![]() ![]() ![]() Removing snipers from the battalion and instead creating a “scout platoon” to conduct some of the past functions of snipers.Īdded medical training and personnel for improved casualty care in austere locations where immediate medical evacuation may not be available.īringing back a full 81 mm mortar platoon for the battalion’s use. Some of the Phase I experimentation on the infantry battalion included: Phase I wrapped up in 2022 and Marine leadership landed on the 811-Marine infantry battalion as the ideal size of the unit which will be the base of the Marine littoral regiment, the service’s newest large-scale formation built to counter adversaries such as China in the U.S. Why the Corps’ future may sideline its ground-pounders Heckl said that the unit will take the Corps’ battalion experimentation “to the next level.” The “Thundering Third” returned from deployment earlier in 2023 and was chosen for Phase II of the Corps’ infantry battalion experimentation. “Smaller units are often described as ‘leaner but meaner,’ but they are really just smaller,” Cancian said. Military Forces in FY2022: Marine Corps,” that then noted perceived gaps in the redesign initiatives, also said he has questions about how the 811-Marine infantry battalion will be employed.Ĭomparing the newly-sized battalions with those of only a few years ago, would require analyzing whether Marine units will continue to conduct the “full spectrum of missions that Marine infantry has conducted in the past ― amphibious assault, urban warfare, counterinsurgency and extended operations ashore-or will it just focus on the preferred Western Pacific scenario?” The reorganization is a move away from using the Corps as an assault infantry tool and instead, as a force focused on small teams acting as sensors and reconnaissance for a long-range strike, said Mark Cancian, senior adviser with the Center for Strategic and International Studies and retired Marine colonel.Ĭancian, who authored a 2021 report titled “U.S. A series of commentaries have been published in recent years by recent and former high-ranking Marine generals and senior officers openly condemning some of the changes, especially the removal of tanks and reduction in conventional artillery that has happened to make room in funding and manning for new capabilities being added to the force. These force redesign decisions are not without their critics. Another 353 officers and 4,721 enlisted Marines held infantry primary jobs in the Marine Reserve as of May 23. The remaining battalions will transition as follows: two in fiscal year 2024 three each in fiscal years 20 four each in fiscal years 20 and the final three in fiscal year 2029.Īs of June 6, the Marine Corps had 2,148 officers and 22,805 enlisted Marines with infantry as their primary job in the active duty ranks, according to manpower data. The Corps has cut three active-duty infantry battalions from its numbers since 2020 as part of Force Design 2030 changes.Īs of early June, the Corps had two battalions already transitioned to 811 Marines, according to data provided by Manpower & Reserve Affairs. There are now 21 active-duty infantry battalions and eight Marine Reserve battalions. “And that’s exactly what’s happening here.” “This is what Marines do better than anybody, we’re small enough that we can be agile and quick and make changes quickly and efficiently,” he said. Karsten Heckl, deputy commandant of Combat Development and Integration, emphasized that Berger has told him Force Design is not a destination but a journey, “to me it’s a waypoint,” he said during a June 2 phone call with media on the Force Design annual update. The Force Design 2030 aims to have the Corps operate more dispersed in littoral zones with precision long-range fires, reconnaissance and counter-reconnaissance and a host of new capabilities that Berger and his supporters say war-gaming has shown will transform how Marine units operate in future wars. David Berger’s plan to restructure the Marine Corps, and requests made by Marine Corps Times to the Marine Corps Combat Development Command, Warfighting Lab and Manpower & Reserve Affairs. Those numbers came from the annual update to Force Design 2030, Commandant Gen. But the figure remains higher than one of the three experimental battalions that worked through Phase I infantry battalion experiments with only 735 Marines.ĭispersed, more lethal: What Marine infantry battalion experiments have shown so far ![]()
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