Eying the Pentagon, Gates considers three changes

[unhappycamper]

Eying the Pentagon, Gates considers three changes
Walter Pincus
Washignton Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, August 17, 2010

If you need further guidance about how far Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates is preparing to go in his effort to change the Pentagon culture and to cap spending, take a look at three new targets he identified last week that have all been "third rail" issues for his predecessors.

Last Thursday, before San Francisco's Marines' Memorial Association, Gates raised questions about the Marine Corps' future and said he had ordered the new commandant, Gen. James Amos, and Navy Secretary Ray Mabus to define "the unique mission of the Marines going forward."

He said it after noting that the Corps had become "too heavy," having functioned in Iraq and Afghanistan "as a so-called second land army." The issue, he said, was going back to the Marines' unique capability for amphibious operations, having assault ships that can provide platforms to project forces across water and into countries.

Even so, while noting the ships are useful for humanitarian efforts, Gates questioned how many are needed when wartime enemies can have accurate and long-range anti-ship missiles that would require disembarking up to 60 miles offshore.

This isn't the first time the Marine Corps mission will be questioned and studied. Gates pointed out that in the inter-service rivalries after World War II, Congress, influenced by Marine Corps veterans, passed legislation that put into federal law the Marines' mission. "The only service to do so," he added. It might have to happen again.



unhappycamper comment: It's important to note that the United States Navy currently have another $5+ billion dollar destroyer AND a new Ford-class $40 billion dollar aircraft carrier under construction. $45 billion dollars worth of target barges.