Wait what? If the F-35 performs well the USMC will need less, if it doesn't it'll need more? Berger is all over the place!

via Defense News.

“Right now, the program of record plows ahead as it is,” he said. “But I’m signaling to the industry, we have to be prepared to adjust as the operating environment adjusts. Right now, the program of record stays the same, but we will — we must — adapt to the adversary and we must adapt to the operating environment that we’re challenged with being in.”
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Broadly speaking, Berger said, what will drive how many F-35s are in a squadron going forward, or how many the Corps eventually buys, comes down to maintenance — a longstanding issue for the stealthy jet.
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“If the maintenance readiness of the F-35 proves to be very, very strong, then of course, like any other system you need less of them because more of them are up all the time. On the other hand, if it turns out not to be so, then you’re going to need more of them, to account for the ones that are in repair, that are down right now,” he said.

Complicating that issue is what he called the “unique” supply chain for the jet, which in theory lets parts flow in from all over the world, as opposed to the traditional U.S. based supply.

Story here.

Geez.

Berger is all over the place.

First he calls the F-35 one of the only systems that performed well in the war games.  Then he says it comes down to maintenance and if it does as expected he'll need fewer of them but if it doesn't he'll need more?  DID HE JUST INCENTIVIZE LOCKHEED MARTIN TO MAKE THE F-35 EVEN MORE OF A TURD THAN IT ALREADY IS????  Last he talks about the supply chain!

Ladies and Gentlemen you're looking at failure to properly message.  This is how concepts die.  He isn't getting buy in from Marines or policy makers and unfortunately he's flailing around in his effort to explain it instead of having a coherent, solid rationale for pushing the changes that he seeks.

This is management 101 and our Commandant doesn't seem to have his shit straight.

Let's hope he course corrects with a quickness.

Note.  I don't say this with glee.  I want him to succeed.  Hell the Marine Corps NEEDS HIM TO SUCCEED!  But the roll out of this concept is following the path that business schools warn about when talking about change agents and why they fail.