More is needed to turn the Marine Corps' aspirations into reality
If the force is truly to have balanced lethality and battlefield resiliency, it will need more money, ships, and missiles.
Charles Krulak, Michael Hagee and James Conway | November 23, 2025 08:00 AM ET
Commentary Marine Corps Navy Industry
The opening sentence in the Commandant of the Marine Corps’ October 2025 Force Design update asserts: “The Marine Corps is a globally responsive, lethal, and resilient combined-armed naval expeditionary force that projects power from sea to land and land to sea, fighting as a Marine Air Ground Task Force across all domains in contested environments to deter, deny, and defeat adversaries.”
This statement is aspirational. It does not reflect the current state of the Marine Corps, which is best characterized as a force lacking balanced lethality and battlefield resiliency. Until the senior leadership comes to grip with this truth, the Corps will remain a service in stasis. Optimistic expressions ring hollow when confronted with the realities of resources, defense budgets, Department of War acceptance, and congressional support.
The capability of fighting in every “clime and place” and task organizing for any mission are longstanding hallmarks of the Marines. Unfortunately, the Corps’ ability to respond quickly and effectively to global threats or to tailor a force capable of defeating any adversary were degraded by an unwise “divest to invest” approach to transformation, originally and innocuously termed “Force Design 2030.”
The adverse effects of Force Design continue to plague Marines almost six years after its inception. These include the loss of combined arms capabilities and resilience, reductions in requirements for amphibious ships, emasculation of the Maritime Prepositioning Force, and disregard for an integrated and disciplined combat development process. Words alone will not fix these problems.
https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2025/11/more-needed-turn-marines-aspirations-reality/409719/?oref=d1-featured-river-top
