TUESDAY PDB – As part of a radical restructuring, the Corps has essentially walked away from its traditional role as the nation’s worldwide “911” force to concentrate on an anti-ship role in the South China Sea.
Gary Anderson, the former director of Marine Corps Wargaming and chief of staff of the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab, believes this extreme transformation may have been based on flawed wargaming.
In The Games The Marine Corps Plays, he writes:
“I was surprised to learn that the Marine Corps claimed to have validated its Force Design (FD) 2030 concept based on a few war games and became alarmed about the fact that the current commandant of the Marine Corps has undertaken a radical restructuring of the service having used the games to justify his actions.”
He adds: “If those games show FD 2030 to be the badly flawed concept that I and scores of retired and active-duty Marines think it is, the new commandant can take steps to begin to repair the damage that has been done to the capabilities and worse, the integrity of the Corps.”
FOR YOUR EYES ONLY – Here’s a roundup of today’s other top defense stories from national security expert PAUL CRESPO.
Not the President’s Daily Brief, but almost as good – PAUL’S DAILY BRIEFING – the PDB:
NATIONAL SECURITY
MIGHT MAKE SENSE – BUT MEXICO IS IN NORTH AMERICA – Republican defense bill would move Mexico under US Southern Command. House Republicans are trying to give U.S. Southern Command authority over military relations with Mexico, which currently lies within the jurisdiction of U.S. Northern Command.
Intel from NRO, NGA included in Trump’s alleged misuse of defense docs. Boxes of documents former President Donald Trump allegedly warehoused at his Mar-a-Lago resort and residence in Florida included national security intelligence derived from some of the country’s most sensitive sources.
HOMELAND SECURITY
No, military helicopters are not invading California. Everybody stay calm! It’s (not) happening!
GOOD! – School researching hypersonic weapons closes China-linked institute. A university receiving a Defense Department grant to research hypersonic weapons has ended its relationship with a Chinese Communist Party-linked organization on its campus.
CHINA THREAT
China in high-level talks for military training facility in Cuba to station troops off US shores: report. US intelligence reportedly suggests China and Cuba are engaged in discussions to establish a new joint military training facility on the island, raising the prospect of Beijing permanently stationing troops less than 100 miles off U.S. shores.
CHINA TELLS BLINKEN TO PISS OFF – Blinken and Xi pledge to stabilize deteriorated US-China ties, but China rebuffs the main US request. America’s top diplomat left Beijing with his biggest ask rebuffed: better communications between their militaries.
RUSSIA THREAT – UKRAINE WAR
Both sides suffer heavy losses as Ukraine strikes back against Russia. British officials say both sides are suffering high numbers of military casualties as Ukraine fights to dislodge the Kremlin’s forces from occupied areas.
Allied plan would give Ukraine equal voice at high-level NATO council. Extending Ukraine an invitation to join NATO will not be on the agenda when heads of state meet next month, but other measures will be taken to bring the country closer to eventual membership.
US failure to track weapons for Ukraine has consequences. The Pentagon’s Office of Inspector General released a report evaluating the quality of the accountability controls for U.S. weapons sent to Ukraine through Poland.
NORTH KOREA THREAT
A US Navy sub arrives in South Korea, a day after North’s missile test. The nuclear-powered cruise missile submarine USS Michigan, capable of carrying about 150 Tomahawk missiles, arrived in South Korea on Friday, a day after North Korea resumed missile tests in protest of the U.S.-South Korean live-fire drills.
INTERNATIONAL SECURITY
BUFFs in Guam: B-52s deploy for another bomber task force. Four B-52s and more than 200 Airmen arrived at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, this week to kick off another Bomber Task Force deployment in the Indo-Pacific.
US, NATO wrap up joint exercises in the Baltics, Europe’s High North. The U.S. Navy and its NATO allies and partners wrapped up their annual maritime-focused exercise in the Baltic region Friday.
The first US deep water port for the Arctic to host military. The expanded port will become the centerpiece of U.S. strategic infrastructure in the Arctic.
US MILITARY
Why is the Navy focusing on Submarines and unmanned jets. Today’s Navy might look different from tomorrow’s as the services shift tactics to larger-scale conflicts in the Indo-Pacific theater.
More casualties, less comms: How aeromedical evacuation may look in the next fight. The aeromedical evacuation field is preparing to become even more dynamic.
Lawmakers eyeing even more boosts to junior enlisted pay. House members have proposed huge increases to junior enlisted pay, monthly bonuses for those servicemembers to help deal with inflation, and new reforms to boost housing and assistance stipends to ensure their families don’t face financial struggles.
In the wake of high-profile suicides, the Army and Navy are trying to adapt. Driven by high-profile incidents of suicide and suicide clusters, the Navy and Army say they are working hard to address the issue and save lives.
END of PDB
Anti ship role is Navy role NOT MC unless save Boarding Teams
Redo wargames to help China win?
When you have Military Leadership that was selected by Obama for it’s future adherence to “Leftist Political Correctness” that military leadership will do very stupid things.
Nothing out of the Pentagon traitors surprises me.
Time to create a new wing of the armed services……. The “PC Brigade”. Made up of all the loony left-wing liberal nut job people, groups, and organizations around the entire country.
Draft ’em, train ’em, equip ’em, and ship ’em off to all the hot spots around the world. Let them show the entire world and prove to the rest of us what they’re truly made of.
Paul: You need to have someone get your columns in the major (and minor) newspapers, large and small, to have the country know what is going on with our military. Older people such as myself still read the papers and discuss what we read. Keep up the good work. A retired USAF space physicist.