Upgun ARG–MEU Training for the Fight at Sea
Proceedings Magazine - December 2018 Vol.
By Commander Bob Jones, U.S.
Navy
The 2018 National Defense Strategy (NDS) has re-prioritized the focus of U.S. strategic military planning toward great power competition with China and Russia. For their part, both the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps already were taking steps to support the strategy prior to its release. The Navy’s surface force created the Naval Surface and Mine Warfighting Development Center (NSMWDC) in 2015 and issued the Surface Force Strategy in 2017 to re-focus its attention toward the high-end maritime fight. Similarly, the Marine Corps has taken steps towards re-imagining how expeditionary forces can be employed to support sea control and power projection in its Littoral Operations in a Contested Environment (LOCE) concept .
These are steps in the right direction, but they will only succeed if there is also a concurrent shift in mindset in how amphibious forces are trained for the “fight to get to the fight.†[1] Amphibious ready groups and embarked marine expeditionary units (ARG–MEUs) need to develop their naval warfighting capabilities during the training and certification process – with a shift in priority toward the naval fight at sea.
https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2018-12/upgun-arg%E2%80%93meu-training-fight-sea
