As the U.S. Marine Corps entered 2017, Commandant Neller issued a message to all Marines. In it he laid out a set of “resolutions for all of us to follow in 2017” in order “to continue to adapt, innovate, and change to meet future threats”:
1. Improve readiness because we need more Marines and equipment ready to fight now.
2. Modernize the force because our future readiness depends upon it.
3. Become smarter because your mind is your most important weapon.
4. Take better care of ourselves because combat is the most extreme and demanding test.
5. “Protect What You’ve Earned” because our success in battle depends upon teamwork.
6. Have more fun as Marines because it is a privilege to be a part of this elite warfighting organization.2
In keeping with these resolves, the Marine Corps demonstrated during the year its vital role as the nation’s premier expeditionary force-in-readiness and its commitment to build a fifth-generation Marine Corps to the meet the many challenges of the future security environment. During 2017, the Corps executed approximately 146 operations, including 12 amphibious operations and 105 theater security cooperation events with international partners, and participated in 70 major exercises.3 Real-world operational demands—and the necessary training to meet them—continued to generate a high operational tempo for Marines and tailored Marine air-ground task forces (MAGTFs). Deployments in the operating forces averaged a deployment-to-dwell ratio of one-to-two, with Marines returning from six-month deployments spending about 12 months home before deploying again. As a result, the Marine Corps sustained more than 22,000 Marines operating west of the International Date Line. Simultaneously, it continued to invest resources and intellectual capital in developing the concepts laid out in the Marine Corps Operating Concept: How an Expeditionary Force Operates in the 21st Century (the MOC) that was published in the fall of 2016 and its supporting initiatives that continued to be developed, refined, and tested over the year.
The year kicked off with a significant achievement when the first squadron of F-35B Lighting II Joint Strike Fighters deployed. Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 121 with ten F-35B short-takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) aircraft relocated from Yuma, Arizona, to Marine Corps Air Station, Iwakuni, Japan, in January. This initial deployment of the fifth-generation multimission aircraft brings a “unique combination of stealth, cutting-edge radar and sensor technology and electronic warfare systems” to the western Pacific that greatly enhances access and lethality through an adverse-weather, all-threat-environment air-support and modern bomber platform.4 This high-technology capability was demonstrated in August when four F-35Bs from VMFA-121 participated in a show of force along with B-1B Lancer bombers and F-15s from our Japanese and Korean allies in response to the provocative North Korean missile launch; they also conducted a bombing exercise on South Korean ranges. The forward-basing of the F-35Bs to III Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF) in Japan is expected to be matched this year by the first deployment of the aircraft with a Marine expeditionary unit (MEU) embarked on board amphibious ready group (ARG) warships.
A consistent theme throughout the year from Marine Corps leadership, in concert with the other services and the Department of Defense, was the effect of the continuing resolutions and the Budget Control Act on the force. In June, General Neller told Congress that “Fiscal reductions and budget instability has been the norm for the past eight years and has consequently eroded our readiness.” While emphasizing actions to protect the near-term operational readiness of deploying units and the next units in the deployment queue to meet operational commitments, he noted that “more reliable funding and support of the annual budget request must be there if we are to improve our readiness and our ability to respond to crises.”5
Combat Operations
The Marine Corps’ activities in support of Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) and U.S. Central Command in Iraq and Syria were especially noteworthy throughout 2017. MAGTFs operating as part of Combined Joint Task Force–Operation Inherent Resolve directly supported Iraqi forces and Syrian democratic forces in their successful combat operations to defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Beginning in March, Marine artillery units—initially from the 11th MEU—provided critical fire support to these partners for the recapture of ISIS’s self-proclaimed capital of Raqqa that was achieved in June. Army Sergeant Major John Wayne Troxell, the senior enlisted advisor to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Dunford, stated, “In five months they fired 35,000 artillery rounds on ISIS targets, killing ISIS fighters by the dozens.”6 These fires were so intense that two of the M777 155-mm howitzers wore out the barrels of their tubes.7
In April, about 300 Marines as part of TF Southwest marked the return of Marines to Helmand Province, Afghanistan, in support of the NATO-led Resolute Support mission. This force, drawn in large part from 6th Marine Regiment, is advising and assisting Afghan National Army forces and National Police in the province as they conduct operations against the Taliban. By November, one major newspaper was reporting that “Seven months after a Marine-led task force returned, Helmand has become one of the few bright spots in the Afghan war.”8
In addition, Special Marine Air-Ground Task Force–Crisis Response–Central Command (SPMAGTF-CR-CC) forward deployed in the Central Command area of operation provided a persistent tactical recovery of aircraft and personnel (TRAP) capability in support of OIR and an alert force comprised of ground and aviation assets available for rapid response as required. Also, two tailored task forces of SPMAGTF-CR-CC Marines are advising and assisting Iraqi security forces as they conduct operations to counter ISIS extremists as part of OIR.
Major Amphibious Exercises
In June, a Marine Reserve battalion (1st Battalion, 23d Marines) along with element of 2d Assault Amphibious Battalion and 4th Air-Naval Gunfire Liaison Company embarked on board the USS Arlington (LPD-24) participated in the annual NATO exercise Baltic Operations in Germany, Latvia, and Poland and conducted an amphibious raid. The amphibious force, as a component of the fleet of 50 ships from 14 nations participating in the exercise, demonstrated the ability of the United States to project forces based in the continental United States to Europe and set the conditions for future operations that promote regional stability and security and enhance interoperability with allies and partners.
During June and July, Navy and Marine Corps forces along with their Australian hosts conducted exercise Talisman Saber off the coast of Queensland, Australia. Marine forces included the 31st MEU and Marine Rotational Force–Darwin, while naval forces included the Seventh Fleet’s Expeditionary Strike Group 7. The group included the amphibious ships USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6), USS Green Bay (LPD-20), USS Ashland (LSD-48), and the guided-missile destroyer USS Sterett (DDG-104) along with a number of Australian frigates, including the Adelaide-class guided-missile frigate HMAS Darwin. On the flank of the 31st MEU and the Bonhomme Richard ARG during the amphibious assault phase of the exercise, the Australian and New Zealand Amphibious Ready Group landed 600 troops from the amphibious ships HMAS Canberra and Choules and HMNZS Canterbury. This combined operation marked the certification for the Australian Defence Force’s amphibious force, culminating many years of planning and development with a demonstration of their capability in a highly integrated coalition setting.
Another key achievement during the exercise was the integration of F-35B aircraft with the “upgunned expeditionary strike group” (ESG) that demonstrated pairing of the targeting capability of the advanced fighter with the offensive capabilities of the guided-missile surface combatants. Overall, 26 warships, including the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76), more than 200 aircraft, and 33,000 personnel from U.S, Australian, New Zealand, Japanese, and Canadian forces participated in Talisman Saber.
Exercise Bold Alligator 2017, an international amphibious exercise, took place in October on the East Coast. This year, the scale of the exercise had to be reduced because of the diversion of forces to support humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations after Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria. The last full-scale Bold Alligator exercise was in 2014, and the opportunity to further integrate carrier and surface combatant forces within multilateral amphibious operations had been highly anticipated. With the loss of a large portion of 26th MEU forces, USS Kearsarge (LHD-3), and other amphibious ships, many planned landing events were canceled, and the exercise became more of a tactical-level amphibious training event with 2d Marine Expeditionary Brigade (MEB) as a response cell and a regimental landing team conducting training ashore. Fifteen U.S. and partner nation ships participated, including ships from France, Canada, and Mexico, along with other forces from Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and the United Kingdom.
Almost simultaneously on the West Coast, ESG-3 and 1st MEB conducted Dawn Blitz 2017. Built around the three-ship Essex ARG teamed with a guided-missile destroyer, the scenario-driven exercise provided an opportunity to conduct realistic global response training necessary to conduct effective offensive kinetic and nonkinetic amphibious operations, mine-countermeasures integration, and other nonstandard platform integration. Dawn Blitz also experimented with F-35 integration. In what is becoming a routine occurrence, an infantry company from the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force participated alongside Marines in the exercise. Observers from Chile, Peru, Colombia, and Mexico also attended. A major highlight of the exercise was the firing of a High-Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) rocket from the flight deck of the USS Anchorage (LPD-23), demonstrating the ability of Marines to conduct sea-based fires on a land-based target 70 kilometers away and contributing to naval sea-control concepts.
Versatile Forward-Response Posture
MEUs—2,200 to 2,500 Marines embarked on board the three amphibious warships of an ARG—continued to provide combatant commanders with a highly flexible and responsive range of capabilities. During 2017, four separate MEUs conducted forward-deployed operations. The West Coast–based I Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF) deployed the 11th MEU with the Makin Island ARG and the 15th MEU with the America ARG. From the East Coast II MEF, the 24th MEU deployed to the Bataan ARG, while the 31st MEU, the forward-deployed naval force in the Western Pacific, part of III MEF in Okinawa, deployed on the Bonhomme Richard ARG.
The MEUs participated in operations and exercises in support of all geographic combatant commanders across the globe. They conducted a range of naval and expeditionary operations, worked alongside regional partners, and provided flexible crisis-response options. Operations conducted by MEU forces during 2017 also included operations from amphibious ships to counter violent extremists in North Africa and on the Arabian Peninsula. Exercises conducted by these MEUs this past year included 11th MEU’s interoperability training with partner forces in Oman and the United Arab Emirates. The 24th MEU participated in exercises in Jordan and Israel and conducted a vertical assault in Spain with the Spanish Marine Corps as part of a local amphibious exercise. The 31st MEU participated in exercises in the Philippines, Thailand, and Australia.
During October and December, the 15th MEU, along with the naval amphibious TF 51/5th Marine Expeditionary Brigade (MEB), participated in exercises in the United Arab Emirates and Djibouti. The exercise off Djibouti combined amphibious operations with combat sustainment with the French and included embarking MEU Marines on board the French LHD Tonnerre and the new expeditionary sea-base ship USS Lewis B. Puller (ESB-3). In honor of the World War I centennial and the sacrifice of Marines during the Second Battle of the Marne, the deployment was named “Bois Belleau 100.” Of particular note, the deployment of 15th MEU in July marked the first deployment of the aviation-optimized amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA-6). The extensive workup exercises and the deployment provided an opportunity to experiment with configuring the loading of landing craft and ground equipment among the ARG given the America’s lack of a well-deck.
With the commissioning of the USS Portland (LPD-27) in December, the Navy’s inventory of active amphibious warships reached 32 for the first time in more than a decade. However, at a congressional hearing in early December, senior Navy and Marine Corps leaders stated that almost half of the amphibious force, 14 ships, was tied up for maintenance with an adverse effect on predeployment training, exercise participation, experimentation, and surge requirements for contingencies. They attributed the maintenance induced shortfall to congressional continuing resolutions and other budget challenges.9 The 2017 Marine Corps Posture Statement identified that “the Navy and Marine Corps Team require 38 amphibious ships, with an operational availability of 90 percent, to support two Marine Expeditionary Brigades, in order to provide the Nation a forcible entry capability.” In this statement, the Commandant emphasized the lack of ship-to-shore connectors and mine countermeasure capabilities.10
The Marine Corps continued to deploy SPMAGTFs to both Central Command and Africa Command areas of operation to provide an on-hand crisis response capability and to make up for reduced MEU/ARG availabilities. The West Coast I MEF provided SPMAGTF-CR-CC, a rotational contingent force based on shore in Kuwait, with command elements for the rotations formed by infantry regimental headquarters. The East Coast II MEF sourced SPMAGTF-CR-Africa (SPMAGTF-CR-AF), a similar rotational force operating out of Moron, Spain, and Sigonella, Italy, with overall leadership provided by both the 2d Marine Air Wing staff and the 22d MEU staff. In all cases, the SPMAGTF-CR forces included a ground combat element (formed around an infantry battalion), an aviation combat element (with a mix of tailored aviation capabilities), and a logistics combat element. In June, the Commandant announced that the Marine Corps had cut the number of MV-22 tilt-rotor and KC-130J refueling/cargo aircraft assigned to these SPMAGTFs to reduce the effects of high operational-tempo airframe utilization rates and to continue to meet operational commitments.11
SPMAGTF-CR-AF supported major exercises and theater security cooperation (TSC) events in Cameroon, Uganda, Ghana, Benin, Tunisia, and Senegal. Support included maritime security force assistance, logistics and engineering training, border patrol and checkpoint engagement in support of suppressing illicit activities, mobile training teams, small unit tactics training for counterterrorism efforts, and assessment of mechanized training and education.
The Black Sea Rotational Force (BSRF), based at Mihail Kogalniceanu Airfield, Romania, and Varnes, Norway, engaged with partner nations and operated in multiple countries throughout Eurasia. In February and March, the BSRF operated on board the French LHD Mistral. They demonstrated the ability of U.S. Marine Corps and French Army amphibious units, alongside British Royal Navy and aviation units, to support increased NATO amphibious interoperability and to test opportunities under the Allied Maritime Basing Initiative. Forces from the Mistral practiced sea-basing operations off Corsica and Djibouti. The BSFR also supported exercises in Israel, Romania, Norway, Latvia, Poland, and Germany.
In March, in what has now become an annual deployment, Marine Rotational Force–Darwin (MRF-D) began its six-to-seven-month rotation, operating from Australia’s Robertson Barracks. MRF-D conducted a number of exercises to enhance U.S. and Australian interoperability. It also supported engagement missions in the Indo-Pacific region while standing ready to respond to local crises. To highlight both the reach and capability of the U.S. Marine MV-22B Osprey, Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 268—recently relocated to Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii—successfully completed a self-deployment trans-Pacific flight from Hawaii to Darwin, Australia, and back. This was the aircraft’s first deployment as part of the MRF-D aviation combat element and demonstrated the longest airborne movements in MV-22 history—more than 10,000 miles in all. This was the sixth rotation of MRF-D, the second phase of a four-phase program that will result eventually in a rotation of a 2,500-Marine MAGTF.
Marines also embarked again this year on board Military Sealift Command ships, including Maritime Prepositioning Force (MPF) ships conducing a series of naval engagement operations. From May to September, the MPF ship USNS Sacagawea (T-AKE-2) embarked a detachment (mostly from 3d Battalion, 4th Marines and 3d Marine Logistics Group), conducted TSC events in Guam, Solomon Islands, Fiji, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Darwin, and Timor Leste. The events enhanced platoon-level infantry and engineer interoperability, built military-to-military relations, and improved afloat operating procedures on board MPF shipping. They also supported the commemoration events for the 75th anniversary of the Guadalcanal campaign. From May to July, Marines from the 3d Battalion, 8th Marines, embarked on the USNS Millinocket (T-EPF-3) and conducted cooperation afloat readiness and training. They supported Seventh Fleet’s series of naval-engagement exercises across Southeast Asia, including bilateral amphibious training events with Philippine forces and the Royal Thai Marine Corps. In September, elements of the 1st Battalion, 3d Marines, joined the USNS Fall River (T-EPF-4) to conduct similar operations in Indonesia.
From late August to October, three major hurricanes hit the continental United States, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico, in addition to other islands in the Caribbean. In the wake of Hurricane Harvey, more than 500 Marine Corps Forces Reserve Marines, rotary lift assets, trucks, and amphibious assault vehicles supported relief efforts in Texas. After hurricanes Irma and Maria, the 26th MEU forces on the Kearsarge conducted defense support to civil authorities (DSCA) operations in the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. A detachment from the 26th MEU also boarded the USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7) in Mayport, Florida, as part of relief operations in the Florida Keys. In mid-October, forces of the 24th MEU—returning from a six-month deployment—replaced the 26th MEU so that the latter could complete preparations for its upcoming deployment. In addition, SPMAGTF–Southern Command (SPMAGTF-SC) deployed as Joint Task Force–Leeward Islands (JTF–LI) from Soto Cano Air Base, Honduras, to Dominica, St. Martin, Martinique, and Guadeloupe to support humanitarian assistance and relief effort after these islands were hit by Irma and Maria. Relief support provided by these forces included command-and-control support, delivery and distribution of relief supplies, airfield control, route clearance, water purification and distribution, restoration of essential utilities, accountability and evacuation of U.S. citizens, hospital assessments, and search-and-rescue operations.
Force Structure/Personnel
The Marine Corps fiscal year authorized end strength remained at 185,000 active-duty Marines, with a selected reserve reduction to 38,500, 400 fewer than the previous year. The ground-operating forces remained built around 24 active and 8 reserve infantry battalions. In aviation, the Marine Corps maintained 18 active and 1 reserve fighter squadrons with 16 active and 2 reserve medium-lift MV-22 squadrons. The most significant aviation structure changes were the reequipping of a third fighter attack squadron, VMFA-122, with the F-35B beginning in November and the deactivation of Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 4 in June—leaving only two Marine tactical electronic warfare squadrons as the EA-6B aircraft heads toward a final sundown by the end of FY2019.
The Marine Corps created a new position of deputy commandant for information in June, with Lieutenant General Daniel O’Donohue appointed to oversee all aspects of warfare for Marines in the information domain—cyber, electronic warfare, space, military information support operations, and military deception. Shortly thereafter the MAGTF Information Environment Operations Concept of Employment was signed, and the former MEF Headquarters Groups (MHGs) were reorganized as the MEF Information Groups (MIGs). A new military occupational specialty (MOS) for cyber warfare also was introduced. These initiatives resulted from Marine Corps Force 2025, an “extensive collaboration, war gaming, experimentation, and analysis to design a balanced MAGTF optimized for the future.”12
In September, the first female lieutenant completed the infantry officer course, received the infantry officer MOS, and was assigned to a Marine infantry battalion. Thirty-six female officers previously attempted the course without success. The Marine Corps continued to implement the Department of Defense policy announced at the end of 2015 to open all MOSs including combat arms MOSs to all service members. Women, both officers and enlisted, completed training for combat billets in infantry, artillery, armor, and combat engineering units during the year.13
An investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service into the private Facebook group “Marines United” and its members’ sharing of nude and sexually exploitive photos and commentary on service women without their consent became public in March. Quickly, General Neller issued a stern message: “If you can’t or are unwilling to commit to contributing 100% to our Corps’ warfighting ability by being a good teammate and improving cohesion and trust, then I have to ask you: Do you really want to be a Marine?” The investigation identified 97 Marines potentially involved out of 119 suspects. The Marine Corps has cracked down on online misconduct, with 7 Marines convicted at courtmartial, 14 cases disposed at nonjudicial punishment, 6 administrative separations, and 28 adverse administrative actions to date.
In November, an investigation into abuse of recruits (including the case of Raheel Siddiqui, who jumped to his death in March 2016), came to an end when a Marine drill instructor, Gunnery Sergeant Joseph Felix, was sentenced by a courtmartial at Parris Island, South Carolina, to ten years in prison, reduction to private, and a dishonorable discharge for the hazing and maltreatment of a dozen recruits.14
Aviation Readiness & Safety
The occurrence of Marine Corps aviation Class A flight mishaps improved compared to 2016. Of the five major flight mishaps, the most serious were two that resulted in deaths.15 In July, a Marine Corps KC-130T tanker crashed in Mississippi after experiencing a failure at cruising altitude, resulting in the death of 16 Marines—the deadliest Marine Corps aviation mishap since 2005. The reserve squadron to which this aircraft was assigned is the last Marine aviation unit equipped with the T model of the KC-130. In his recent testimony, the commander of Marine Corps Forces Reserve noted that “the top procurement priority of the Marine Corps Forces Reserve is the KC-130J Super Hercules.”16
After the conclusion of Exercise Talisman Saber in August, an MV-22 Osprey crashed into the sea after striking the flight deck while attempting to land on the Green Bay in the vicinity of Shoalwater Bay, Queensland, Australia. Three Marines were killed, while 20 were rescued. The Australian Defence Force’s response was rapid, and its dive team found the sunken aircraft and recovered the lost Marines’ remains. In this tragedy, one Marine observer noted that it was “an exemplary case of the strength of the alliance and the bond between the two nations.” In September, an MV-22 was lost without casualties after a hard landing and subsequent fire while conducting support operations in Syria.
For the entire fiscal year, the Marine Corps increased average flight hours per crew by 14 percent thanks to congressional funding for critical aviation shortfalls. However, as Lieutenant General Brian Beaudreault, Deputy Commandant for Plans, Policies, and Operations, highlighted in recent testimony, the continuing resolutions still “impact aviation readiness by inhibiting our ability to execute a year-long funding strategy, specifically investments in spares and repair parts.”
Modernization & Innovation
In February the Commandant and the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral John Richardson, signed the “Littoral Operations in a Contested Environment” concept paper. In a wargame conducted in early April at Camp Pendleton, California, the service tested various aspects of the concept. This included establishing and operating from expeditionary advanced bases and conducting distributed operations with dispersed aviation and fires assets in support of a naval campaign. The naval objectives was to achieve and sustain sea control in a contested maritime environment. The problems of logistical support for these types of operations and developing ideas for new weapons and surface connectors also were explored.
Shortly after this event, the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory hosted at Camp Pendleton the “Ship-to-Shore Maneuver Exploration and Experimentation Advanced Naval Technological Exercise 2017” where potentially new technologies provided by industry to improve amphibious forcible-entry capabilities were put in the hands of Marines and demonstrated. More than 110 technologies were displayed and assessed, including unmanned systems, robotics, additive manufacturing and autonomous technologies and weapons platforms.17
In June, BAE Systems and SAIC’s competing prototypes of the amphibious combat vehicle (ACV) 1.1 were tested at sea, including launch and recovery from the USS Somerset (LPD-25). Both vehicles demonstrated greater capability than the established vehicle “swim” requirement thresholds. The Marine Corps anticipates down-selecting to one manufacturer and proceeding to full production soon. This decision also will set the conditions for the transition to the second increment (ACV 1.2). In August, the Marine Corps contracted with SAIC to begin low-rate initial production of the amphibious assault vehicle survivability upgrade (AAV-SU) for 21 vehicles. Eventually, nearly 400 of the Marine Corps’ 1,000-plus AAVs will be upgraded to extend their operational lifespan an additional 20 years to complement the ACVs.
In April, the Department of Defense approved the Sikorsky CH-53K Super Stallion to enter the production phase, with aircraft deliveries expected to begin in 2021 to replace the current CH-53E. In August, the Navy awarded Sikorsky a $340-million contract for the first two helicopters. The Commandant noted during his June testimony that while the cost for the new aircraft is approximately 30 percent more than the legacy aircraft, it “provides three times the lift capability under the same conditions,” and its projected operating and support costs are approximately the same as the CH-53E.18
The Marine Corps continued to look for opportunities in unmanned systems. In June, combat development leadership declared that “within the next 18 months, every infantry battalion in the Marine Corps will have multiple SUAS [small unmanned aerial system] platforms for conducting Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISR), enhancing the reach of current communications equipment, and for use in training for countering enemy UAS platforms.”19
The Marine Corps accepted the first Block 1 Ground/Air Task Oriented Radars (G/ATORs) in February and conducted operational testing of the system over the summer in anticipation of achieving initial operational capability this year. The Block 1 radars conduct air-defense and surveillance missions and are interoperable with the Marine Corps’ composite tracking network. The Block 2 system, scheduled to begin initial operational test and evaluation late this year, will replace the current artillery counterbattery radars. The service plans to buy 17 G/ATOR systems for the air-defense and surveillance mission and 28 for the fire-support mission.
Continuity with the Past
As today’s Marines strive to meet the demanding challenges of the present and the future, their warrior ethos continues to mark the standard for warfighting excellence, leadership, innovation, and agility that they may be judged worthy successors to the long line that has gone before them. The year marked a number of important anniversaries for the Corps, including the 50th anniversary of the bloody battles around Con Thien and “Leatherneck Square” in Vietnam and the 75th anniversary of the Guadalcanal campaign in the Solomon Islands during the first year of World War II in the Pacific.
To mark the Battle of Guadalcanal anniversary, General Neller and Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps Ronald L. Green participated in ceremonies on the island. In their annual Marine Corps birthday video, they made a point of standing at the site where Sergeant John Basilone earned the Medal of Honor in 1942. They reminded every Marine in uniform now that they are the direct descendants of the heroes of Guadalcanal as they faithfully execute their daily missions and prepare the Marine Corps for its success in the future.
1. GEN Robert B. Neller, Commandant of the Marine Corps, before the Senate Committee on Armed Services’ hearing on the Posture of the Department of the Navy, 15 June 2017, 7.
2. GEN Robert B. Neller, Message to the Force 2017: “Seize the Initiative,” 7 February 2017.
3. Department of Plans, Policies, and Operations, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps, “Calendar Year (CY) 2017 USMC Operational Highlights Paper,” 25 December 2016.
4. Gidget Fuentes, “First Marine Corps F-35B Squadron Leaves for Japan,” USNI News, 10 January 2017.
5. Neller, 2017 USMC Posture Statement, 9.
6. Shawn Snow, “These Marine in Syria fired more artillery than any battalion since Vietnam,” Marine Corp Times, 6 February 2018.
7. Shawn Snow, “Marine artillery barrage of Raqqa was so intense two howitzers burned out,” Marine Corp Times, 2 November 2017.
8. Shashank Bengali, “The Marines returned to Helmand province. Is their mission a blueprint for Trump’s Afghanistan strategy?” Los Angeles Times, 10 November 2017.
9. Megan Eckstein, “14 Amphibs Tied Up in Maintenance, Exacerbating Shortfall in Available Ships for Marines’ At-Sea Training,” USNI News, 1 December 2017.
10. Neller, 2017 USMC Posture Statement, 9–10.
11. Ibid., 15.
12. Ibid., 7.
13. Jeff Schogol, “First female Marine to graduate from Infantry Officer Course,” Marine Corps Times, 21 September 2017.
14. Jeff Schogol, “Notorious Parris Island drill instructor convicted of abusing recruits,” Marine Corps Times, 9 November 2017.
15. Statement of VADM Paul Grosklags, USN, LGEN Steven Rudder, USMC, and RDML Scott Conn, USN, before the Seapower Subcommittee of the Senate Armed Services Committee on Department of the Navy’s Aviation Programs, 6 March 2018, see Addendum A.
16. Statement of LGEN Rex C. McMillian, USMC, before the House Subcommittee on Marine Corps Readiness, 6 March 2018, 7.
17. Statement of LGEN Robert S. Walsh, USMC; BGEN Joseph Shrader, USMC, and John Garner before the Seapower Subcommittee of the Senate Armed Services Committee on Department of the Navy’s Aviation Programs, 6 June 2017, 7.
18. Neller, 2017 USMC Posture Statement, 11.
19. Statement LGEN Walsh et al., 6 June 2017, 7.
Lieutenant Colonel Hammond, a 1982 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, served in Operation Desert Storm and commanded an artillery battery with the 15th MEU during the amphibious landing into Mogadishu, Somalia, in December 1992. Before retiring in 2005, he was an analyst in Headquarters Marine Corps’ Strategic Initiative Group and director of the Commandant’s Staff Group. He currently works as a DOD analyst and consultant. He won Second Prize—Rising Historian Category in the 2017 CNO Naval History Essay Contest.