehicles, why we like the idea of a HMMWV with more protection (search for HMMWV Capsule), and lighter JLTV variants.
On Amphibious Ops
The SecDef has publicly questioned amphibious operations in this day of cheap anti-ship missiles, LtGen Flynn’s comments on amphibious ops, “We’ll need to use the sea as maneuver space (from the NOC) and be able to move from ship to shore fast enough to confuse the enemy. The enemy won’t be able to defend everywhere. Now the Navy says we’ll have to come from over the horizon, well the EFV supports that. We will have to disperse our forces. The enemy will get precision [meaning precision-guided weapons], and we can’t let them have a target.”
That phrase “the enemy will get precision” puts a whole new light on the type of military operations that collect a large amount of forces or materiel, essentially creating a target for the enemy. So as we go forward, will we keep forces small and dispersed, or will we create targets then create the layers of protection required to protect those targets? LtGen Flynn only talked about dispersion.
The NSS stresses engagement as a key tool to work in peacetime with partner nations. LtGen Flynn said, “Engagement is the seam between diplomacy and defense. We see a vital need for the Corps to be engaged in the areas of the world where future security will be uncertain and challenging. Seventy percent of those areas can be reached by sea.” And then he of course went to list the advantage of an amphibious force for engagement, no basing rights, no overflight required, etc. Of course those are easy things to say when you don’t have to eat chow on ship!
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