A year after taking over as 39th commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. Eric M. Smith is doubling down on the ambitious overhaul plan proposed by his predecessor to transform how the Marine Corps will prepare for and fight a peer adversary like China on a modern battlefield.
In his new Commandant’s Planning Guidance, Gen. Smith said his priorities are ensuring the Corps’ ability to respond to a crisis, the modernization of equipment and weapons, recruiting and retaining Marines, and improving their quality of life.
“Force Design,” originally dubbed Force Design 2030, was published in 2019 by former Commandant Gen. David Berger to mixed reviews, with many traditionalists skeptical of some of its wire-reaching changes. It emphasized a reorientation to amphibious warfare after Marines spent two decades battling terror groups and guerrilla forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. It also meant that the Corps would shed its tanks and more than a dozen cannon artillery units.
Gen. Smith, assistant commandant when Force Design was published, said its implementation throughout the Marine Corps is “well underway.” He acknowledged the Corps has competing requirements — all of which are important but must be balanced by available resources.
“We must continually assess where we are and we must commit our resources in ways that reinforce success,” he wrote. “There are no ‘untouchable programs.’ We will assess each program based on its effectiveness and applicability to the future fight.”
Gen. Smith’s planning guidance was released last week, although the vision statement is typically issued much earlier in the tenure of a new Corps commandant. It was delayed by the standoff with Alabama GOP Sen. Tommy Tuberville over scores of military promotions and the general’s own health issues. Gen. Smith suffered a heart attack in October 2023, barely a month after his nomination was finally confirmed, and spent about five months recuperating.
Force Design has had its nay-sayers. More than retired generals and other senior officers publicly criticized the plan, saying it is overly focused on China and coastal warfare at the expense of other hot spots like the Middle East and Russia. Gen. Smith countered by arguing the Marine Corps must adapt to the changing character of war.
Traditional “big-power” competition, particularly with a rising China in East Asia, is likely to be the prime mission to U.S. military services in the coming decades, the Pentagon believes, not the non-state terror groups such as al Qaeda and the Islamic State that were the prime focus of the global war on terror.
“Regardless of what enemy we fight in the future, we will face friction, uncertainty, chance, and hardship — all enduring elements of violent clashes of will,” Gen. Smith wrote. “The human element of our business will always matter more than the technologies we employ as Marines.”
He said Marines must grasp the lessons learned on battlefields from Ukraine to the Middle East. The Corps should pay special attention to the proliferation of drones and loitering munitions; the difficulty of achieving air superiority as the U.S. had been able to enjoy routinely in the past;, and the increasing deployment of electronic warfare to attack an enemy on the battlefield and in cyberspace.
But the human element remains critical, he added.
“It is essential that we always keep in mind the immutable nature of war: No system we design will reduce the importance of discipline, physical toughness, mental agility of moral strength,” Gen. Smith wrote.
If the Marine Corps is expected to take on China in Asia, more amphibious ships are a necessity. Along with 31 large amphibious vessels that have been mandated by Congress, the Marine Corps wants at least 35 Medium Landing Ships which would enable it to shift troops and equipment throughout the islands where they will operate from across the vast expanses of the Pacific theater.
“Lessons learned from the ongoing Russian and Ukraine conflict highlight the immense logistics and sustainment challenges of a protracted conflict on a modern battlefield. Our Amphibious Warfare Ships (AWS), Maritime Prepositioning Ships, and large quantities of surface connectors are all critical components to using the maritime domain as maneuver space,” Gen. Smith wrote.
Improving the quality of life for the troops is critical if the Marine Corps leadership hopes to convince them to sign on for another tour. The declining conditions in some barracks are the result of years worth of deferred maintenance on Marine Corps bases, Gen. Smith said.
“Solving our problems will require increased funding in facilities sustainment, restoration and modernization, and military construction accounts of several future years’ budget cycles,” Gen. Smith wrote. “While the cost is great, we will accurately and aggressively engage with Congress to see this through.”
• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.
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