thedrifter
02-09-05, 06:58 AM
February 14, 2005
A more flexible force
The top Marine’s plan to reshape his Corps could ease pace of deployments, better tailor units for war on terrorism
By Christian Lowe
Special to the Times
In one of the most radical org-anizational shake-ups since the Vietnam War, the Marine Corps plans to dramatically reduce or eliminate units that have seen little action in the war on terrorism and use the manpower to add new units better suited to the fight.
What’s out? Several Reserve artillery batteries and tank companies, active and Reserve low-altitude air defense battalions and the sole small craft company, among others.
In their place will be two more active-duty infantry battalions, additional light armored reconnaissance companies, Force Reconnaissance platoons, a new Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company and more.
These changes — about 60 in all — are intended to be complete within the next four years and could provide some welcome relief from the breakneck pace of wartime deployments.
Since the Corps began deploying forces to Afghanistan and Iraq for security and stabilization duties, the usual rotation cycle of six months deployed followed by 18 months at home has given way to seven months deployed, seven months at home. Corps officials believe that one-to-one ratio is unsustainable over the long haul.
But through the recent decision to increase the Corps’ end strength by nearly 3,000 Marines and the creation of more combat-arms units, that deployment pace could improve in the months ahead.
These changes, along with heightened emphasis on training Iraqi security forces, could yield some relief, Commandant Gen. Mike Hagee said Feb. 2.
“A lot of that is going to be event-driven by what happens over in Iraq and Afghanistan, obviously, but I think we’re on a glide slope over this next year to come much closer to a two-to-one” ratio, Hagee said in an interview with Marine Corps Times reporters and editors.
His hope is that the deployment pace slackens to a two-to-one ratio — seven months deployed followed by 14 months at home — by 2006.
“That’s what we’re working hard towards,” he said. “I’d like to see it better than that. But I … have to be frank, I think going back to a three-to-one any time in the near term, it’s going to be a challenge. We are at war.”
And since that war focuses heavily on counterinsurgency and stabilization duties, the Corps is shifting resources to units suited for those missions. It doesn’t take heavy armor or artillery to defeat a low-tech insurgency, nor does it ;do any good to have so many low-altitude air defense units when you’re fighting an enemy that doesn’t have any aircraft, Corps officials say.
So stand by: Relief may be in sight, but there are some major changes coming first.
Taken out of hide
In spring 2004, a Force Structure Review Group formed to evaluate what units were needed and what units could be deactivated to help create more of the kinds of capabilities that suit the war on terrorism.
The objective was to establish more units without adding new Marines to the force. Though the Corps did receive a 3,000-Marine end-strength increase in fiscal 2005, the extra leathernecks did not factor into the group’s plans, officials said.
So each new infantry billet, for example, would require a cut somewhere else. In all, the Corps is shifting some 6,000 billets — evenly split between the active and Reserve force — leading to additions and subtractions in more than 80 military occupational specialties.
The restructuring also includes conversion of more than 1,600 Marine billets to civilian jobs.
The changes are “maneuver force” heavy and their creation will help ease the pace of deployments, said Col. Kevin Herrmann, director of total force structure with Marine Corps Combat Development Command at Quantico, Va.
The restructuring is intended to give Marines at least 14 months at home between seven-month deployments, said Col. Mike Applegate, chief of manpower plans and policy for Manpower and Reserve Affairs at Quantico.
“We’re not there yet, and FSRG doesn’t do it all because there wasn’t enough that we could really build, but this helps improve deployment tempo,” he said.
A ‘lighter’ Corps
Most of the changes will mean more trigger-pullers in the operating forces.
Two new battalions will be activated, beginning this year with 1st Battalion, 9th Marines, to be based at Camp Lejeune, N.C. Another battalion will be activated for duty as an anti-terrorism infantry battalion under the command of the 4th Marine Expeditionary Brigade (Anti-Terrorism), eliminating the practice of “borrowing” grunt battalions from the 2nd Marine Division.
Also in the works are three new LAR companies, beginning next year, as well as ;three new recon companies and two new Force Recon platoons. In all, nearly 2,000 of the 3,000 active-duty billet switches will go to the infantry, Herrmann said, and the Corps will look a lot “lighter” than it has in the past.
Among the units being eliminated is the Corps’ sole small craft company, based at Camp Lejeune. Three LAAD battalions also will be deactivated. And the small community of fabric repair specialists (MOS 1181) will be disbanded, Applegate said.
And that’s just on the active side.
The Reserve loses a big chunk of its artillery punch with the deactivation of two headquarters batteries and four line batteries from the 14th Marines;;, starting this year. Slated to be cut are Bravo Battery, 1/14; Charlie Battery, 1/14; Echo Battery, 2/14 and Lima Battery, 4/14. The Reserve will also deactivate a tank battalion headquarters and two tank companies, including Bravo and Delta companies from 8th Tank Battalion.
On the plus side, deactivated tank companies will likely become LAR companies and deactivated artillery batteries will convert to form an anti-terrorism infantry battalion much like the active-duty one with 4th MEB.
The reorganization also includes an increase of 150 explosive-ordnance disposal Marines, as well as creation of specialized units new to the Marine Corps, including psychological operations and information operations detachments and active-duty civil affairs specialists assigned to MEF headquarters.
In addition, it creates detachments assigned specifically to operate and maintain high-tech systems such as the small unit remote scouting system, satellite communications systems and the AN/TSQ-226 Trojan Spirit communications system.
Trojan Spirit played a critical role in intelligence analysis during Operation Iraqi Freedom. It provided regular access to briefs from coalition leaders, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency products and other intelligence material, along with reliable communications lines, as far down as the regimental combat team level, according to an OIF “lessons learned” report from the 1st Marine Division.
With no organic regimental communication assets capable of such broad support, the division commander at the time, then-Maj. Gen. Jim Mattis, recommended in the May 2003 report that regiments have Trojan Spirit capabilities in the future. These new detachments could help make that a reality.
Eliminating some of the Corps’ heavier combat units is not without risk, Herrmann said. “But the commandant, and his senior leadership, feel that the risk is minimal.”
Smooth transitions
For those forced to change jobs, the aim is to make the transition to a new MOS a smooth one, and officials vow that the restructuring will not substantially disrupt promotions or retention.
“We are going to take care of those Marines,” Hagee said. “If we have to retrain them and send them to school, we will absolutely do that.
“There should be no doubt in any Marine’s mind if he or she wants to stay — and he or she is a good Marine — there’s a place in today’s and tomorrow’s Marine Corps.”
The affected Reserve units largely won’t have to relocate, said Col. Markus Pfahler, requirements director for Marine Forces Reserve in New Orleans.
Many of the deactivating units — such as Lima Battery, 4/14, which served as a provisional military police unit in Iraq — already have received “on-the-job training” during recent deployments, giving them a leg up on their new specialties, he added. Deactivating tankers — who will retrain as LAV operators — already have begun the transition to their new jobs, he said.
Part of the end-strength increase of nearly 3,000 Marines includes 120 additional trainers for schools throughout the Corps. Officials say the new instructors will help with the retraining needed as Marines move into new specialties.
The restructuring will cost the Corps $1.3 billion through 2011, Herrmann said, including $692 million this fiscal year. Officials plan to ask for the money in supplemental funding requests each year, rather than include it in the annual Defense Department budgets.
That strategy could put the funding for the restructuring in doubt, as requests for supplemental funding are not always guaranteed. But Hagee expressed optimism that Congress will open its coffers for the Corps’ facelift and said he’s received full support from Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
“I am confident that we are going to get that money,” Hagee said of the $1.3 billion. “Because it is going to make us more flexible.”
Christian Lowe is a staff writer for Defense News.
Ellie
A more flexible force
The top Marine’s plan to reshape his Corps could ease pace of deployments, better tailor units for war on terrorism
By Christian Lowe
Special to the Times
In one of the most radical org-anizational shake-ups since the Vietnam War, the Marine Corps plans to dramatically reduce or eliminate units that have seen little action in the war on terrorism and use the manpower to add new units better suited to the fight.
What’s out? Several Reserve artillery batteries and tank companies, active and Reserve low-altitude air defense battalions and the sole small craft company, among others.
In their place will be two more active-duty infantry battalions, additional light armored reconnaissance companies, Force Reconnaissance platoons, a new Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company and more.
These changes — about 60 in all — are intended to be complete within the next four years and could provide some welcome relief from the breakneck pace of wartime deployments.
Since the Corps began deploying forces to Afghanistan and Iraq for security and stabilization duties, the usual rotation cycle of six months deployed followed by 18 months at home has given way to seven months deployed, seven months at home. Corps officials believe that one-to-one ratio is unsustainable over the long haul.
But through the recent decision to increase the Corps’ end strength by nearly 3,000 Marines and the creation of more combat-arms units, that deployment pace could improve in the months ahead.
These changes, along with heightened emphasis on training Iraqi security forces, could yield some relief, Commandant Gen. Mike Hagee said Feb. 2.
“A lot of that is going to be event-driven by what happens over in Iraq and Afghanistan, obviously, but I think we’re on a glide slope over this next year to come much closer to a two-to-one” ratio, Hagee said in an interview with Marine Corps Times reporters and editors.
His hope is that the deployment pace slackens to a two-to-one ratio — seven months deployed followed by 14 months at home — by 2006.
“That’s what we’re working hard towards,” he said. “I’d like to see it better than that. But I … have to be frank, I think going back to a three-to-one any time in the near term, it’s going to be a challenge. We are at war.”
And since that war focuses heavily on counterinsurgency and stabilization duties, the Corps is shifting resources to units suited for those missions. It doesn’t take heavy armor or artillery to defeat a low-tech insurgency, nor does it ;do any good to have so many low-altitude air defense units when you’re fighting an enemy that doesn’t have any aircraft, Corps officials say.
So stand by: Relief may be in sight, but there are some major changes coming first.
Taken out of hide
In spring 2004, a Force Structure Review Group formed to evaluate what units were needed and what units could be deactivated to help create more of the kinds of capabilities that suit the war on terrorism.
The objective was to establish more units without adding new Marines to the force. Though the Corps did receive a 3,000-Marine end-strength increase in fiscal 2005, the extra leathernecks did not factor into the group’s plans, officials said.
So each new infantry billet, for example, would require a cut somewhere else. In all, the Corps is shifting some 6,000 billets — evenly split between the active and Reserve force — leading to additions and subtractions in more than 80 military occupational specialties.
The restructuring also includes conversion of more than 1,600 Marine billets to civilian jobs.
The changes are “maneuver force” heavy and their creation will help ease the pace of deployments, said Col. Kevin Herrmann, director of total force structure with Marine Corps Combat Development Command at Quantico, Va.
The restructuring is intended to give Marines at least 14 months at home between seven-month deployments, said Col. Mike Applegate, chief of manpower plans and policy for Manpower and Reserve Affairs at Quantico.
“We’re not there yet, and FSRG doesn’t do it all because there wasn’t enough that we could really build, but this helps improve deployment tempo,” he said.
A ‘lighter’ Corps
Most of the changes will mean more trigger-pullers in the operating forces.
Two new battalions will be activated, beginning this year with 1st Battalion, 9th Marines, to be based at Camp Lejeune, N.C. Another battalion will be activated for duty as an anti-terrorism infantry battalion under the command of the 4th Marine Expeditionary Brigade (Anti-Terrorism), eliminating the practice of “borrowing” grunt battalions from the 2nd Marine Division.
Also in the works are three new LAR companies, beginning next year, as well as ;three new recon companies and two new Force Recon platoons. In all, nearly 2,000 of the 3,000 active-duty billet switches will go to the infantry, Herrmann said, and the Corps will look a lot “lighter” than it has in the past.
Among the units being eliminated is the Corps’ sole small craft company, based at Camp Lejeune. Three LAAD battalions also will be deactivated. And the small community of fabric repair specialists (MOS 1181) will be disbanded, Applegate said.
And that’s just on the active side.
The Reserve loses a big chunk of its artillery punch with the deactivation of two headquarters batteries and four line batteries from the 14th Marines;;, starting this year. Slated to be cut are Bravo Battery, 1/14; Charlie Battery, 1/14; Echo Battery, 2/14 and Lima Battery, 4/14. The Reserve will also deactivate a tank battalion headquarters and two tank companies, including Bravo and Delta companies from 8th Tank Battalion.
On the plus side, deactivated tank companies will likely become LAR companies and deactivated artillery batteries will convert to form an anti-terrorism infantry battalion much like the active-duty one with 4th MEB.
The reorganization also includes an increase of 150 explosive-ordnance disposal Marines, as well as creation of specialized units new to the Marine Corps, including psychological operations and information operations detachments and active-duty civil affairs specialists assigned to MEF headquarters.
In addition, it creates detachments assigned specifically to operate and maintain high-tech systems such as the small unit remote scouting system, satellite communications systems and the AN/TSQ-226 Trojan Spirit communications system.
Trojan Spirit played a critical role in intelligence analysis during Operation Iraqi Freedom. It provided regular access to briefs from coalition leaders, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency products and other intelligence material, along with reliable communications lines, as far down as the regimental combat team level, according to an OIF “lessons learned” report from the 1st Marine Division.
With no organic regimental communication assets capable of such broad support, the division commander at the time, then-Maj. Gen. Jim Mattis, recommended in the May 2003 report that regiments have Trojan Spirit capabilities in the future. These new detachments could help make that a reality.
Eliminating some of the Corps’ heavier combat units is not without risk, Herrmann said. “But the commandant, and his senior leadership, feel that the risk is minimal.”
Smooth transitions
For those forced to change jobs, the aim is to make the transition to a new MOS a smooth one, and officials vow that the restructuring will not substantially disrupt promotions or retention.
“We are going to take care of those Marines,” Hagee said. “If we have to retrain them and send them to school, we will absolutely do that.
“There should be no doubt in any Marine’s mind if he or she wants to stay — and he or she is a good Marine — there’s a place in today’s and tomorrow’s Marine Corps.”
The affected Reserve units largely won’t have to relocate, said Col. Markus Pfahler, requirements director for Marine Forces Reserve in New Orleans.
Many of the deactivating units — such as Lima Battery, 4/14, which served as a provisional military police unit in Iraq — already have received “on-the-job training” during recent deployments, giving them a leg up on their new specialties, he added. Deactivating tankers — who will retrain as LAV operators — already have begun the transition to their new jobs, he said.
Part of the end-strength increase of nearly 3,000 Marines includes 120 additional trainers for schools throughout the Corps. Officials say the new instructors will help with the retraining needed as Marines move into new specialties.
The restructuring will cost the Corps $1.3 billion through 2011, Herrmann said, including $692 million this fiscal year. Officials plan to ask for the money in supplemental funding requests each year, rather than include it in the annual Defense Department budgets.
That strategy could put the funding for the restructuring in doubt, as requests for supplemental funding are not always guaranteed. But Hagee expressed optimism that Congress will open its coffers for the Corps’ facelift and said he’s received full support from Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
“I am confident that we are going to get that money,” Hagee said of the $1.3 billion. “Because it is going to make us more flexible.”
Christian Lowe is a staff writer for Defense News.
Ellie