Over Five Years Into Modernization Campaign, Marines Highlight Successes
4/18/2025
By Stew Magnuson
ARLINGTON, Virginia — The Marine Corps in 2019 kicked off a modernization campaign then known as Force Design 2030.
“We committed to bold, tangible actions, actions backed by disciplined budgetary decisions and clear-eyed assessments of the threats ahead,” said Lt. Gen. Paul Rock Jr., director of the Marine Corps Staff.
While the transformation of the Marine Corps — now known simply as Force Design after the 2030 was dropped — will continue, the effort has largely been a success, Rock asserted during a speech at the McAleese and Associates Defense Programs Conference recently.
The plan was controversial when it kicked off. To garner the funding needed, the Marine Corps had to “divest to reinvest,” Rock said. It cut infantry battalions, regimental headquarters, aviation squadrons and reduced its end strength by 20,000 Marines, he noted.
https://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/articles/2025/4/18/over-five-years-into-modernization-campaign-marines-highlight-successes
