The Wisdom of the Amphibious Combat Vehicle
By Majors Justin D. Davis and Neal T. Jones, U.S. Marine Corps
October 2019
We commend Captain Jay T. Snelling for his June 2019 Proceedings article, “The Amphibious Combat Vehicle Delusion.†Challenging the status quo is neither easy, nor popular. Furthermore, we are proud the Marine Corps promotes a culture that encourages its personnel to challenge the status quo and take a stand in a professional journal.
However, he presented an incomplete argument as to why the Marine Corps is acquiring the amphibious combat vehicle (ACV). He made unsubstantiated claims about the reliability and performance of the ACV, incorrectly downplayed the ACV’s value in supporting expeditionary advanced based operations (EABO), and failed to highlight major challenges the Marine Corps experienced in pursuing a high-water-speed (HWS) amphibious vehicle. The following is a historical perspective of amphibious vehicle procurement and professional insights from both the infantry and assault amphibian communities.
https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2019/october/wisdom-amphibious-combat-vehicle
