Marines slam a shrinking amphibious fleet, but the Navy isn’t to blame
By Maj. Gen. Christopher Owens (retired)
May 5, 08:30 PM
The recent evacuation of the U.S. embassy in Khartoum, Sudan, was noteworthy, not only for its successful outcome, but also because such missions — once a standard capability for Navy and Marine amphibious forces — must now apparently be conducted by a special operations force. And the Corps only has itself to blame.
The genesis of an amphibious lift shortfall is the Corps’ abandonment of its long-standing requirement for a larger fleet of 38 ships. This requirement, formalized in a 2009 agreement between the secretary of the Navy, the Marine commandant and the chief of Naval operations, led to a decadelong reversal in declining numbers of amphibious ships.
That positive trend changed with the commandant’s 2019 guidance, in which he stated that the primary rationale for 38, the ability to support a two-brigade landing, was no longer valid.
Setting the stage for the Corps’ future operating concept, Force Design 2030, the commandant argued that “different approaches are required” in the face of modern threats to “massed naval armadas.”
https://www.militarytimes.com/newsletters/daily-news-roundup/2023/05/06/marines-slam-a-shrinking-amphibious-fleet-but-the-navy-isnt-to-blame/
