Force Design 2030 advocates are finding comfort in this quote. They're wrong.

Force Design advocates are finding comfort in the above quote.

They're wrong.  

Terribly wrong.

It all goes back to the role of a change agent.  We all know that a change agent must have a vision, must be able to see the end result...but most importantly he must get buy in from those he leads.

That's the problem with the approach taken.

They didn't get buy in.  They started the activity before they had a clear understanding of the change that they were instigating and they did NOT accept critiques of their plan.

No open discussion.  When it was attempted they ran to the comfort of secret information that couldn't be shared.

They even went so far as to state that they were acting in accordance with the national policy directive while IGNORING the fact that the SecDef that supposedly put this whole thing in motion is one of the generals (Mattis) that came out AGAINST Force Design 2030.

Sadly, FD2030 will go down in history as the way NOT to modernize a force.  It MIGHT be the right way.  We just don't know.  We do know that it is optimized to one theater against one foe.  We do know that it has abandoned combined arms in favor of light infantry (very light...lighter than the 82nd airborne) and missiles, with missiles being the supported force.

But most importantly for the Marine Corps, FD2030 will alter the very character of the Marines.  To this day Marine Corps recruiting is making a push from the past to entice recruits, not a pull to what Berger wants the Marine Corps to become.

Another point of concern is the further weakening of the Commandant.

We have had a series of leaders that have diminished the stature of the Commandant.  This Commandant because of the way that he's gone about implementing FD2030 has created a lack of trust and confidence in the big chair.

In an organization as small as the Marine Corps that's a dangerous thing.