Manny Pacheco. The most important man when it comes to Marine armor you'll never hear about.

Members Were Present and Accounted For on June 1 as Al Eskalis (far right) and Brenda Varnadore (4th from l) were promoted to major and master sergeant respectively. USMCCCA members attending the ceremonies were (from l) Manny Pacheco, Ronna Weyland, Paxton, Varnadore, Col. Bryan Salas, Joe Espinosa, Sal Cardella and Eskalis.

When it comes to Marine Corps armor...especially when it comes to the AAV Upgrade, the Amphibious Combat Vehicle and the Marine Personnel Carrier, every Marine either knows or can quickly enough find the chain of command.

Its simplicity itself...even for someone who has weak Google-foo (yours truly) go to Marine Corps Systems Command Website, look up PEO Land organization chart....see that the projects you're looking for are under AAA and then run straight into a road block.

Wow.  My beloved Corps is getting a bit stingy when it comes to info on this most important of projects.

But undeterred you seek comment from the boys at Amphibious Vehicle Test Branch on the vehicle from Singapore (Terrex AV 8x8) thats in the water out there and get....no where.

They send you to talk to the guys at 1st MarDiv.

The guys at 1st MarDiv send you to talk to the guys at 1st MEF.

The guys at 1st MEF send you to talk to Manny.  I asked for confirmation that the Terrex AV 8x8 was actually at AVTB undergoing swim tests and I feel confident in printing his response (meaning if I get an angry e-mail from him threatening me to take it down that it will...not because I'm worried about a squad of Marines attacking but because I want to stay on his good side)....

As I mentioned yesterday, the Marine Corps (PM AAA) issued contracts late last year to four vendors for the demonstration and studies phase for an advanced generation eight-wheeled armored Marine Personnel Carrier (MPC). Those vendors include Lockheed Martin, BAE, GDLS and SAIC. All four companies will have a variant of their vehicle at AVTB for a variety of water mobility and habitability testing throughout the spring and summer of this year.
MPC is intended to be a highly protected and swim-capable vehicle, with requirements shaped to provide a balance of performance, protection, and payload to ensure it is effective across the full range of military operations.
As for your specific question on the Terrex it is SAIC's variant into this testing. They are slated to do some government swim testing later this month. They may have already done some swim test at AVTB as part of their pre-test. That is something that they would have contracted directly with AVTB for support and not part of our (PM AAA) contract. All of this testing is vendor sensitive and specific so you will not have more than one vendor at AVTB at a time.
Again these are just demonstrations and studies contracts --- basically a way for the government to validate the performance capabilities of these platforms. 

Ok.

I feel confident that the tip I got on the Terrex being at the AVTB is spot on.   What I'm not sure of is whether or not its undergone any changes in design.  That is irking me.  I'd love to see pics of it.

Another thing has me a bit sad.

The critics of the F-35 and the EFV have succeeded in one thing.

The era of open development of vehicles and aircraft is definitely over.  In prior years the EFV and the F-35 probably could have moved forward, now they're under such a microscope that no manufacturer would dare expose a project to the type of scrutiny and venom that those two programs suffered.

Lastly the Commandant talked about Civilian Marines.  I didn't buy it, but in this case I think it applies.  I've seen Program Managers come and go (on the military side) over the years.  I've seen staffs change and get re-arranged.

The only stabilizing influence has come from those Civilian Marines in that office.  You want to talk about tribal knowledge?  It resides with the Civilians, not the military members of Marine Corps Systems Command.  By the time a Marine actually learns the insides and out of the place its time for him to move on.

That makes Manny probably the most important person in the office if Marine Corps armor is important to you.

Sidenote:  General Dynamics and BAE won contracts to develop the Amphibious Combat Vehicle.  I wonder if that will have any bearing on the MPC.