Neller says Marine Aviation is prioritized over the Ground Combat Element.

via Marine Corps Times.

In a fragmentary order issued on Tuesday, Neller wrote that the Marine Corps will continue to repair and replace worn equipment, with an emphasis on aircraft. The service has already replaced the CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter with the MV-22 Osprey and it is in the “developmental stages” of replacing the CH-53E with the new CH-53K heavy-lift helicopter, Neller said.
“We’ve run our stuff pretty hard, just like the Navy has run their ships pretty hard,” Neller said. “In order to make mission and to what we had to do, there’s been some deferred maintenance. We’re at the point now where we have to fix the stuff.”
It will take time to transition to newer planes and helicopters, he said. Until then the Marine Corps will make sure older aircraft get the depot maintenance and it will take other measures so that it can continue to operate with its older aircraft.
“We’re as busy, as far as the level of deployment, as we’ve ever been,” Neller said. “We’re continuing to fly our airplanes and drive our vehicles and meet the requirements. That’s kind of where we have this pressure against aviation.”
Until upgrades to new aircraft are complete, then the Marine Corps will make sure older models get the depot maintenance they need and make sure it has enough parts for old and new aircraft.

This guy is turning into another fucking Amos.  I can't properly express the disappointment I'm feeling.

First, he's continuing on with the Company Landing Team, even though its beyond obvious that the concept is ... silly.  Now they're experimenting with adding artillery?  Really?  By the time they make these Teams combat capable we're going to have reinvented the MEU!

Second, the capitulation on the social experiment that the SECNAV is putting the USMC thru should have had at least token pushback.  Instead we had what amounts to nothing.

Then this.

If the US needs the 101st to go on float then I'm sure the Army would be happy to oblige.  We don't need to duplicate that capability.  What the Nation needs is a fully capable medium weight COMPLETE combined arms team that can fight across the spectrum of warfare.

If the Marine Corps is headed toward being a butched up seagoing 101st Airborne (Air Assault) Corps then its time to shutter the organization, case the flag and save the taxpayer money.