Large scale forcible entry is off the table for the US Marine Corps. What makes us unique now?

With tanks having gone the way of the dodo bird...with the cuts to infantry battalions, decrease in cannons etc...its become apparent that large scale forcible entry is off the table for the USMC.

Additionally with the cut in ground combat power we've eviscerated the Marine Air-Ground Task Force to such a degree that it should be renamed Air Task Force with ground support.

So what makes the United States Marine Corps unique going into the future? What capability saves us from the bean counters that will assuredly come hunting for scalps in the near term?

Oh you can bet that the floor of 175K Marines will soon evaporate like dew on the grass in the middle of the summer.  In the past we've heard the number of 150K batted around but I'd be willing to bet that the number will shrink even further.  My guess?  By 2030 we'll be looking at probably 125K Marines MAX!

The terrible thing?

Many predicted bad things with the USMC's unshakable belief in the F-35.  That one project has essentially gobbled up the budget to such a degree that everything else died so it could live.  Next on the chopping block?  The ACV.  LAR Bns.  The JLTV will be the primary ground combat vehicle of the Marine Corps soon.  The Air Wing will reign supreme.

So with the Marines headed toward being the US Navy's other air force, SOCOM's perimeter security and the Army's missile force what makes us unique?

What role do we play?  Where will we be useful outside of a fight with China? Even hybrid forces will give our NEW ground combat element a tough fight...Iraqi forces during the fight in Gulf War 1 would eat this new Corps alive.

How can a one war service survive if that war doesn't come?