Thanks for the article Lee!
via Inside Defense (behind paywall...thanks for getting me straight Tad!).
I believe it.
But forget the internal Marine Corps politics of this and think about the environment where the Commandant of the Marine Corps is about to establish a force that flies by V-22, is extremely vulnerable upon entry into the landing zone and will have a force of about 100 or so Marines to carry out operations...and this is gonna happen in the CENTCOM area of responsibility.
Someone is gonna die if this force is ever used. Correction. Many Marines are gonna die.
There are few more hostile, cavemen sporting sophisticated weapons with advanced training in fighting US forces (a lot of them trained by us) places in the world than the Middle East.
And what is our answer? To station a battalion at Djibouti with a JHSV ready to send them where they're needed? No. The answer out of the Commandant's office is to slam a company of grunts into the back of MV-22's, send them into harms way and hope that a small force of Marines can keep another BlackHawk Down from occurring.
Those Marines that will take that fateful ride might not even be in the Corps yet but they're screwed.
via Inside Defense (behind paywall...thanks for getting me straight Tad!).
The Marine Corps is looking to establish a special-purpose, Marine Air-Ground Task Force used for crisis response in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility about a year from now, according to a service spokesman.Rumor has it that the General's Club USMC, is doing a massive pushback on a whole range of Amos initiatives.
The new unit would support CENTCOM in addition to a Marine Expeditionary Unit that inhabits the Arabian Gulf, Marine Corps spokesman Capt. Eric Flanagan said Nov. 14.
With fewer ships available, the Marines plan to set up a SPMAGTF-CR in CENTCOM because, while being more affordable, it will still allow the Marines to respond to a crisis in a timely manner. All Marines in CENTCOM will report to the commander of the future SPMAGTF-CR, Flanagan said.
Maj. Gen. Robert Walsh, the service's director of expeditionary warfare, said Oct. 31 in Portsmouth, VA, that the service would much rather have Marines aboard ships but since there are fewer amphibious ships available those Marines will be land based. "So, that's a real challenge," he added
I believe it.
But forget the internal Marine Corps politics of this and think about the environment where the Commandant of the Marine Corps is about to establish a force that flies by V-22, is extremely vulnerable upon entry into the landing zone and will have a force of about 100 or so Marines to carry out operations...and this is gonna happen in the CENTCOM area of responsibility.
Someone is gonna die if this force is ever used. Correction. Many Marines are gonna die.
There are few more hostile, cavemen sporting sophisticated weapons with advanced training in fighting US forces (a lot of them trained by us) places in the world than the Middle East.
And what is our answer? To station a battalion at Djibouti with a JHSV ready to send them where they're needed? No. The answer out of the Commandant's office is to slam a company of grunts into the back of MV-22's, send them into harms way and hope that a small force of Marines can keep another BlackHawk Down from occurring.
Those Marines that will take that fateful ride might not even be in the Corps yet but they're screwed.
...and they won't even be able to call for help.
ReplyDeletenews: Marine Corps Commander: Current Comm Systems Inadequate for Expeditionary Forces
Looks to me like Marines are looking to stick V22 into whatever mission they can find....is it maybe to freaking justify this expensive machines existence? just curious....
ReplyDeleteHey guys, check this out, saw this on Navy Matters, cool site. Navy sending LCS with supplies to Philippines! All of 10 pallets, better hope she gets there and doesn't break something, that would be hilarious!
ReplyDeletehttp://navy-matters.blogspot.com/2013/11/freedom-to-rescue.html
ReplyDeleteNICO,
at least nobody aboard LCS would dream to trundle to shore at 6kts with an ACV...while turning green in the face...before getting shot up.
Say, how would you get to shore from a distance safe enough for the Amphib ?
USMC's ELLIS GROUP in the current PROCEEDINGS of the US NAVAL INSTITUTE is outlining what will likely be "Expeditionary Force 21" - the guiding document for USMC's future.
Apparently not much room for go-slow APCs fighting the surf and the defenders - whether on tracks or big butch wheels.
This suggests AAV-7 refreshed to be carried to shore via Connectors...saves money for another vehicle-class while keeping amphibious travel to rivers, lakes, ponds, modest tidal bays.
https://medium.com/war-is-boring/86b3f23ce199
ReplyDeleteAbout how awesome the MV-22 is... at HA/DR. All of that positive talk about the MV-22 is has worked.