Hey guys, due to the vast number of current and former Jarheads here I thought I would post this link regarding a Marine Corps. idea to let the Army handle Iraq and the Corps. handle Afghanistan.
I have been out for awhile but I think I like this idea. Let the Army do what it does best and let the Marines do what they do best.
The Army handle a sustained conflict, the Marines handle an area where small unit tactics and more closely knit task force would work.
I thought that most of our Afgan forces were mostly special forces units anyway. Does it really matter the branch of service?
I’ve read a couple of articles on it. There are proponents on both sides, and it should help the deployment scheduling.
It will be interesting to see how ADM Mullen handles this.
It certainly would help the morale or Army units stationed with Marines. I went through 4 different crops of Marines during my 16 month tour!
Isn’t that kinda what happened in WWII? I know in history we read largely of Army units in the European theatre with Marine units in the Pacific. I can see where this idea could help, especially in Iraq. However if this idea does go forth, I hope that the Pentagon doesn’t set it in stone. In other words, if the Army needs help in Iraq I hope that they will let the Marines help. And if the Marines need help in A-stan let the Army help. I hope they don’t develop the attitude of no the Marines are responsible of A-stan and A-stan only, or the Army can’t go to A-stan because they are only responsible for the Iraq district.
I have always felt business in Afghanistan/Pakistan should have been completed before we invaded Iraq. Guess the finally got the memo.
That’s the best, most COMMON SENSE, thing I have heard come from the military in a long time. The Marines would do a great job. It would also free up the Army SF and AF Sec Ops guys that are needed for missions in Iraq. Only problem is the military never does anything that has common sense in the answer.
The Marine Infantry is one of the best light infantry forces in the world. It makes sense to send them to somewhere like A-Stan for obvious reasons. Marine Infantry is probably one of the worst peace keeping forces in the world, so again, it makes sense.
That was a thought provoking read. Whatever happens, Lefties will try to jerry-rig the swap into some sort of cutback on troop levels.
I think Marines and the Army for that matter could do just fine in Iraq if politicians would just leave everyone alone. Prior to WWII, the Marine Corps waged very successful counter-insurgency conflicts in Haiti/Dominican Republic. Marines ran the CAP (?) program in Vietnam where rifle platoons would actually move into villages and live there, escorting farmers to the market so they wouldn’t get jacked by the VC. With the USMC, the emphasis is always on the hell for leather stuff against japan, but we can do COIN too, if people let us.
Would Marines rather do conventional operations - yes! I can speak from experience that turning Marines into cops is a frustrating and time consuming experience. Can we do it? Absolutely. But it is SUCH a pain to have to hold everyone’s little hand and win their hearts and minds.
I think we’ll win in Iraq when we get the Iraqi Army up and running. Screw the police force. We need a bunch of guys who are uprooted and shifted around so tribal loyalties are null and void, lead by someone we can control, to wreak brutal violence against the bad guys in true Arab, geneva-free style.
We’ll win in Afghanistan when we invade Pakistan. If they get nuked by India or have a civil war while we’re turning the mountains upside down, big whoop. The way we are fighting both conflicts is a colossal waste of time.
I have no idea why the Joint Chiefs haven’t called me yet.
But it is SUCH a pain to have to hold everyone’s little hand and win their hearts and minds.
Get used to it. Gen. Krulak saw a long time ago that doing such things is the future of land warfare.