{"id":37270,"date":"2019-07-19T18:00:07","date_gmt":"2019-07-19T18:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/07\/19\/marine-commandant-drops-38-amphibious-ship-requirement\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T20:39:48","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T20:39:48","slug":"marine-commandant-drops-38-amphibious-ship-requirement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2019\/07\/19\/marine-commandant-drops-38-amphibious-ship-requirement\/","title":{"rendered":"Marine commandant drops 38 amphibious ships to the fight requirement"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Corps has held steadfast for nearly a decade on its requirement for 38 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marinecorpstimes.com\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2018\/01\/09\/set-up-to-fail-marines-dont-have-enough-ships-to-train-for-a-real-amphibious-assault\/\" target=_blank>amphibious ships <\/a>to haul Marines and gear to the fight \u2014 now the new top Marine says that\u2019s no longer the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. David Berger dropped that requirement, noting that Marines storming a beachhead from an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marinecorpstimes.com\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2019\/01\/31\/the-corps-strapped-a-new-counter-drone-system-to-the-deck-of-a-warship-transiting-the-suez-canal-heres-why\/\" target=\"_blank\">armada<\/a> parked nine nautical miles offshore in the South China Sea was \u201cimpractical and unreasonable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Berger\u2019s remarks on the amphib ship requirement were made in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hqmc.marines.mil\/Portals\/142\/Docs\/%2038th%20Commandant's%20Planning%20Guidance_2019.pdf?ver=2019-07-16-200152-700\" target=_blank>planning guidance <\/a>document he posted late Tuesday evening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe must accept the realities created by the proliferation of precision long-range fires, mines, and other smart-weapons, and seek innovative ways to overcome those threat capabilities,\u201d Berger wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That doesn\u2019t mean Marines won\u2019t be storming beaches or capturing enemy airfields and territory, but the Corps will need to work out smarter solutions to how it engages in a fight with more capable adversaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A new ongoing force structure assessment would help inform the Corps on the \u201cadequate numbers of the right types of ships,&#8221; Berger said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Corps, he said, would look at a number \u201cdifferent approaches\u201d from long range unmanned systems that can move 200 nautical miles and \u201ccreate dilemmas\u201d to mine countermeasures.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2019\/05\/06\/marines-prep-to-hit-the-beach-but-need-more-ships-from-the-navy\/\" 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=\"173\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Amphib-cover.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\">Marines prep to hit the beach (but need more ships from the Navy)<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">A maintenance backlog and procurement delays for amphibious ships and connectors threaten to hamper the Corps\u2019 ability to fight at sea and prepare itself to confront a rising China.<\/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 number and availability of amphibs has been a contentious issue for the Corps over the years, especially as the Corps has been pushing further naval integration and Marine Expeditionary Force, or MEF, level warfare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The March Pacific Blitz exercise off the coast of California pitted nearly 5,000 Marines and sailors against a near-peer competitor in the Pacific Ocean and involved at least four Navy ships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It was an example of the kinds of large scale amphibious operations the Corps is trying to train for as the force moves beyond counterinsurgency conflicts \u2014 but the availability of amphib ships has been a problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A 2017 Government Accountability Office blasted the Navy for not fulfilling most of the Corps\u2019 requests for amphibious ships for training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John M. Richardson and then-Marine Commandant Gen. Robert Neller just testified in April before lawmakers about the need for a 38 amphib fleet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe still have a requirement for 38 amphib ships, we believe 12 big decks and 26 LPD [amphibious transport dock] similar whole forms. And so we would like to get to 38 ships,\u201d Neller told lawmakers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But there have been other issues too, notably a maintenance backlog for amphibious ships<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI believe the Navy has a backlog and a number of platforms for maintenance. So, yes, we are concerned about the availability of these platforms,\u201d Neller, told lawmakers April 10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But Neller also noted there needed to be a balance of the right kinds of ships, because without attack submarines the Corps will not be able to get its forces to the beach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cObviously, we believe that amphibs obviously are critically important to Marines, but submarines are important to Marines too because if we don\u2019t have submarines we\u2019re not going to get to the fight,\u201d Neller said in April.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Corps is now no longer tied to the 38 amphib requirement and will be looking at a range of solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe will build one force \u2015 optimized for naval expeditionary warfare in contested spaces, purpose-built to facilitate sea denial and assured access in support of the fleets,\u201d Berger wrote.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. David Berger said that Marines storming a beachhead from an armada parked nine nautical miles offshore in the South China Sea was \u201cimpractical and unreasonable.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":27199,"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":88,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[29,116,117,15,88],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3472],"class_list":["post-37270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-home","category-left-column","category-middle-column","category-news","category-your-military"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"M2ZS6BJZEBCU3A2IKPCBP3LPY4","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2019\/07\/19\/marine-commandant-drops-38-amphibious-ship-requirement\/","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>Marine commandant drops 38 amphibious ships to the fight requirement - Military Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. David Berger said that Marines storming a beachhead from an armada parked nine nautical miles offshore in the South China Sea was \u201cimpractical and unreasonable.\u201d\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2019\/07\/19\/marine-commandant-drops-38-amphibious-ship-requirement\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Marine commandant drops 38 amphibious ships to the fight requirement\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. David Berger said that Marines storming a beachhead from an armada parked nine nautical miles offshore in the South China Sea was \u201cimpractical and unreasonable.\u201d\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2019\/07\/19\/marine-commandant-drops-38-amphibious-ship-requirement\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Military Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-07-19T18:00:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T20:39:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Shawn Snow\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Shawn Snow\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/news\\\/your-military\\\/2019\\\/07\\\/19\\\/marine-commandant-drops-38-amphibious-ship-requirement\\\/#article\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/news\\\/your-military\\\/2019\\\/07\\\/19\\\/marine-commandant-drops-38-amphibious-ship-requirement\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"author\": {\n\t                \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"headline\": \"Marine commandant drops 38 amphibious ships to the fight requirement\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2019-07-19T18:00:07+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T20:39:48+00:00\",\n\t            \"mainEntityOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/news\\\/your-military\\\/2019\\\/07\\\/19\\\/marine-commandant-drops-38-amphibious-ship-requirement\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"wordCount\": 555,\n\t            \"commentCount\": 0,\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/news\\\/your-military\\\/2019\\\/07\\\/19\\\/marine-commandant-drops-38-amphibious-ship-requirement\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/AP19139113652176.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"articleSection\": [\n\t                \"Home\",\n\t                \"Left Column\",\n\t                \"Middle Column\",\n\t                \"News\",\n\t                \"Your Military\"\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"CommentAction\",\n\t                    \"name\": \"Comment\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/news\\\/your-military\\\/2019\\\/07\\\/19\\\/marine-commandant-drops-38-amphibious-ship-requirement\\\/#respond\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/news\\\/your-military\\\/2019\\\/07\\\/19\\\/marine-commandant-drops-38-amphibious-ship-requirement\\\/\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/news\\\/your-military\\\/2019\\\/07\\\/19\\\/marine-commandant-drops-38-amphibious-ship-requirement\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Marine commandant drops 38 amphibious ships to the fight requirement - Military Times\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/#website\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"primaryImageOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/news\\\/your-military\\\/2019\\\/07\\\/19\\\/marine-commandant-drops-38-amphibious-ship-requirement\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/news\\\/your-military\\\/2019\\\/07\\\/19\\\/marine-commandant-drops-38-amphibious-ship-requirement\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/AP19139113652176.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2019-07-19T18:00:07+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T20:39:48+00:00\",\n\t            \"description\": \"The Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. David Berger said that Marines storming a beachhead from an armada parked nine nautical miles offshore in the South China Sea was \u201cimpractical and unreasonable.\u201d\",\n\t            \"breadcrumb\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/news\\\/your-military\\\/2019\\\/07\\\/19\\\/marine-commandant-drops-38-amphibious-ship-requirement\\\/#breadcrumb\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ReadAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/news\\\/your-military\\\/2019\\\/07\\\/19\\\/marine-commandant-drops-38-amphibious-ship-requirement\\\/\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/news\\\/your-military\\\/2019\\\/07\\\/19\\\/marine-commandant-drops-38-amphibious-ship-requirement\\\/#primaryimage\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/AP19139113652176.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/AP19139113652176.jpg.jpg\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"BreadcrumbList\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/news\\\/your-military\\\/2019\\\/07\\\/19\\\/marine-commandant-drops-38-amphibious-ship-requirement\\\/#breadcrumb\",\n\t            \"itemListElement\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 1,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Home\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"home\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 2,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Your Military\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/news\\\/your-military\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"your-military\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 3,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Marine commandant drops 38 amphibious ships to the fight requirement\"\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebSite\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/#website\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Military Times\",\n\t            \"description\": \"Independent News About Your Military | Military Times\",\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"SearchAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"EntryPoint\",\n\t                        \"urlTemplate\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"\n\t                    },\n\t                    \"query-input\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"PropertyValueSpecification\",\n\t                        \"valueRequired\": true,\n\t                        \"valueName\": \"search_term_string\"\n\t                    }\n\t                }\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Organization\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/#organization\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Military Times\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/\",\n\t            \"logo\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/military-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/military-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"Military Times\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"\n\t            }\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Person\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\",\n\t            \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"migration\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/militarytimes\\\/author\\\/migration\\\/\"\n\t        }\n\t    ]\n\t}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Marine commandant drops 38 amphibious ships to the fight requirement - Military Times","description":"The Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. David Berger said that Marines storming a beachhead from an armada parked nine nautical miles offshore in the South China Sea was \u201cimpractical and unreasonable.\u201d","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2019\/07\/19\/marine-commandant-drops-38-amphibious-ship-requirement\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Marine commandant drops 38 amphibious ships to the fight requirement","og_description":"The Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. David Berger said that Marines storming a beachhead from an armada parked nine nautical miles offshore in the South China Sea was \u201cimpractical and unreasonable.\u201d","og_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2019\/07\/19\/marine-commandant-drops-38-amphibious-ship-requirement\/","og_site_name":"Military Times","article_published_time":"2019-07-19T18:00:07+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-08T20:39:48+00:00","author":"Shawn Snow","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Shawn Snow","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2019\/07\/19\/marine-commandant-drops-38-amphibious-ship-requirement\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2019\/07\/19\/marine-commandant-drops-38-amphibious-ship-requirement\/"},"author":{"name":"migration","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1"},"headline":"Marine commandant drops 38 amphibious ships to the fight requirement","datePublished":"2019-07-19T18:00:07+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T20:39:48+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2019\/07\/19\/marine-commandant-drops-38-amphibious-ship-requirement\/"},"wordCount":555,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2019\/07\/19\/marine-commandant-drops-38-amphibious-ship-requirement\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19139113652176.jpg.jpg","articleSection":["Home","Left Column","Middle Column","News","Your Military"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2019\/07\/19\/marine-commandant-drops-38-amphibious-ship-requirement\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2019\/07\/19\/marine-commandant-drops-38-amphibious-ship-requirement\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2019\/07\/19\/marine-commandant-drops-38-amphibious-ship-requirement\/","name":"Marine commandant drops 38 amphibious ships to the fight requirement - Military Times","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2019\/07\/19\/marine-commandant-drops-38-amphibious-ship-requirement\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2019\/07\/19\/marine-commandant-drops-38-amphibious-ship-requirement\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19139113652176.jpg.jpg","datePublished":"2019-07-19T18:00:07+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T20:39:48+00:00","description":"The Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. David Berger said that Marines storming a beachhead from an armada parked nine nautical miles offshore in the South China Sea was \u201cimpractical and unreasonable.\u201d","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2019\/07\/19\/marine-commandant-drops-38-amphibious-ship-requirement\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2019\/07\/19\/marine-commandant-drops-38-amphibious-ship-requirement\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2019\/07\/19\/marine-commandant-drops-38-amphibious-ship-requirement\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19139113652176.jpg.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19139113652176.jpg.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2019\/07\/19\/marine-commandant-drops-38-amphibious-ship-requirement\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/","ad_zone":"home"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Your Military","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/","ad_zone":"your-military"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Marine commandant drops 38 amphibious ships to the fight requirement"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/#website","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/","name":"Military Times","description":"Independent News About Your Military | Military Times","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/#organization","name":"Military Times","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/military-logo-white.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/military-logo-white.png","caption":"Military Times"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1","name":"migration","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"migration"},"url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/author\/migration\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP19139113652176.jpg.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Military Times","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37270","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37270"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37270\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":157555,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37270\/revisions\/157555"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37270"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=37270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}