Some are happy with this statement by Neller....I still think we need a Ground Combat Advocate wearing stars....

Thanks to Mark A. for the link!

via Military.com

But with major Marine Corps investments for new rotary-wing and fixed-wing aviation platforms well underway, cost may not be the obstacle it once was for the service. The commandant signaled his plan to invest heavily in the infantry when speaking with deployed Marines during his yearly Christmas tour.

The Marines' new 5th-generation fighter, the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter, costs roughly $100 million per copy, Neller told troops at one of a dozen town hall-style addresses he gave in the span of seven days in late December.

"I could kit out every grunt in the Marine Corps with the coolest s*** head-to-toe for $100 million," he said. "And I intend to do that."
For what else may be coming for the infantry, look to the "Über Squad," an experiment started this year by Wade.

This summer, the 13-Marine unit from 1st Battalion, 6th Marines, was kitted out with M27s, suppressors, and high-tech Ops-Core helmets borrowed from Marine Corps Special Operations Command that feature built-in hearing protection, but also magnify other sounds to improve situational awareness.

The Marines used light MARSOC body armor and advanced AN/PVS-31A night vision devices. They also got 60-round Magpul drums, allowing them to increase the amount of ammunition they carried.

Wade said that the high-end night vision equipment had proved its worth recently during a nighttime exercise at Marine Corps Air-Ground Combat Center 29 Palms, California.
"That rifle squad moved faster at night than the live fire-safety chaperones," he said. "[The Über Squad moved too fast for them to keep up because they had better night vision goggles."

Story here. 

Ok.  Full disclosure.  The M27 is cool but the M16A5 would have been much cooler still.

Additionally do you get the force of connection with this announcement?

It was made days after it was announced that the Assaultman was being done away with.

I consider this a cleansing statement...an attempt to refurbish his reputation, after making a horrendous decision to back a concept that no one understands and apparently no one can explain (taking away Infantry boatspaces to give to cyber).

The fact remains.  The Ground Combat Element has no advocate.  Every Marine General is now an aviation advocate and the spending inside the Corps reflects that.

In essence there is no balance.  No one making a pitch for the ground force.

Aviation has the Commandant and the Deputy Commandant.  Logistics has the same.

But there is no one to speak for the GCE, and this little pitch done at town halls don't change that fact.

I remain unimpressed.