Panel: New Focus on China Fight Could Rob Marine Corps of Versatility
By: Mallory Shelbourne
July 30, 2020 5:14 PM
As the Marines reshape their force to take on the Chinese in the Western Pacific, some experts worry the new emphasis could leave the Marines fewer tools to operate in other parts of the world and fight different types of adversaries.
Speaking today at a virtual event hosted by the Heritage Foundation, several analysts debated what they see as the positive and negative facets of Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger’s force design initiative, which calls for the Marines to retool as they gear up for a conflict in the Indo-Pacific region in 2030.
“This restructured Marine Corps is not designed to be versatile. The Marine Corps likes to think of itself as a Swiss army knife, but this will be a Swiss army knife whose owner has ripped out a couple of blades because he doesn’t think he’s going to need them anymore,†said Mark Cancian, a former Marine who also worked in the White House Office of Management and Budget. “And a Swiss army knife that’s missing key functions is really just an ordinary jackknife.
https://news.usni.org/2020/07/30/panel-new-focus-on-china-fight-could-rob-marine-corps-of-versatility
