Marines Want to Shut Down Sea Lines of Communication in a Pacific Fight, CMC Smith Says
JOHN GRADY
JULY 3, 2024 4:34 PM
U.S. Marine Corps Gen. Eric M. Smith, the 39th Commandant of the Marine Corps, speaks to Marines with 1st Battalion, 2d Marine Regiment, 2d Marine Division on Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, June 10, 2024. During his visit, Smith engaged with Marines from across 2d Marine Regiment and Camp Lejeune to discuss force design, quality of life as well as recognize some top-performing Marines. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Noelia Vazquez)
A key Marine Corps role is to “serve as the inside force” in the first island chain – from the Ryukyus to Australia – to curb China’s ambitions, Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. Eric Smith said Tuesday, adding that no service can deter of defeat Beijing alone.
“The Chinese were outsticking us [the United States]” with long-range anti-ship missiles and other weapons systems in their anti-access/area denial steps taken to modernize and expand their forces in the last two decades, Smith said, speaking at a Brookings Institute event.
“Now we’re mixing it up.”
The idea behind the Marine Corps Force Design innovations, started under his predecessor Gen. David Berger, is the ability to influence China’s behavior by “shutting down the sea lines of communication” from dispersed forces and precision strike, Smith said. He named long-range rocket systems going out tens of kilometers “and they’re guided” being better able to do than conventional artillery.
“Range matters,” Smith said.
https://news.usni.org/2024/07/03/marines-want-to-shut-down-sea-lines-of-communication-in-a-pacific-fight-cmc-smith-says
