{"id":30019,"date":"2022-06-01T14:50:31","date_gmt":"2022-06-01T14:50:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2022\/06\/01\/the-marine-corps-debate-with-current-and-retired-generals-is-amusing-but-dangerous\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T05:36:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T05:36:19","slug":"the-marine-corps-debate-with-current-and-retired-generals-is-amusing-but-dangerous","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/opinion\/2022\/06\/01\/the-marine-corps-debate-with-current-and-retired-generals-is-amusing-but-dangerous\/","title":{"rendered":"The Marine Corps\u2019 debate with its generals is amusing, but dangerous"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Marine Corps generals of the past recently communicated concerns about the current Marine Commandant Gen. David H. Berger and his tactical reorganization of the force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Two relevant quotes illustrate their arguments:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2022 \u201cI\u2019m saddened beyond belief knowing that our Marine Corps soon will no longer be the ready combined-arms force that our nation has long depended upon when its interests were threatened. It will be a force <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marinecorpstimes.com\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2021\/03\/22\/goodbye-tanks-how-the-marine-corps-will-change-and-what-it-will-lose-by-ditching-its-armor\/\">shorn of all its tanks<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marinecorpstimes.com\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2022\/03\/15\/this-is-why-north-carolina-marines-fired-cannons-off-the-coast\/\">76% of its cannon artillery<\/a>, and with 41% <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marinecorpstimes.com\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2021\/02\/03\/storied-marine-infantry-regiment-deactivated-as-corps-carries-on-with-force-design\/\">fewer Marines in its infantry battalions<\/a>. To make the situation even worse, there will be 33% fewer aircraft available to support riflemen on the ground\u2026 Marines, how could we let this happen?\u201d \u2015 Gen. Paul Van Riper <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marinecorpstimes.com\/opinion\/commentary\/2022\/03\/21\/jeopardizing-national-security-what-is-happening-to-our-marine-corps\/\" target=\"_blank\">in Marine Corps Times<\/a> March 21, 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2022 \u201cThe U.S. Marine Corps is undertaking a top-to-bottom restructuring called <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hqmc.marines.mil\/Portals\/142\/Docs\/CMC38%20Force%20Design%202030%20Report%20Phase%20I%20and%20II.pdf?ver=2020-03-26-121328-460\">Force Design 2030.<\/a> The move is well-intended, but we believe it is wrong. It will make the Marines less capable of countering threats from unsettled and dangerous corners of the world \u2026 The national security ramifications of reducing the capabilities of our nation\u2019s most ready, agile and flexible force are seismic.\u201d \u2015 Charles Krulak, Jack Sheehan and Anthony Zinni in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/opinions\/2022\/04\/22\/marines-restructuring-plan-scrutiny-generals\/\" target=\"_blank\">The Washington Post,<\/a> April 22, 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The conversation about the military\u2019s tactical composition between a group of past and current generals is amusing, but in many ways dangerous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There is a critical fact hidden from the debate: Not a single general officer in the current conversation has won a war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What if we allow ourselves to reexamine the problem?<\/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\/opinion\/2022\/03\/21\/jeopardizing-national-security-what-is-happening-to-our-marine-corps\/\" 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=\"196\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/uncheon-base-camp-south-korealt-gen-dwayne-gray-commanding-general-fleet-marine-01aeb4-640.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\">Jeopardizing national security: What is happening to our Marine Corps?<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">One retired 3-star says he is &quot;saddened beyond belief&quot; knowing the Corps won&#039;t soon be &quot;the ready combined-arms force that our nation has long depended upon.&quot;<\/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 military compels an enemy\u2019s acceptance of political objectives through violence. It is a national instrument used by America\u2019s representatives. Thus, the military\u2019s purpose can never be isolated from political objectives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When politicians set war objectives, military leaders should be held responsible for accomplishing those objectives. Wars are won and lost in the seam between the National Security Council and the general officer-led combatant commands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Continued focus on the tactical level, with unnecessary emphasis on the junior service member only deflects from the true source of repeated failure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Following Vietnam, Marine Corps generals were quick to point to the draft and drugs as the source of the war\u2019s failure. Reference Commandant Gen. Louis H. Wilson\u2019s post-war focus on raising standards for the junior service member.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But often forgotten in the revisionist version of history are the inabilities of the military generals to implement military strategy capable of achieving political objectives within the restraints of the Vietnam campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For example, Khe Sanh was at one point a critical piece of terrain on the Ho Chi Minh trail, worth sacrificing thousands of lives to disrupt the flow of NVA weapons, troops and supplies. Then suddenly and unceremoniously the generals deemed the terrain irrelevant despite heavy sacrifices from the junior service members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Failures to achieve political objectives can also be observed in smaller campaigns since Vietnam such as Beirut, Kosovo, Somalia, Libya and Syria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The American military succeeds on the tactical level, but consistently falls short of the objectives laid forth by politicians without accountability for military leadership. ISIS and the Taliban are only the most recent reminders of our military leadership\u2019s inability to achieve political objectives even after decades of chances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As if the pattern wouldn\u2019t be identified, following the failures in Iraq and Afghanistan, the generals again raised the standards on the junior service member utilizing the same post-Vietnam justification: ensuring our military will succeed in a future conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Despite a long list of failures since Vietnam, senior military leaders have not been held accountable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Currently, military generals fail to achieve political objectives, while absolving themselves of responsibility by deflecting blame toward junior service members, politicians and adjacent foreign diplomacy departments. Reference Gen. Frank McKenzie\u2019s excuse in his Congressional testimony when asked why the Afghanistan evacuation was a failure. These excuses cannot be tolerated much longer without great risk to the American people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">George Marshall prior to World War II reformed the Army by firing complacent and apathetic general officers. In many ways, Eisenhower\u2019s assentation and the victory of World War II are a result of Marshall\u2019s \u201cforce design.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Marines don\u2019t need generals of the Vietnam era illustrating tactical level focused requirements. Marines don\u2019t need current generals raising the standards of junior enlisted. Marines need a George Marshall type of leader with the insight to identify the true source of our repeated failures. A leader who will confront, reform and change the culture of a failing organization by holding senior leaders accountable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Van Riper asked, \u201cHow could we let this happen?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">My counterquestion would be, \u201cDoes a tactical observation of the problem address how we change the culture of a losing organization?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Van Riper\u2019s asset focused argument didn\u2019t win his war in Vietnam. And it didn\u2019t win my wars in Iraq or Afghanistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Leadership establishes culture \u2015 and accountability is the bedrock of leadership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But when I study the problem, ironically, I arrive at the same conclusion as Van Riper, \u201chow could we let this happen?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller, resigned, is author of, <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Crisis-Command-Confidence-Americas-Politicians\/dp\/1637585446\" target=\"_blank\"><i>\u201cCrisis of Command,\u201d <\/i><\/a><i>set to be released on Sept. 6.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>This article is an Op-Ed and as such, the opinions expressed are those of the authors. If you would like to respond, or have an editorial of your own you would like to submit, please <\/i><a href=\"mailto:ascott@militarytimes.com\"><i>email Military Times Editor Andrea Scott<\/i><\/a><i>.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>Want more perspectives like this sent straight to you? <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/link.militarytimes.com\/join\/5b9\/sign-up-opinion\"><i>Subscribe to get our Commentary &amp; Opinion newsletter<\/i><\/a><i> once a week.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Stuart Scheller has a different answer for the current fight over the direction of the Corps.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":31372,"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":17,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"6":{"categories":["your-marine-corps","news","opinion","left-column","home"],"primary_category":"your-marine-corps"}}},"categories":[29,116,17],"tags":[],"coauthors":[6148],"class_list":["post-30019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-home","category-left-column","category-opinion"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"3DRSOXRZTBHIZFJ6WXSDUMX4IE","arc_canonical_url":"\/opinion\/2022\/06\/01\/the-marine-corps-debate-with-current-and-retired-generals-is-amusing-but-dangerous\/","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) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Marine Corps\u2019 debate with its generals is amusing, but dangerous - Military Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Stuart Scheller has a different answer for the current fight over the direction of the Corps.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Marine Corps\u2019 debate with its generals is amusing, but dangerous\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Stuart Scheller has a different answer for the current fight over the direction of the Corps.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/opinion\/2022\/06\/01\/the-marine-corps-debate-with-current-and-retired-generals-is-amusing-but-dangerous\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Military Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-06-01T14:50:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T05:36:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lt. 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