Resetting the Corps
By AMY L. WITTMAN, Editor in Chief
SEAPOWER
THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE
NAVY LEAGUE OF THE UNITED STATES
Volume 54, Number 9, September 2011
With deployed Marines maintaining a high state of
readiness for nearly a
decade of high-tempo
operations, nonde-ployed units have experienced “degraded
levels of readiness”
largely because of the
lack of equipment,
Combat Vehicle, an
issue covered in
greater detail by Special Correspondent
Otto Kreisher in his
report, “After the
EFV” (page 38).
Gen. James F. Amos
says in his “2011 Report to Congress
on the Posture of the United States
Marine Corps.”
Resetting the Marine Corps —
aligning the force structure, equip-
ment and training required for the
future security environment — will
cost money at a time when the
Defense Department is facing signif-
icant funding cuts. The budget, the
Marine Corps commandant tells
Seapower, is “the absolute near-term
alligator we’re fighting.”
Amos also dis-
cusses the effort to
return the Corps to
its amphibious roots.
A major concern in
maintaining this core competency
is the shortage of amphibious ships
in the Navy’s inventory, which
Special Correspondent John M.
Doyle explores in his report, “Back
to the Beach” (page 42).
Also in Seapower’s special section
on the Marine Corps, Managing
Editor Richard R. Burgess looks at
the deployment of Amphibious
Ready Groups in “Full Spectrum
Deployment” (page 30).
This nation expects Marines to be
ready to respond at a moment’s notice, be adaptable to any environment
to which they are sent and bring the
appropriate set of skills, whether the
mission involves combat or humanitarian assistance. The Corps cannot
be the crisis response force we expect
it to be without allocating sufficient
funds to reset the force.
Special Correspondent Daniel P.
Taylor gives a status update on the
planned shift of Marines and their
dependents from Okinawa, Japan,
in his report “Guam or Bust” (page
34), a move that will increase the
population on the tiny Pacific island
by almost 10 percent.
In our interview, “The Commandant: Leading the Nation’s
Crisis Response Force” (page 20),
Amos says this nation has an obligation to the Corps to refurbish, repair
or replace equipment going to
depots and reconstitute inventories
here in the United States.
Rounding out the special section
is a look at how the Field Medical
Training Battalion (FMTB) teaches
Navy corpsmen to be “Doc” to their
Marines, in the article “It All Starts
Here” (page 46), by Special Cor-
respondent Edward Lundquist. At
FMTB, Staff Sgt. Joseph Wright
notes, “We are trying to instill a sense
of urgency in all that they do here.”
Regarding new equipment, the
commandant lays out his expecta-
tions for the service’s Amphibious
PUBLISHER
Daniel B. Branch Jr.
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER
Dale A. Lumme
EDITOR IN CHIEF
Amy L. Wittman
awittman@navyleague.org
DEPUTY EDITOR
Peter E. Atkinson
patkinson@navyleague.org
MANAGING EDITOR
Richard R. Burgess
rburgess@navyleague.org
ASSISTANT EDITOR
John C. Marcario
jmarcario@navyleague.org
DIRECTOR OF ADVERTISING SALES
Charles A. Hull
charlesahullbus@msn.com
DIRECTOR OF PUBLICATIONS
Kerri Carpenter
kcarpenter@navyleague.org
SEAPOWER CORRESPONDENTS
Patricia Kime
Megan Scully
PHOTOGRAPHER
Lisa Nipp
PROOFREADER
Jean B. Reynolds
DESIGN AND PRODUCTION
Amy Billingham and Rob Black
Pensaré Design Group
SEAPOWER
2300 Wilson Blvd., Suite 200
Arlington, VA 22201-5424
TEL: 703-528-1775 — editorial
703-528-2075 — advertising
E-MAIL: seapowermail@navyleague.org
WEBSITE: www.seapowermagazine.org
TWITTER: @seapowermag
COMMUNICATIONS BOARD
CHAIRMAN: Brandon R. “Randy” Belote III
NATIONAL OFFICER: Daniel B. Branch Jr.
MEMBERS: Merritt Allen, Maureen Cragin,
Daniel Dayton, Robert Hamilton, Margaret
B. Holtz, Guy Shields
EX-OFFICIO: Karen Crawford, Dale A.
Lumme, Tom Van Leunen, Amy L. Wittman
