{"id":14837,"date":"2020-03-12T06:42:41","date_gmt":"2020-03-12T06:42:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/03\/12\/marine-corps-has-to-get-smaller-to-get-better-commandant-says\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T20:21:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T20:21:15","slug":"marine-corps-has-to-get-smaller-to-get-better-commandant-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2020\/03\/12\/marine-corps-has-to-get-smaller-to-get-better-commandant-says\/","title":{"rendered":"The Marine Corps has \u2018to get smaller to get better,\u2019 commandant says"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The top Marine is building the Corps of 2030 \u2015 but today\u2019s combat operations are siphoning forces for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marinecorpstimes.com\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2019\/10\/04\/marines-not-optimized-for-the-next-great-power-fight-commandant-says-this-is-how-the-corps-will-need-to-change\/\" target=_blank>future fight<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Speaking at a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnas.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">Center for a New American Security<\/a> event Tuesday, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger touched on changes in the size of the Marine Corps, how it trains and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marinecorpstimes.com\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2020\/03\/05\/marine-corps-ship-sinking-missile-headed-for-test-fire\/\" target=\"_blank\">way it fights<\/a> in the coming years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since taking over the post in 2019, Berger issued his Commandant\u2019s Planning Guidance and has hinted at getting rid of some legacy systems and adding new platforms and formations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While the 2021 budget does show initial investments in new weapons, such as ship-sinking missiles and a likely reduction of more than 2,000 Marines, more is in store, he said. At a recent hearing he said that it\u2019s likely there will be further manpower cuts next year and beyond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe have to get smaller to get better,\u201d Berger said at CNAS.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2019\/11\/22\/we-are-the-front-line-how-the-top-marine-wants-the-corps-sinking-ships-shooting-down-planes-and-killing-enemy-forces\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"228\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Berger-cammies.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">\u2018We are the front line\u2019: How the top Marine wants the Corps sinking ships, shooting down planes and killing enemy forces<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">\u201cLow signatures, bad attitudes and toolkits full of disruptive capabilities.\u201d<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The commandant said that the Corps\u2019 current size is larger than it has been in recent decades and it needs to get back to its \u201cfighting weight.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There are more than 186,000 Marines in the ranks today as compared to slightly more than 176,000 Marines before 9\/11.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">None of these decade-out goals are happening in a vacuum. Marines are on the ground around the world, floating in Marine Expeditionary Units on the high seas and dying in combat operations such as the one that took the lives of two Marine Raiders in Iraq on Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While all concepts and analyses point to competition and potential conflict in the Pacific, the Middle East still continues to draw forces, Berger said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That doesn\u2019t stop the U.S. from reaching its goals on dealing with threats from China or Russia, but it can slow down the transition, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Berger said many of the changes he\u2019s proposing and planning take a look at are where the service needs to be in a decade and working back from that point. That\u2019s mostly an attempt to avoid a \u201cwhipsaw\u201d approach to drastic changes in manpower or programs that\u2019s caused problems in the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And those changes likely would have come from his predecessors had they not been immersed in the high deployment cycle of combat in both Iraq and Afghanistan, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He also credited his time serving in the Pacific before becoming commandant, which included multiple, high-level, war gaming scenarios that signaled future problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf we don\u2019t change it\u2019s going to be ugly somewhere in 6-7-8-9 years,\u201d Berger said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While some schools of thought have looked ever more sophisticated long range weapons and standoff to prevent the Chinese military or other adversaries from striking U.S. interests, Berger said that ignores everything in between, especially allies who expect a U.S. presence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And Berger has categorized Marines, in their expeditionary role, as the \u201cstand-in forces\u201d that will exploit areas inside the bubble of an adversary\u2019s weapons engagement zone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But for those tactical forces, the next fight won\u2019t look like the counterinsurgency fight that their leaders experienced, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One example, Berger noted, was the over reliance on comprehensive knowledge of the battle space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe fell in love with situational awareness, like we couldn\u2019t do anything without it,\u201d Berger said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But in the future, when jamming and network attacks might mean degraded communications, the commandant said he thinks \u201cjunior leaders are going to operate faster and senior leaders are going to be nervous.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And that can be seen in something as seemingly simple as striking a target.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Current methods in counterinsurgency or counter terrorism operations mean a long list of approvals that go all the way up and back down a chain of command.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That\u2019s necessary in the limited strikes with civilians in danger but it\u2019s far too slow and too cautious for a large scale combat scenario.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThat\u2019s not realistic in a dynamic fight at all,\u201d Berger said. \u201cWe have to change our behavior and accept that there\u2019s going to be collateral damage, there\u2019s going to be civilian casualties.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Even training will have to change in light of a sensor-filled globe and an always watching adversary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt wasn\u2019t long ago we could take the whole joint force out to Alaska or China Lake and nobody could see what you were doing,\u201d Berger said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That\u2019s no longer the case. So, a lot more training will have to be done \u2018out of sight.\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The top Marine is building the Corps of 2030.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":33954,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":69,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"2":{"categories":["your-military","news"],"primary_category":"your-military"}}},"categories":[101,23,92,93,12,25,69],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3396],"class_list":["post-14837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-home","category-left-column","category-middle-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-your-marine-corps"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"E56RNK5BHJGSLEPNJWEAWLIA6I","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2020\/03\/12\/marine-corps-has-to-get-smaller-to-get-better-commandant-says\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - 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