500 Words or Less

GENOCIDE: Killing the next Generation of War

Bill Lind has contributed great things to the intellectual culture of the Marine Corps.  He played the drum roll for the Marine Corps’ march into the world of Maneuver warfare.  He had a hand in the acquisition of the Light Armored Vehicle, and thus an impact on our reconnaissance tactics.  He continues to influence Marines through the recent addition of his “canon” to the Commandant’s reading list. 

There are many things we do as Marines that can be traced back to Lind.

However, one of the things we do as a result of his influence needs to end.  We must put our use of his generational model behind us, delivering it to the dustbin!  When Lind locks an army into a specific generation he encourages reductionist thinking.  When Lind places this army into his mildly Marxist model of warfare he risks leading his readers into that deadly intellectual vice, fatalism.

Amphibiosity

The theme of this month’s Marine Corps Gazette is amphibious warfare. Included in the issue are articles on past amphibious operations such as the battle of Marathon (490 BC), the New Providence raid (1776), and Gallipoli (1915). (Additionally, there are four web exclusive articles on Fort Fisher, Inchon, Guantanamo Bay, and Guam) Articles that cover current operations include one on a return to our expeditionary mindset, amphibious embarkation planning, and the cancellation of the EFV. For future trends, MajGen Thomas Benes covers seabasing development and LtCol F.G. Hoffman wrote about 21st Century amphibious capabilities. There are a few trends in current amphibious operations that Marines should be aware of.

Growing Up

A friend of mine who is dead set at getting out of the Marine Corps at just a bit over the ten-year mark is wondering what his boss will say once he drops his papers.  In his "mind movie" of the encounter, my friend would tell his incredulous boss that he's ready to move on, "And frankly, sir, it is time to grow up."  Indeed it is, and this is a large part of the reason why he is getting out.  He wants to grow up, but the institution does not value that.

Now, my friend has made his share of sacrifices and has held positions of grave responsibility in combat.  He has filled very grown up roles.  Yet, the institution is not providing him or a great number of other high performers with the opportunity to operate in a grown up world.  This is not so trivial as my common gripes about safety stand-downs or HARP forms.  My friend and many others like him are disheartened by the lack of seriousness, the lack of opportunities, and the lack of grown-up respect that our institution affords them.

Trust

I recently reread LtGen Robert B. Neller’s “An Open Letter to the “Young Turks” in the November 2011 issue of the Gazette. I want to highlight and expound on one item on which he is absolutely correct: that centralized training requirements do not indicate a lack of trust.

From the letter:

“Although I think “The Attritionist Letters” and the thoughts of the Maj Munsons of the world are a bit overstated, especially the inexplicable correlation between centralized, directed training executed in a decentralized manner equating to a lack of trust, it is done, I believe, for effect.”

Evans Carlson, Marine Innovator

BGen Evans Carlson

I wanted to highlight one of my favorite Marine innovators in the hope of getting a discussion going. Few Marines know who he was, but every Marine has utilized his ideas at some point in their careers. That innovator is Brigadier General Evans Carlson, one of the founders of the Marine Raiders. The Marine Raider Battalions were the first official American military organizations to be structured and designed purely for raiding and guerilla operations. Carlson put both his career and his life on the line to get his ideas implemented.

Although he had served in the Army from 1912-1919, reaching the rank of Captain, Evans Carlson enlisted in the Marines in 1922 as a Private. He was commissioned as a second Lieutenant less than a year later. Two experiences formed the ideas that Carlson would later instill in the Marine Corps through the Raiders.

Thought Of The Week: November 18, 2011

Both the young turks and the senior leadership have valid points. The good news is they have dialogue.

Agree or disagree? Leave your ideas as comments.

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