Lt. Gen. Paul Van Riper
“… I’m saddened beyond belief knowing that our Marine Corps soon
will no longer be the ready combined-arms force that our nation has long
depended upon when its interests were threatened.
“It will be a force shorn of all its tanks and 76% of its cannon artillery, and with 41% fewer Marines in its infantry battalions. To
make the situation even worse, there will be 33% fewer aircraft available to
support riflemen on the ground.
“These divestures were and are being made to provide the resources
for three Marine littoral regiments, designed to support naval campaigns for
sea denial and sea control by firing anti-ship missiles.
“So, the Marine Corps will trade its combined-arms flexibility for
a very specialized mission that the U.S. Army already can provide in greater
numbers than the Marine Corps ever will.
“In the end the Corps will have more space
experts, cyber warriors, influence specialists, missileers and others with
unique skills — many of which already are provided by other elements of the
joint force. But it will only have them because it gave up Marines prepared to
close with and destroy the enemy.”
Link from
link at Maggie’s Farm
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