Amphibious ship crisis. Berger's myopic focus on Force Design 2030 laid the seeds of this disaster

 via Defense News.

In July 2019, Gen. David Berger took command of the service and quickly released a document titled “Commandant’s Planning Guidance” that backed away from the requirement of transporting those two brigades, saying the Corps would fight differently in the future.

Here 

Berger, Smith, and the rest of HQMC is scrambling to lay the blame on the USMC's lack of participation in crisis response on a lack of amphibious shipping.

Maybe.

But make no mistake about it.  The seeds of this disaster was laid in his proclamation that the USMC didn't need 38 amphibious ships anymore.  That we wouldn't need to transport two MEBs.  That we would fight differently in the future.

We can now see that not only did the Navy pounce on this misguided plan and that idiotic statement but so did the SecDef's office.

Suddenly the Marine Corps is saying that it doesn't need 38 amphibs?  Is gonna fight different?

I'm sure the conversation went, if they're gonna fight different and if they're gonna get 31 Landing Ship Mediums then in an era of tough recruiting we're just gonna give them one or the other but not both.

My belief.

The Pentagon is about to stiff the Marine Corps on big amphibs and on the LSM.

Berger is gonna leave the Marine Corps in worst shape than when he found it.

Buckle up boys.

For the first time in modern history the Marine Corps is ACTUALLY facing a crisis regarding its future and place in the DoD.

Even worse?

The pain was self inflicted due to an out of control Commandant that did NOT plan for the inevitable consequences of his concept.