The Jungle of the 21st Century

By ARTHUR P. BRILL JR.

At the Winter Extreme Games last year in Crested Butte, Colo., a young man with purple, orange, and green hair walked up to a Marine recruiting officer and said, "Hey, dude, you Marines are OK." That remark sums up today's Marine Corps as it enters the final year of a century that has seen a once-obscure military service rise to prominence in the hearts of the American people.

The Corps is riding high today despite modernization and infrastructure concerns caused by trying to answer all the bells with only 85 percent of the budget needed to do so. Despite its budget challenges, however, the Marine Corps is gearing up to meet the challenges of the 21st century, when it will be needed more than ever.

"It's a good time to be a Marine," said Lt. Gen. James L. Jones Jr., USMC, senior military assistant to Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen. From his unique vantage point in the Pentagon, Jones has seen the Corps wind up on the positive side in virtually all of the major issues Cohen has faced in the past 22 months.

The Marines fared well in the Quad-rennial Defense Review (QDR), for example, where production of its number-one priority--the MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft--was accelerated. The Cohen-appointed panel, headed by former Sen. Nancy Kassebaum-Baker (R-Kan.), evaluated gender training issues and said that Marine recruit training, including gender-segregated basic training, should be a model for the other services. Cohen agreed. In a tough and highly competitive recruiting climate, the Corps has exceeded its goals for the past 42 consecutive months.

FAST and Flexible

Marines seem to be in the center of most crises overseas, be it an embassy bombing or an evacuation of U.S. citizens. That high tempo of operations will no doubt continue, in view of ongoing global instability. And, thanks to the Corps' strong partnership with the Navy--as well as its flexibility, adaptability, and rapid-response capability--the service will remain on the sharp end of the spear for the foreseeable future.

"On the operational side, this secretary [Cohen] is convinced that the flexibility of naval forces is one of ... [America's] strong assets," said Jones. "During embassy crises, the Marine security guards have acquitted themselves with distinction, and we can't produce enough FAST [Marine Corps Fleet Antiterrorism Security Team] platoons. They are in great demand."

Fifty-man FAST platoons flew in from Cyprus and Bahrain to assume various security functions after the U.S. embassy bombings in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, last August. The Corps now has 11 FAST platoons, consisting primarily of infantry Marines who have received specialized security training.

"This is a force that is ideally modeled for what the future threats and requirements are going to be," said Gen. Anthony C. Zinni, USMC, commander in chief, U.S. Central Command. "They are highly ready and easily deployable. The Marine Corps read the tea leaves and has created a very specialized force effective against emerging threats to military installations and U.S. personnel and property overseas. They will be in even greater demand in the future."

Last year, the Corps formed another FAST company of five platoons in Yorktown, Va., by stripping 11 Navy carriers of their Marine security detachments--which had been used mainly for ceremonial purposes. The FAST units are under operational control of the Navy, however, and three FAST platoons are routinely deployed for six months to Naples, Italy, to support CINCUSNAVEUR and the Sixth Fleet, to Bahrain (to support CINCUSNAVCENT and the Fifth Fleet), and to Yokosuka, Japan, to support CINCPACFLT and the Seventh Fleet.

After the Nairobi bombing, Zinni requested security help from the Fifth Fleet, which sent its FAST platoon. The units do not take offensive action against terrorists--that mission is usually assigned to special operations units. But they reinforce existing security by getting to a crisis area at flank speed--often enough, before the problem escalates. FAST units serve on ships headed to "hot" ports and guard threatened naval bases; they also recently provided security for a U.S. housing area in Tirana, Albania.

"FAST is another tool in the bag. We'd love to provide more, but where do we get the people?" said Brig. Gen. Jan C. Huly, director of operations at Marine Corps headquarters. "There is no shortage of requests for Marines."

DOS and CINCs Want More MEUs, MSGs

This is a double-edged situation. There are 26,560 Marines deployed today--3,500 more than before the Gulf War. Deployed units are kept at a high state of readiness by draining other limited resources. National leaders have applauded the FAST units, though, and the deployed Marine expeditionary units (MEUs). Zinni said that he and the other regional CINCs (commanders in chief) could use MEUs in their areas 100 percent of the time--but that would take 15 MEUs instead of the 12 currently available.

In addition, the Department of State (DOS) wants Marine security guard (MSG) detachments in 37 more diplomatic posts in the next few years. To avoid taking them out of combat units, the Corps will request an end-state relief for the 300 additional Marines needed. Today, 1,105 top Marine NCOs are serving in 122 of the 275 DOS posts worldwide.

The Corps and DOS will celebrate 50 years of close teamwork next month. MSGs perform a valuable internal-security mission that can expand an embassy's outer perimeter during crises. In the age of terrorism, rogue states, and asymmetrical conflict, that role will become more visible.

Another innovative Marine response unit is the Chemical and Biological Incident Response Force (CBIRF). Its 375 Marines and Sailors--based at Camp Lejeune, N.C.--"turn victims into patients" following a disaster, and also are considered a national asset. CBIRF will be a major player in another new Marine crisis-response force--created following a discussion between Zinni and Marine Commandant Gen. Charles C. Krulak, after the U.S. embassy bombings in Africa. Zinni's primary future concern is the possibility of weapons of mass destruction falling into the wrong hands.

"It was good to get the FAST platoons down there, but once you secure the area, disaster-relief personnel are critical, including doctors, dentists, contractors, truck drivers, and engineers," said Krulak.

These specialists come from Force Service Support Groups, the logistical component of the Marine air-ground teams, and are combined with slices of CBIRF and FAST units. Krulak said the new response force will be expeditionary. To avoid being dependent on another service, the Corps plans to use its own C-130 transport aircraft--which will be on a four-hour tether.

"Basically, this is a special-purpose MAGTF [Marine air-ground task force] that's focused on incident response for CINCs. It's logistically oriented with a building-block mode," said Lt. Gen. Peter Pace, commander, Marine Forces Atlantic (MARFORLANT).

Although the size of the force depends on the mission, an embassy bombing disaster would require about 50 to 100 personnel. A core of 20 experts would fly in first to analyze the situation and call back with follow-on requirements.

OMFTS Over the Horizon

Looking toward the future, a high-level Operational Maneuver from the Sea (OMFTS, the Corps' concept for fighting in the 21st century) steering group is completing a study of USMC warfighting experiments--primarily by analyzing the requirements for such scenarios as over-the-horizon maneuver, naval surface fire support, operating in an urban environment, and sea basing.

"Logistics is a huge part of our total mission," said Lt. Gen. Michael J. Williams, deputy chief of staff for programs and resources. "Getting the shooter to the objective is the easy part."

A force-structure planning group (FSPG) will take the findings of the OMFTS study and begin charting tomorrow's Marine Corps. That will not be an easy task. Each specialty and system has its supporters; even the old Hawk missile system had strong advocates before the Corps eliminated it last year. Ironically, the Corps is now in the process of deciding if it needs its own modern antimissile system when it fights as an enabling force.

While it may be difficult, Krulak wants the force-structure issue resolved as fully as possible before he leaves office--even if it amounts to an 80 percent solution that can be modified by the next commandant. "It gives my successor 'top cover.' He can change it. But if he wants to keep it and it's controversial, he can always point at me," said Krulak. "There's not one of my potential successors who would not agree right now with doing it that way."

The FSPG will tackle the infantry battalion's structure early. Its size determines how many trucks, MV-22s, and advanced amphibious assault vehicles (AAAVs) the Corps needs. Warfighting experiments predict a more mobile, agile, and streamlined infantry force. But some key officers still question the removal of a fourth rifle company from the infantry battalion's structure a few years ago.

The standing joint task force experiment was scrapped last year. The FSPG will reshape other headquarters. The Corps now has three organizations performing the combat service support mission so the FSPG probably will make changes in that area.

Material Changes in Near Future

The Corps' new Material Command starts up in September 1999 at Albany, Ga. The repair depot there and the Marine Corps Systems Command, which will remain at Quantico, Va., will have one boss. This structure should result in more carefully designed equipment with lower maintenance requirements.

"Material Command will be the material life-cycle agent for the Marine Corps. It will manage gear from the time we want it to when we get rid of it," said Maj. Gen. Geoffrey B. Higginbotham, deputy chief of staff for installations and logistics, who oversees several promising privatization and outsourcing initiatives expected to achieve significant cost savings.

In the past, the "old Corps" often would tread water during the months prior to the nomination of a new commandant. Favorite candidates would have their "camps" of supporters. Those days are long past, but today's Marines still wonder who the next (32nd) Marine commandant will be. A decision is expected soon, possibly as early as February.

"There are one-stars so good that they could be the commandant. I'm not sure there aren't sergeants major, gunnies, and captains, too, who are up to the job," said Krulak. "I'm going to sit down with the secretary of the Navy and first ask him if he would like one, two, four, or five names. I'm going to encourage him to allow me to write up every single person and let him interview them."

The secretary will forward his recommendations to Cohen--and Krulak said he will strongly encourage Cohen himself to interview the candidates before he makes a choice. Normally, in nominating a new service chief Cohen sends one name to the White House; that person is interviewed by President Clinton, who makes the final decision.

The leading candidates agreed months ago to fully support, and present a united front for, the nominee. The Marine Corps' senior leadership meets regularly in "off-site" sessions to discuss important issues, as happened when Gen. Carl E. Mundy Jr. (Krulak's predecessor) was in his final year as commandant. Krulak may have taken the Marine Corps by surprise by issuing his Commandant's Planning Guidance soon after he assumed office--but there were no problems because the Corps' other senior leaders had the same vision of the future.

That should happen again this year. "Everyone will be on board no matter who becomes commandant," predicted Lt. Gen. Carol A. Mutter, who retired two months ago as the Corps' deputy chief of staff for manpower and reserve affairs. "The Marine Corps will continue to march without major rudder changes."

The Marines Are the Message

The Corps is getting the recruiting numbers it requires and is even exceeding the DOD (Department of Defense) quality standards--the DOD goal is 90 percent high school graduates and the Corps has 96 percent. On 1 January, Marine recruiters already had 60 percent of their 1999 goal enlisted in their recruiting pool. The principal reason for such success, Krulak says, is that the Corps understands "Generation X" and appeals to them with a challenging message that sells not money or job skills, but the Marine Corps itself.

"We are successful because the recruiters on the street are making it happen month after month," said Lt. Gen. Jack W. Klimp, the Corps' former recruiting czar, who relieved Mutter. "They are accomplishing it by plain old-fashioned work."

According to DOD statistics, Marine recruiters work in excess of 60 hours a week--13 percent above the DOD average. In 1997, the Corps' recruiting goal was similar to that of 1995, but it took 2,000,000 more phone calls and 150,000 more area canvass visits, just to enlist 33,000 regulars and 7,000 reservists.

Like the Corps' drill instructors and master sergeants the Corps' recruiters are top-quality Marines, and recruiting duty is career-enhancing--the theory is that "quality begets quality." Recruiters get strong support from top leadership. Krulak, known as the "number one recruiter," insists that he and his top officers visit recruiters when they travel. Krulak often randomly calls them saying, "This is the number one fan of Marine recruiting."

"It is a tough environment out there. Employment is high, the propensity to enlist is low, and many companies are looking for the same quality people we are," said Mutter. "Still, we have the right elements in place. I'm confident we'll be able to continue to attract top-quality young men and women."

Toughened-Up Togetherness

One of Krulak's longest lasting accomplishments may be "transformation"--the process of turning civilians into Marines. It starts the moment they are recruited, continues through a toughened-up boot camp, and stays with them afterwards during their revamped combat and military occupational specialty (MOS) training. The transformation culminates when they become full-fledged members of their tactical units.

"Boot camp is much tougher. The statistics prove it. There's absolutely no comparison," said Krulak. "They march more, run more, hike more, and there is more physical fitness training."

The entire process is strengthened by "cohesion," another Krulak innovation, which postulates that members of the same MOS will serve in the same units from boot camp through their first enlistment. The cohesion concept is designed to foster togetherness and team spirit. Working on the largest MOSs first, Marine trainers have incorporated all 24 infantry battalions and about 55 percent of newly enlisted Marines into the program.

"It makes sense to do this," said Mutter. "We are already into artillery and aviation and we expect to finish all the MOSs that can be 'cohesed' by next summer."

Meeting the high expectations of their new Marines, who up to then have been highly regimented and supervised, is a big challenge for Marine tactical units. To ease the transition to the "real" Marine Corps, field command representatives now attend graduation exercises and bus the new graduates to their units, where they are introduced and welcomed.

"Our job is to sustain the high expectations of what these young Marines will experience," said Klimp. "From what I'm seeing, the commands are doing the right things to make that happen."

The Flavor of Future Battlefields

Experiments being carried out by the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory ("the Lab") provide an interesting insight on the Marines of tomorrow. Future battlefields will require more versatile, agile, flexible, and responsive Marines.

"We think our Marines will be more multitalented and perhaps there will be fewer MOSs," said Mutter. "The people coming in today are not necessarily looking to spend a 30-year career with one employer. We need to offer them different flavors, perhaps sabbatical policies where they go off for two years, do something unique, and come back
to us."

Because the future will require light and mobile forces with less ground support, Mutter envisions a "reach back" capability for administrative support that could extend outside the Marine Corps to get the "duty experts" in other walks of life. "We need to facilitate these partnerships," she said.

In a similar vein, Krulak, Lt. Gen. Martin R. Steele (deputy chief of staff for plans, policies, and operations), and a small staff are quietly encouraging what they call "the elements of national power" to work together formally in a "preventive defense" mode to help prevent future crises. If and when a crisis does occur, the "national power" group, instead of starting from square one, could use lessons learned from previous U.S. responses. Sometimes economic and diplomatic responses are needed as much as military ones.

"The Corps is concerned because of the power-projection role naval forces play," said Steele. "We'll be involved well into the 21st century in shaping the geopolitical environment around the world."

Steele envisions a structure involving government agencies (the National Security Council, DOS, DOD, the Commerce Department, and other national agencies and organizations), as well as appropriate nongovernmental and private-venture organizations--and America's military allies--to collaborate and provide oversight.

"There are a lot of Herculean efforts going on around the world, but they operate on their own. World Food Aid, for example, does a great job--but, lacking power, it can't influence the action," said Steele, who thinks that the United States needs to draw on the expertise and enlist the aid of individuals, such as American businessmen, and groups overseas who are familiar with local issues. He is optimistic that such an organization eventually will be formed. "The need for this collaborative pool of resources is no longer debated," he said. He does not think, though, that a defense agency is necessarily the appropriate agent to lead such an organization.

The Riverine Highways

Riverine warfare also is gaining in importance in the U.S. national-security strategy. Pace's MARFORLANT staff identified nine of the most likely locales where Marines may be fighting in the future; most of them are served by rivers that could be used as highways during an urban conflict. For that and other reasons the Corps is taking a hard look to determine how much emphasis to give riverine warfare in developing the USMC's overall combat strategy.

The subject was a major topic at the Corps' general officers' symposium last fall. "We think riverine is going to be a growing capability and an increased requirement from the CINCs," said Pace, whose MARFORLANT headquarters has returned to Norfolk, Va. Two years ago, when the Marine Corps was authorized to increase its general officer strength, Krulak assigned one general to Camp Lejeune, N.C., to command the II Marine Expeditionary Force (the East Coast air-ground-logistic team under MARFORLANT). Freed of his direct warfighting responsibilities, Pace returned to Norfolk with a staff of 250--half its former size, which he says is adequate.

Pace still wears six "hats," though, and reports to several CINCs, two Navy component commanders, and Krulak. "My dance card is full," Pace said.

On any given day, about 11,600 of Pace's Marines are deployed worldwide. (Last fall, over 40 percent of the 2nd Marine Division was away from its home base, Camp Lejeune.) Pace has a MEU deployed in the Mediterranean; a rifle company on security duty in Panama; air units flying in support of Northern Watch in Incirlik, Turkey; Marine teams in Haiti, at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, and in various countries in South America; and an infantry battalion and fixed-wing unit in Japan (as part of the Corps' Unit-Deployment Program). Marine aircraft also will be operating in Europe again this year in support of U.N. forces in Bosnia.

"While it is a healthy tempo, that is what Marines join to do. When they come home, they and their families expect to have some down time," said Pace. "Instead of getting a break, they are devoting large amounts of time fixing old equipment."

The High Price of Future Readiness

Pace's counterpart, Lt. Gen. Carlton W. Fulford Jr., commander of Marine Forces, Pacific (MARFORPAC), echoes the same concern. His 72,000 Marines are just as busy training in California and Hawaii and deploying to Japan, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Arabian Gulf area.

Like Pace, Fulford is concerned that aging facilities and obsolescent equipment are hurting the quality of life of his Marines and their families. "The Marines out here could go fight and win today, but it requires a lot of work and effort to keep their gear combat-ready," said Fulford. "The age and condition of our equipment means that it takes increasingly more time and money to keep it operational. Our focus needs to be on modernization to replace the old gear."

Krulak emphasizes, as did Mundy, that Marine readiness is critical to national defense. Both commandants told Congress, though, that the Corps' high state of readiness today comes at the expense of future readiness--and that there eventually will be a day of reckoning. Today, the bill collector is knocking at the door.

"Since readiness is our number one priority, we pay our Marines and fully finance the direct readiness things first," said Lt. Gen. Jeffrey W. Oster, who recently retired as Krulak's finance and programs boss. "If there isn't enough to go around, we'll defer modernization for the future in three key areas: ground equipment, new construction, and the maintenance of facilities."

When Marine MEUs deploy for six months, they get the best weapons and field gear the Corps can provide. But the barracks they leave behind has a leaky roof, the sinks stop up, and many of the Marine families also left behind must pay expensive rent in town because there isn't enough base housing available.

Some of the Corps' warfighting gear is ancient by modern standards. The amphibious assault vehicle (AAV) is 27 years old, seven years beyond its projected service life, but another 14 years will pass before it is fully replaced by the AAAV. Most Americans change their automobiles every few years--but Marine five-ton trucks are now 18 years old on average, and have another three to seven years to go before they are replaced. The CH-46E Sea Knight helicopter, with a life span of 30 years (with all extensions included), will be at least 45 years old before it is fully replaced by the MV-22. The KC-130F Hercules transports--which have a projected 20-year life span--are 37 years old, and have another two to 11 years to go.

On the facilities side, the maintenance and repair backlog will exceed $1 billion in two to three years without additional funding. At present funding levels, the Corps will be able to replace its buildings every 190 years. To get that figure down to 100 years would require $75 million additional for at least the next six years. Marine family housing is 10,000 units short, and 12,000 more units are in need of major repairs.

Budgetary Fix Urgently Needed

During critical readiness hearings in late September 1998, the Corps told Congress it also needs $2.5 billion in additional procurement funds, including $1.3 billion for Marine aviation. Krulak said he was optimistic that the Corps would receive a sizable "fix" from Congress in extra "readiness" funds. "We've been slowly and surely getting better by QDR actions and better business practices," said Krulak. "We've got our procurement up a bit, but I want to walk out of this job knowing procurement is right."

The Corps' major big-budget programs do seem to be on track. The expensive AAAV comes aboard in 2004. To afford it, the Corps is trying to speed up procurement of 7,500 five-ton trucks and other vehicles, to carry out SLEPs (service-life extension programs), and to modernize its command-and-control systems.

The Corps is experiencing some major problems with its lightweight 155mm howitzer, though, primarily because of design problems encountered in efforts to reduce the gun's weight below 10,000 pounds. Initial procurement, originally expected in 2000, is now scheduled for 2002. Marines are concerned about the $80 million program, but they say the problems are fixable. "We're working with the contractor and they want to get it on track," Williams said. "We want the gun and we don't want to recompete this."

In the meantime, Marines continue to maintain the 16-year-old M198 155mm howitzers, which weigh 16,000 pounds. The M198 has a 20-year life, but it will be five to eight years before the lightweight howitzers are completely on board.

On the aviation side, the vital MV-22 program is on track. Thanks to the acceleration recommended by the QDR, the Corps will receive 30 aircraft a year starting in 2004, with the final aircraft delivered in 2014. Four test aircraft are presently surpassing expectations at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., and sea trials are scheduled to begin in early 1999 aboard various Navy ships. In addition, 49 Marine pilots--all with CH-46, CH-53E, and C-130 backgrounds--and two Air Force pilots already have been selected for the op-erational evaluation testing phase that starts in October. The first Osprey MEU is scheduled to deploy with the MV-22 in 2003 from the East Coast.

The next critical Marine Corps development, following the USMC's rejection of the Navy's F/A-18 Super Hornet, is the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). A short takeoff/vertical landing (VSTOL) version of the JSF is considered the key to the Corps' aviation future. Combining the best qualities of the AV-8B Harrier and the F/A-18 at a cost estimated at one-half that of the Super Hornet, the VSTOL JSF will deploy with MEUs. Plans call for 12 VSTOL JSF aircraft to be built for the Corps in 2008, 24 in 2009, and 36 per year after that until 2023. "The secretary of Defense and the Congress are committed to it," said Krulak. "It is the fighter of the future."

Asymmetrical Instability

Although it will be a challenge sustaining the existing aircraft in the Corps' inventory until the MV-22 and JSF arrive, it is a challenge Marines will gladly accept. The new aircraft systems are considered absolutely vital for the 21st-century fight.

"I don't foresee a major theater war against a near-peer competitor anywhere in the future. We may get into another Iraq-type situation, but the results will be the same," said Krulak. "Those countries will fight us asymmetrically."

Krulak says that today's terrorism and ethnic, tribal, and clan warfare are just the tip of the iceberg--the future threatens to be even more volatile. He wants Marines to develop plans and procedures now to counter future threats in unstable regions of the world.

For the past year--in its "Urban Warrior" program--the Lab has run urban warfare experiments on the East Coast. Thus far, the Corps has learned, to no one's surprise, that street fighting is chaotic and there are no easy answers. The "bad guys" are not readily identifiable, civilian casualties and collateral damage are major concerns, CNN's TV cameras will capture every move, friendly aircraft are vulnerable, and communications, resupply, and fire support are difficult.

"The United States can level a city, but there are a lot of good guys stuck in there, too," said Lt. Gen. John E. Rhodes, commander of the Marine Corps' Combat Development Command, headquartered at Quantico. "If the bad guys are in certain rooms of a tall building, how do we take them out? Lasers don't work around glass or reflective surfaces, and we don't have five-pound bombs. We have 500-pound bombs."

Under Rhodes's supervision, the Lab conducts the urban experiments through a special MAGTF headquarters that uses average Marines--the people who will use the tactics and equipment that are developed, and who will serve in any new organizations that may be formed. "We have learned that Marines can handle even more than we thought and demanded before," said Rhodes. "We also have to flatten the chain of command, at least operationally. We can't continue to get approval at every level if we operate from the sea."

The Lab has worked closely with police and fire departments, search-and-rescue teams, electric power companies, and mass transit experts in carrying out various experiments in such major metropolitan areas as Chicago, New York City, Jacksonville, Fla., and Charleston, S.C.

Urban Warrior moves to the West Coast in March 1999, using new troops and experimental equipment in humanitarian, terrorist, and WMD (weapons of mass destruction) scenarios--all of which will be commanded from the sea in the Monterey Peninsula and San Francisco Bay areas. The final "testing ground" will be the tall buildings, where much of the communications will be carried out via in-terminal units with small computers.

The Lab also is looking at several potential operational areas: ground level, subterranean level, air space, and moving between multistory buildings. "We stress the systems more than the people," said Rhodes. "We look at various tactics and use situational awareness. Patrolling in a city calls for different rules of engagement than in the jungle or desert."

The Series After Next

When Urban Warrior concludes, sometime later this year, the Corps will move to the next major project: Capable Warrior, which, beginning in 2000, will involve Navy and Marine Corps testing of OMFTS on the West Coast. Capable Warrior will end a five-year cycle of such experiments, but Rhodes already is planning the next series. The first experiment in that series could be Informational Warrior, which is being designed to capitalize on situational awareness.

"In combat, we make decisions amid uncertainties in the fog of war. What's critical information to me may not be to you," said Rhodes. "We will fight a breathing enemy with a will of his own. We had total information superiority in Somalia, but we never found Aidid [the notorious Mohammed Farah Aidid]. We failed to understand how they used information. The Somalians rallied to the sound of guns and they used drums. We were on different wavelengths."

In less than four years, the Lab has become a valuable looking glass into the Corps' future. Krulak dismisses concerns that joint experimentation efforts threaten the Lab's future. "Whoever follows Chuck Krulak as commandant will not allow that to happen," he said. "Each service must conduct its own experiments. Then they should come together in the joint arena to see what doesn't fit. USACOM's effort is designed to attack the seams and is under review. Joint experimentation is necessary, but it is absolutely not in lieu of service experimentation."

One of the Lab's biggest success stories is the Dragon Drone, an experimental UAV (unmanned air vehicle) that just returned from a six-month deployment with the 15th MEU in the Arabian Sea. The Dragon Drones were the first tactical UAVs ever deployed at sea by the Marine Corps; an East Coast MEU is scheduled to deploy soon with 10 drones. Although the Corps is testing what works best aboard ship, the drones also could be used in a contingency to give a real-time picture of the enemy to ground-force commanders.

The Navy-Marine Corps team also hopes to field a tactical VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing) UAV system by 2003 to replace the aging Pioneer. It is assumed that each Navy amphibious ready group (ARG) will receive the tactical VTOL UAV for missions at sea, but the Corps also wants some assigned to its deployed MEUs for operations ashore.

"The UAV will support Marine efforts in urban warfare," said Maj. Gen. Dennis T. Krupp, USMC, director of expeditionary warfare in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. "The VTOL UAV will land on every ship that has a helicopter deck. It will have a speed of 135 knots and a 110-nautical- mile range, with three to four hours on station."

The Toughest Mile

While some good minds are working on sea-mine countermeasures (MCM), the last mile is still the toughest. The very shallow-water (VSW) area, particularly the surf zone--the last 10 yards to the beach--remains treacherous. Although explosive systems designed to blow gaps in the surf zone will be fielded in 2002, there is skepticism about the accuracy that can be achieved by firing the charges from a bobbing LCAC (landing craft, air cushion). There is some promising research and development going on in the field of VSW surveillance, particularly with UAVs, but nothing yet can see through the turbulent, murky, and cluttered surf zone.

The Marine Corps supports the Navy's organic MCM plan. The semisubmersible RMS (remote minehunting system), originally earmarked for deployment only to carrier battle groups, is now penciled in for the ARGs as well. ARGs steam alone most of the time, and the several ships assigned to each ARG often split up. ARGs also will receive three CH-60 MCM helicopters, as part of the overall package to fly MCM, search-and-rescue, and resupply missions. The RMS and CH-60 are ineffective against mines close to shore, so some major MCM problems still must be resolved.

The LDP-17 San Antonio class of amphibious transport dock ships are in good shape. The first two ships in the program will be delivered in 2003, and will be available to deploy with Marines in 2005. The Tarawa-class LHAs (big-deck amphibious assault ships) now in the fleet reach the end of their service lives beginning in 2011, and Krulak is opposed to a $1.2 billion per ship SLEP option that would extend the life of each ship for 15 to 20 years. He pointed out that $300 million more will build a more capable new-construction ship that will last 40 to 50 years.

Extending the life of the Tarawas at such a high cost is "not being fair to the American people," said Krulak. "The answer is an LHD-8 [Wasp-class big-deck amphibious assault ship] and an LHX follow-on. When a problem happens, the national command authorities ask 'Where are the carriers and the amphibs?' Well, you'd better have the right type of ships."

The Scale of Interdependence

Despite the unusually explosive Pentagon budget battles expected this year (because of scarce resources), the Navy and Marine Corps have a strong, cooperative partnership, and each service needs the other more than ever before. The relationship used to be more one-sided, but the focus on expeditionary warfare in the littorals has leveled the naval playground considerably for the Corps. One senior official said that the Corps used to be a "2" on a scale of 10; now it is a 6, headed toward an 8. To doubters, Krulak points to the enormous sums the Navy is spending in preparation for the littoral battles of the future. "I tell them to look at the money," he said.

"Out here, the relationships with Navy leadership are as good as I have ever seen. You also see it in the ARGs and MEUs," said Fulford. His MARFORPAC combat units are manned at about 90 percent, a reflection of the Corps' decision last year--when combat units were manned at 85 percent--to transfer 7,000 Marines from support units to tactical units.

Because of the ongoing economic crisis in Asia, the entire Pacific area, from the Korean Peninsula to Malaysia, is a tinderbox. Although the Korean situation worries Fulford the most, a peaceful resolution there would not necessarily affect the Marine Corps' "presence" role in that part of the world. Even if North and South Korea were to reconcile this year, U.S. forces would be required in Korea for at least another 10 years if only to monitor the peace.

"People who live in the Asia-Pacific region want American presence out here to maintain peace and stability and to be the honest broker," said Fulford. "It is not the same to be days and weeks away. You need constant presence to build the face-to-face contacts and the relations that are so very important."

The Challenge of Forward Thinking

Okinawa also continues to be a challenge. Although the United States is returning unneeded land back to the Okinawans, the local government thinks that the American presence is hurting economic development--but many Okinawans disagree. The planned relocation of the Marine Corps Air Station at Futenma to the northern part of Okinawa is on hold because of the Japanese economic situation. Now that a conservative pro-U.S. governor has been elected, there should be some movement to revisit the options--including one to use a floating offshore facility to replace Futenma.

"Our Marines are being supported in good fashion by the Japanese and our training there is OK," said Fulford. "Our training opportunities elsewhere in the region are limitless. It's part of the desire of those nations to make sure we remain in the Pacific."

MEUs deploying across the Pacific from California usually train in Hawaii for a few days, then steam to Australia for a final readiness tune-up before continuing into the Arabian Gulf area. Each of the three training areas in Australia available to the Marines is larger than the state of Rhode Island. Shoalwater Bay is the best, but it has weather concerns part of the year. The other two are in the Darwin area.

The Asia-Pacific area is likely to be the foremost potential hotspot in Krulak's mind when he leaves office on 30 June. He will be known to future Marines as the "transitional" leader who prepared his Corps of Marines for the 21st century--and quite possibly will win a place in history as one of the great commandants of the post-WWII era. The Corps was in good shape four years ago, but is in even better shape today.

Krulak raised the Corps' ethical standards at a time when the nation was headed in the opposite direction. His honesty before Congress, although creating heartburn in some sectors of the Pentagon (and possibly in the White House as well), gained the Corps continued respect on the Hill, not to mention better field clothing for his Marines and more of the hardware needed for them to fight the conflicts ahead. Krulak also won his share of the Pentagon battles. His forward thinking shaped more overall DOD policy than many know.

While proud of its past, the Corps is, as always, still looking ahead, and recognizes that innovative thinking will be needed more than ever in the challenging years to come. If Krulak had his way, Marines would be in the middle of every future conflict and crisis in which the nation finds itself. Thanks in large part to the changes he instituted, they probably will.

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LIEUTENANT COLONEL ARTHUR P. BRILL JR., USMC (Ret.), is a feature writer based in Washington, D.C., who commanded a Marine rifle company in Vietnam, served as a Marine Corps public affairs officer and, later, as a spokesman for the State and Justice Departments and for President Reagan's Organized Crime Commission. He writes frequently on national security issues for Sea Power and other defense publications.