The Morning Rant: Minimalist Edition

The problem with civilian oversight of our armed forces is that a fair amount of the oversight occurs in the United States Congress, and as we have seen over the past several weeks, they are a bunch of sleazy, brazenly corrupt, ignorant functionaries who have lost sight of the important work with which they have been tasked.

And the rest of the oversight lies with the executive branch! Sure, the current commandant of the USMC, General Eric Smith, was chosen by the drooling retard, Joe Biden, but the guy before him was chosen by President Trump.

The Feather Merchants: Senior Leaders Subverted the Marine Corps

The last commandant told the nation that amphibious operations were obsolete and the Navy could get by with fewer amphibious ships. Consequently he released it from the commitment to maintain enough ships to maintain a 24-7 amphibious presence in the world’s most likely trouble spots (the Mediterranean, the Persian Gulf, and the Western Pacific).

Now, the current commandant says we need more big deck amphibs to maintain the 24-7 commitment; but he enthusiastically supported the last guy’s position when he was the Assistant Commandant. When asked how many amphibious ships the Marine Corps’ current Assistant Commandant could not come up with a number.

The senior marine leaders have now admitted that they cannot logistically support the new anti-China force — that they call Force Design — due to Navy procurement failures in contracting the new small amphibious ships needed to support the concept. After six years not a single keel has been laid even though the Marine Corps gave up much of its conventional combat power to create the new concept called “Force Design.”

It is entirely possible that the future of the United States Marine Corps will shift away from the current doctrine. It is also possible that they will remain an amphibious force. But one thing is certain; it is incumbent upon the senior leadership and their civilian bosses to make sure that they can complete their missions...whatever those will be! And without the equipment for their fancy new direction, the Marines will be a bunch of riflemen with no way to get into the fight.

There have been politics in the military forever. Every country has to deal with it. But when politics is ascendant, and the mission is secondary, that is a problem. General Berger may have had the best intentions, or he may have been a political hack who pushed his own crackpot idea just to have something unique to differentiate himself from the other monkeys on the flagpole.

I have my suspicions, but either way, the civilian oversight failed the Marine Corps, and it failed America. The current tone in the defense department is gratifying to see, with the Secretary of Defense stripping away much of the extraneous nonsense and focusing on one thing...the mission of fighting and winning wars. But he can't do it alone, and Congress must take seriously its oversight, and make sure that the massive defense budget is spent on things that make that mission possible, and not on pie-in-the-sky predictions about the future of warfare.

That doesn't mean that our armed forces should remain static. On the contrary, they must be at the cutting edge of new technology (drones anyone?) and new developments in strategic issues. But they must be able to win current battles before they shift to fighting future battles!

[Crossposted at CutJibNewsletter and X/Twitter] And the Apple and Spotify feeds for CJN's podcast should be working!

posted by CBD at 11:00 AM

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