Marines Downgrade Russia Threat To Focus on China
Commandant Gen. David Berger tells SecDef Austin he won't ask for more money in the new budget, but asks for authority to kick tanks, helicopters, out of the force
By Paul McLeary on March 02, 2021 at 11:11 AM
WASHINGTON: The Marine Corps commandant has for the first time put Russia alongside Iran, North Korea, and extremist groups as areas that will “continue to pose threats,†while elevating China to the undisputed top of threats facing US policy makers.
“China will remain the pacing threat for the next decade,†Berger wrote in the memo obtained by Breaking Defense, a point he has made before while usually including Russia as a close second.
The ordering of the Marine Corps’ threat picture over the next decade marks a major downgrade for how the Corps sees Russia, though Gen. David Berger’s Feb. 23 memo to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin largely maintains the major internal reforms he’s pushed over the past two years. Those efforts, which include divesting of the Corps’ inventory of Abrams tanks and shedding 12,000 Marines, has been aimed at reinventing the Corps for operations across the expanses of the Pacific.
https://breakingdefense.com/2021/03/marines-downgrade-russia-threat-to-focus-on-china/
