scoutsout80
03-23-2010, 07:03 PM
Before The House Armed Services Committee On The 2010 Posture of The United
States Marine Corps, February 24, 2010 |
We believe that Americans expect their Marines to be ready to respond when our
country is threatened; to arrive on the scene on short notice anywhere in the
world via the amphibious ships of the United States Navy, as was necessary when
a disastrous earthquake recently struck Haiti; and to fight and win our Nation's
battles. The public invests greatly in the Marine Corps. In turn, our commitment
is to uphold their special trust and confidence and provide them the best return
on their investment.
Overview
* Your Marine Corps is a young force that provides great value to the Nation.
The average age of a Marine is 25 years old, and almost half of the enlisted
force - just under 85,000 Marines - is between the ranks of private and lance
corporal (pay grades E1 - E3). The ratio of officers to enlisted Marines is 1:9
- the lowest of all the services. Nearly 30,000 Marines are forward deployed,
forward based, or on training exercises around the world.
* The majority of your Marines joined the Corps after our Nation was already at
war. They expect to train, deploy, and fight because that is what they believe
Marines are supposed to do. To date, 73 percent of the available Marines have
deployed in support of IRAQI FREEDOM and ENDURING FREEDOM, or other operational
commitments around the globe.
* These deployments have not adversely affected the resiliency of the force. The
Marine Corps continues to recruit and retain the highest quality people. Your
Marines want to make a difference; they understand being a Marine means
deploying and fighting our Nation's battles. The highest morale in the Corps
resides in those units posted in Afghanistan.
* For 6.5 percent of the baseline 2010 Defense budget, the Marine Corps
provides:
* 17 percent of the Nation's active ground combat maneuver units
* 12 percent of the Nation's fixed wing tactical aircraft
* 19 percent of the Nation's attack helicopters
* The Marine Corps is the only general-purpose force in the Department of
Defense that is trained and equipped as the Nation's first responders.
* Our near-term focus is on:
* The current fight in Afghanistan and the responsible drawdown in Iraq
* Readiness <http://www.quantico.usmc.mil/display.aspx?Section=MRB> and reset
of equipment
* Modernization of the Marine Air Ground Task Force (MAGTF)
* Preparing for the next contingency and the uncertainties of the future
* Our enduring priorities are to:
* Provide the Nation a naval expeditionary force fully prepared for employment
as a MAGTF across the spectrum of operations
* Be the most ready when the Nation is least ready
* Provide for our Marines and their families
Iraq And Afghanistan
* Operation IRAQI FREEDOM. Since testimony before your committee last year, the
Marine Corps has transferred authority for Anbar Province to the U.S. Army and
is near completion of a responsible drawdown from Iraq.
* From 2003-2009, our force levels in Iraq averaged 25,000 Marines. As of
February 19, 2010, there were 159 Marines in Iraq. By spring of this year, our
mission in Iraq will be complete and your Marines will redeploy.
* Operation ENDURING FREEDOM. Your Marines have already had success and have
made a difference in some of the toughest regions of Afghanistan.
* By March 2010, there will be more than 18,500 Marines in Afghanistan, and by
mid- April, that number will grow to a robust MAGTF of 19,400 personnel with
equipment, and will be commanded by a Marine two-star general.
Personnel <http://www.quantico.usmc.mil/display.aspx?Section=IPAC>
* Endstrength. Current authorized endstrength is 202,100 Marines in the active
component and 39,600 Marines in the Selected Reserve <http://www.quantico.usmc.mil/display.aspx?Section=RSU>
. After completing our growth last year, we are continuing to shape the force
with the right mix of units, grades, and occupational specialties. Also, our
personnel growth has outpaced growth in infrastructure, and your continued
support is needed to provide the additional barracks, messing, and office spaces
required.
* Recruiting. In fiscal year 2009, we exceeded goals in numbers and standards
for the active component and the Selected Reserve <http://www.quantico.usmc.mil/display.aspx?Section=RSU>
. The active component accessed 31,413 personnel, and the Selected Reserve
<http://www.quantico.usmc.mil/display.aspx?Section=RSU> accessed 9,627
personnel. Including the active and reserve components, the high school
graduation rate of our recruits exceeded 98 percent.
* Reenlistments. In fiscal year 2009:
* 8,011 first-term Marines reenlisted - 109.2 percent of the goal.
* 7,985 subsequent-term Marines reenlisted - 107 percent of the goal.
* Reservists. As of January 2010, there were 39,164 Marines in the Selected
Reserve <http://www.quantico.usmc.mil/display.aspx?Section=RSU> and another
55,233 in the Inactive Ready Reserve <http://www.quantico.usmc.mil/display.aspx?Section=RSU>
. Marine Forces Reserve <http://www.quantico.usmc.mil/display.aspx?Section=RSU>
includes 183 training centers in 48 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto
Rico. The contributions of our reserve have been invaluable.
* Suicide Prevention. In 2009, your Corps lost 52 Marines who died by suicide -
this is shocking and unacceptable. This issue has my personal attention, and we
have multiple programs at work to reverse this trend. To date, we have been
unable to establish a direct correlation between deployments and suicides.
However, multiple stressors are typically present in a suicide.
* Families. Our baseline budget in fiscal years 2010 and 2011 for family
programs is $399 million per year. We have reformed our family readiness
programs at every level of command at all of our installations. In summary, we
believe that investing in military families is critical to the long-term health
of the institution.
* Wounded Warriors. About 9,000 Marines have been injured or fallen seriously
ill while serving in support of Operations <http://www.quantico.usmc.mil/display.aspx?Section=G3>
IRAQI FREEDOM or ENDURING FREEDOM. We are deeply committed to their care as well
as the welfare of their families.
* We are investing $50 million for the construction of resource and recovery
centers, which will provide spaces for counseling, physical therapy, employment
support, financial management, and other programs for our wounded.
* Our Wounded Warrior Regiment has contacted 99.4 percent of all Marines (7,654
out of 7,703) who were wounded since 9/11, in order to determine their health
status. We also maintain a toll-free number to the medical center in Landstuhl,
Germany for families to contact their loved ones who have been wounded.
Equipment
* Situation. Out of necessity, we have sourced equipment globally, taking from
non-deployed units and strategic programs to support our forces in theater. As a
result, our non-deployed units do not have the required amount of equipment they
need to train or support other contingencies.
o For example, while the overall supply rating of Marine Corps units in
Afghanistan is near 100 percent, the supply rating of units at home station is
less than 60 percent. Additional equipment is being procured with supplemental
funds, but it is slow to arrive due to long lead times and deliberate production
rates.
* Shortfalls. The distributed and decentralized nature of operations in Iraq and
Afghanistan has shown us that our legacy, 20th century tables of equipment are
significantly inadequate. The required type and number of ground vehicles,
radios, and other major end item equipment have increased greatly.
o Our preliminary estimates indicate that the cost of restructuring the Marine
Corps' tables of equipment would be $5 billion over FY 2012 through FY 2015.
* Equipment Reset. The tempo of operations through more than eight years of
combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan has accelerated the wear and tear on
equipment. Moreover, the diversion of equipment in theater from Iraq to
Afghanistan has delayed reset actions at our logistics depots in the United
States.
o Based upon the Marine Corps current analysis, our estimated reset cost is $8
billion. The $8 billion consists of $3 billion requested in the FY11 OCO and an
additional long term reset liability of $5 billion upon termination of the
conflict.
* The Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV) is the number one modernization
program in the ground combat element of the MAGTF. The requirements of the
current and future security environment have driven the research and development
of the critical capabilities associated with the EFV. The Marine Corps has not
taken a myopic view of the EFV; we are well aware of the fiscal realities and
developmental challenges associated with such a revolutionary vehicle. We are
convinced, however, that our Nation's security demands the capabilities of the
EFV and justifies the costs.
* The Joint Strike Fighter is our number one aviation modernization program.
Although our investment in this program may seem high, it is important to note
that the Marine Corps has not bought a fixed-wing tactical aircraft in 11 years,
and that the Joint Strike Fighter will ultimately replace three different types
of aircraft currently in our inventory - the AV-8 Harrier, F/A-18 Hornet, and
EA-6 Prowler.
* The Osprey. We are very pleased with the performance of the tilt-rotor MV-22
Osprey. Osprey squadrons have completed three successful deployments to Iraq and
one aboard ship. One squadron is currently in Afghanistan. We are nearing
delivery of our 100th operational aircraft, and at our current build of 30
Ospreys per year, we are replacing our CH-46E medium-lift helicopter squadrons
at a rate of two squadrons per year.
Vision
* 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review. We believe the report from the Quadrennial
Defense Review offers an accurate and informed analysis of the challenges in the
future security environment, particularly with respect to growing complexity of
hybrid threats and the spread of advanced anti-access capabilities.
o We agree with the need for a U.S. military that is balanced in capabilities
for irregular warfare and conventional conflict. For the Marine Corps, we have
always believed in such a balance. Our equipment and major programs, and our
means of employment as an integrated MAGTF, reflect our commitment to be
flexible in the face of uncertainty. One hundred percent of our procurement can
be employed either in a hybrid conflict or in conventional combat.
* A Force in Readiness <http://www.quantico.usmc.mil/display.aspx?Section=MRB> .
The Marine Corps is a force in readiness. Although we have been successful in
our assigned mission as a second land army in Iraq and Afghanistan, that success
has come at the price of degraded readiness for our designed missions. Upon the
termination of conflict, the Marine Corps seeks to rejoin the Navy aboard
amphibious ships.
* The Navy-Marine Corps Team. The current transnational struggle against violent
extremism will not end anytime soon. Other threats - conventional and irregular
- will continue to emerge and the complexity of the future operating environment
will only increase. We believe that as the security environment grows more
complex, so does the value of amphibious forces and the Navy-Marine Corps Team.
* Seabasing. Seabasing is the establishment of a mobile port, airfield, and
replenishment capability at sea that supports operations ashore. Seabasing moves
traditional land-based logistics functions offshore. With oceans comprising
about 70 percent of the earth's surface and the world's populations located
primarily on the coasts, seabasing allows our Nation to conduct crucial joint
operations from the sea.
* Seabasing - Maritime Prepositioning Force (MPF) Enhancements. Critical to
seabasing are the logistics vessels of the Maritime Prepositioning Force. As
discussed in the Long-Range <http://www.quantico.usmc.mil/display.aspx?Section=Range>
Plan for Naval Vessels, we have restructured our Maritime Prepositioned Force
(Future) program and will enhance the current capabilities of each of our three
existing Maritime Preposition Force Squadrons.
* Expeditionary Operations <http://www.quantico.usmc.mil/display.aspx?Section=G3>
in the Littoral Domain. The littoral domain is where the land and sea meet. This
is where seaborne commerce originates and where most of the world lives.
Littorals include straits - strategic chokepoints that offer potential control
of the world's sea-lanes of communication. The Navy-Marine Corps team and the
vitality of the amphibious fleet is critical to overcoming anti-access
challenges in locations along the coastlines of the world where there are no
American military forces or basing agreements.
o There are still misperceptions that the United States has not conducted an
amphibious operation since Inchon during the Korean War in 1950. That is not
true. In reality, since 1982, our Nation has conducted more than 100 amphibious
operations. The strategic rebalancing directed in the QDR places high demands on
our amphibious forces.
* Given the fiscal constraints facing the Department of the Navy, the Secretary
of the Navy, Chief of Naval Operations <http://www.quantico.usmc.mil/display.aspx?Section=G3>
, and I agreed that 33 amphibious ships represents the limit of acceptable risk
in meeting the 38-ship requirement we established in a letter to the committee
on 7 January 2009.
* We currently have a 31-ship force in the U.S. amphibious fleet. The Long-Range
<http://www.quantico.usmc.mil/display.aspx?Section=Range> Plan for Naval
Vessels projects a 33 ship amphibious inventory in the near-term.
* With a robust inventory of amphibious ships the Navy-Marine Corps team will be
able to:
o Better address the growing steady state combatant commander requirement for
theater security cooperation, forward presence, and crisis response.
o Strengthen our Nation's relations with allied and partner countries through
peacetime engagement and training exercises.
o Better ensure our Nation is ready to respond with humanitarian assistance when
disaster strikes anywhere around the globe.
o In the event of major conflict, improve our response time to gain theater
access with combat forces without having to rely on basing agreements with
foreign governments.
Conclusion
As a naval expeditionary force in the form of an elite air-ground team, the
Marine Corps is ready and willing to go into harm's way on short notice and do
what is necessary to make our country safe. America expects this of her Marines.
In the complex and dangerous security environment of the future, the Marine
Corps stands ready for the challenges ahead. We appreciate the continued support
of Congress.
- General James T. Conway, Commandant of The Marine Corps before The House Armed
Services Committee February 24, 2010.
Semper Fi,
States Marine Corps, February 24, 2010 |
We believe that Americans expect their Marines to be ready to respond when our
country is threatened; to arrive on the scene on short notice anywhere in the
world via the amphibious ships of the United States Navy, as was necessary when
a disastrous earthquake recently struck Haiti; and to fight and win our Nation's
battles. The public invests greatly in the Marine Corps. In turn, our commitment
is to uphold their special trust and confidence and provide them the best return
on their investment.
Overview
* Your Marine Corps is a young force that provides great value to the Nation.
The average age of a Marine is 25 years old, and almost half of the enlisted
force - just under 85,000 Marines - is between the ranks of private and lance
corporal (pay grades E1 - E3). The ratio of officers to enlisted Marines is 1:9
- the lowest of all the services. Nearly 30,000 Marines are forward deployed,
forward based, or on training exercises around the world.
* The majority of your Marines joined the Corps after our Nation was already at
war. They expect to train, deploy, and fight because that is what they believe
Marines are supposed to do. To date, 73 percent of the available Marines have
deployed in support of IRAQI FREEDOM and ENDURING FREEDOM, or other operational
commitments around the globe.
* These deployments have not adversely affected the resiliency of the force. The
Marine Corps continues to recruit and retain the highest quality people. Your
Marines want to make a difference; they understand being a Marine means
deploying and fighting our Nation's battles. The highest morale in the Corps
resides in those units posted in Afghanistan.
* For 6.5 percent of the baseline 2010 Defense budget, the Marine Corps
provides:
* 17 percent of the Nation's active ground combat maneuver units
* 12 percent of the Nation's fixed wing tactical aircraft
* 19 percent of the Nation's attack helicopters
* The Marine Corps is the only general-purpose force in the Department of
Defense that is trained and equipped as the Nation's first responders.
* Our near-term focus is on:
* The current fight in Afghanistan and the responsible drawdown in Iraq
* Readiness <http://www.quantico.usmc.mil/display.aspx?Section=MRB> and reset
of equipment
* Modernization of the Marine Air Ground Task Force (MAGTF)
* Preparing for the next contingency and the uncertainties of the future
* Our enduring priorities are to:
* Provide the Nation a naval expeditionary force fully prepared for employment
as a MAGTF across the spectrum of operations
* Be the most ready when the Nation is least ready
* Provide for our Marines and their families
Iraq And Afghanistan
* Operation IRAQI FREEDOM. Since testimony before your committee last year, the
Marine Corps has transferred authority for Anbar Province to the U.S. Army and
is near completion of a responsible drawdown from Iraq.
* From 2003-2009, our force levels in Iraq averaged 25,000 Marines. As of
February 19, 2010, there were 159 Marines in Iraq. By spring of this year, our
mission in Iraq will be complete and your Marines will redeploy.
* Operation ENDURING FREEDOM. Your Marines have already had success and have
made a difference in some of the toughest regions of Afghanistan.
* By March 2010, there will be more than 18,500 Marines in Afghanistan, and by
mid- April, that number will grow to a robust MAGTF of 19,400 personnel with
equipment, and will be commanded by a Marine two-star general.
Personnel <http://www.quantico.usmc.mil/display.aspx?Section=IPAC>
* Endstrength. Current authorized endstrength is 202,100 Marines in the active
component and 39,600 Marines in the Selected Reserve <http://www.quantico.usmc.mil/display.aspx?Section=RSU>
. After completing our growth last year, we are continuing to shape the force
with the right mix of units, grades, and occupational specialties. Also, our
personnel growth has outpaced growth in infrastructure, and your continued
support is needed to provide the additional barracks, messing, and office spaces
required.
* Recruiting. In fiscal year 2009, we exceeded goals in numbers and standards
for the active component and the Selected Reserve <http://www.quantico.usmc.mil/display.aspx?Section=RSU>
. The active component accessed 31,413 personnel, and the Selected Reserve
<http://www.quantico.usmc.mil/display.aspx?Section=RSU> accessed 9,627
personnel. Including the active and reserve components, the high school
graduation rate of our recruits exceeded 98 percent.
* Reenlistments. In fiscal year 2009:
* 8,011 first-term Marines reenlisted - 109.2 percent of the goal.
* 7,985 subsequent-term Marines reenlisted - 107 percent of the goal.
* Reservists. As of January 2010, there were 39,164 Marines in the Selected
Reserve <http://www.quantico.usmc.mil/display.aspx?Section=RSU> and another
55,233 in the Inactive Ready Reserve <http://www.quantico.usmc.mil/display.aspx?Section=RSU>
. Marine Forces Reserve <http://www.quantico.usmc.mil/display.aspx?Section=RSU>
includes 183 training centers in 48 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto
Rico. The contributions of our reserve have been invaluable.
* Suicide Prevention. In 2009, your Corps lost 52 Marines who died by suicide -
this is shocking and unacceptable. This issue has my personal attention, and we
have multiple programs at work to reverse this trend. To date, we have been
unable to establish a direct correlation between deployments and suicides.
However, multiple stressors are typically present in a suicide.
* Families. Our baseline budget in fiscal years 2010 and 2011 for family
programs is $399 million per year. We have reformed our family readiness
programs at every level of command at all of our installations. In summary, we
believe that investing in military families is critical to the long-term health
of the institution.
* Wounded Warriors. About 9,000 Marines have been injured or fallen seriously
ill while serving in support of Operations <http://www.quantico.usmc.mil/display.aspx?Section=G3>
IRAQI FREEDOM or ENDURING FREEDOM. We are deeply committed to their care as well
as the welfare of their families.
* We are investing $50 million for the construction of resource and recovery
centers, which will provide spaces for counseling, physical therapy, employment
support, financial management, and other programs for our wounded.
* Our Wounded Warrior Regiment has contacted 99.4 percent of all Marines (7,654
out of 7,703) who were wounded since 9/11, in order to determine their health
status. We also maintain a toll-free number to the medical center in Landstuhl,
Germany for families to contact their loved ones who have been wounded.
Equipment
* Situation. Out of necessity, we have sourced equipment globally, taking from
non-deployed units and strategic programs to support our forces in theater. As a
result, our non-deployed units do not have the required amount of equipment they
need to train or support other contingencies.
o For example, while the overall supply rating of Marine Corps units in
Afghanistan is near 100 percent, the supply rating of units at home station is
less than 60 percent. Additional equipment is being procured with supplemental
funds, but it is slow to arrive due to long lead times and deliberate production
rates.
* Shortfalls. The distributed and decentralized nature of operations in Iraq and
Afghanistan has shown us that our legacy, 20th century tables of equipment are
significantly inadequate. The required type and number of ground vehicles,
radios, and other major end item equipment have increased greatly.
o Our preliminary estimates indicate that the cost of restructuring the Marine
Corps' tables of equipment would be $5 billion over FY 2012 through FY 2015.
* Equipment Reset. The tempo of operations through more than eight years of
combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan has accelerated the wear and tear on
equipment. Moreover, the diversion of equipment in theater from Iraq to
Afghanistan has delayed reset actions at our logistics depots in the United
States.
o Based upon the Marine Corps current analysis, our estimated reset cost is $8
billion. The $8 billion consists of $3 billion requested in the FY11 OCO and an
additional long term reset liability of $5 billion upon termination of the
conflict.
* The Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV) is the number one modernization
program in the ground combat element of the MAGTF. The requirements of the
current and future security environment have driven the research and development
of the critical capabilities associated with the EFV. The Marine Corps has not
taken a myopic view of the EFV; we are well aware of the fiscal realities and
developmental challenges associated with such a revolutionary vehicle. We are
convinced, however, that our Nation's security demands the capabilities of the
EFV and justifies the costs.
* The Joint Strike Fighter is our number one aviation modernization program.
Although our investment in this program may seem high, it is important to note
that the Marine Corps has not bought a fixed-wing tactical aircraft in 11 years,
and that the Joint Strike Fighter will ultimately replace three different types
of aircraft currently in our inventory - the AV-8 Harrier, F/A-18 Hornet, and
EA-6 Prowler.
* The Osprey. We are very pleased with the performance of the tilt-rotor MV-22
Osprey. Osprey squadrons have completed three successful deployments to Iraq and
one aboard ship. One squadron is currently in Afghanistan. We are nearing
delivery of our 100th operational aircraft, and at our current build of 30
Ospreys per year, we are replacing our CH-46E medium-lift helicopter squadrons
at a rate of two squadrons per year.
Vision
* 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review. We believe the report from the Quadrennial
Defense Review offers an accurate and informed analysis of the challenges in the
future security environment, particularly with respect to growing complexity of
hybrid threats and the spread of advanced anti-access capabilities.
o We agree with the need for a U.S. military that is balanced in capabilities
for irregular warfare and conventional conflict. For the Marine Corps, we have
always believed in such a balance. Our equipment and major programs, and our
means of employment as an integrated MAGTF, reflect our commitment to be
flexible in the face of uncertainty. One hundred percent of our procurement can
be employed either in a hybrid conflict or in conventional combat.
* A Force in Readiness <http://www.quantico.usmc.mil/display.aspx?Section=MRB> .
The Marine Corps is a force in readiness. Although we have been successful in
our assigned mission as a second land army in Iraq and Afghanistan, that success
has come at the price of degraded readiness for our designed missions. Upon the
termination of conflict, the Marine Corps seeks to rejoin the Navy aboard
amphibious ships.
* The Navy-Marine Corps Team. The current transnational struggle against violent
extremism will not end anytime soon. Other threats - conventional and irregular
- will continue to emerge and the complexity of the future operating environment
will only increase. We believe that as the security environment grows more
complex, so does the value of amphibious forces and the Navy-Marine Corps Team.
* Seabasing. Seabasing is the establishment of a mobile port, airfield, and
replenishment capability at sea that supports operations ashore. Seabasing moves
traditional land-based logistics functions offshore. With oceans comprising
about 70 percent of the earth's surface and the world's populations located
primarily on the coasts, seabasing allows our Nation to conduct crucial joint
operations from the sea.
* Seabasing - Maritime Prepositioning Force (MPF) Enhancements. Critical to
seabasing are the logistics vessels of the Maritime Prepositioning Force. As
discussed in the Long-Range <http://www.quantico.usmc.mil/display.aspx?Section=Range>
Plan for Naval Vessels, we have restructured our Maritime Prepositioned Force
(Future) program and will enhance the current capabilities of each of our three
existing Maritime Preposition Force Squadrons.
* Expeditionary Operations <http://www.quantico.usmc.mil/display.aspx?Section=G3>
in the Littoral Domain. The littoral domain is where the land and sea meet. This
is where seaborne commerce originates and where most of the world lives.
Littorals include straits - strategic chokepoints that offer potential control
of the world's sea-lanes of communication. The Navy-Marine Corps team and the
vitality of the amphibious fleet is critical to overcoming anti-access
challenges in locations along the coastlines of the world where there are no
American military forces or basing agreements.
o There are still misperceptions that the United States has not conducted an
amphibious operation since Inchon during the Korean War in 1950. That is not
true. In reality, since 1982, our Nation has conducted more than 100 amphibious
operations. The strategic rebalancing directed in the QDR places high demands on
our amphibious forces.
* Given the fiscal constraints facing the Department of the Navy, the Secretary
of the Navy, Chief of Naval Operations <http://www.quantico.usmc.mil/display.aspx?Section=G3>
, and I agreed that 33 amphibious ships represents the limit of acceptable risk
in meeting the 38-ship requirement we established in a letter to the committee
on 7 January 2009.
* We currently have a 31-ship force in the U.S. amphibious fleet. The Long-Range
<http://www.quantico.usmc.mil/display.aspx?Section=Range> Plan for Naval
Vessels projects a 33 ship amphibious inventory in the near-term.
* With a robust inventory of amphibious ships the Navy-Marine Corps team will be
able to:
o Better address the growing steady state combatant commander requirement for
theater security cooperation, forward presence, and crisis response.
o Strengthen our Nation's relations with allied and partner countries through
peacetime engagement and training exercises.
o Better ensure our Nation is ready to respond with humanitarian assistance when
disaster strikes anywhere around the globe.
o In the event of major conflict, improve our response time to gain theater
access with combat forces without having to rely on basing agreements with
foreign governments.
Conclusion
As a naval expeditionary force in the form of an elite air-ground team, the
Marine Corps is ready and willing to go into harm's way on short notice and do
what is necessary to make our country safe. America expects this of her Marines.
In the complex and dangerous security environment of the future, the Marine
Corps stands ready for the challenges ahead. We appreciate the continued support
of Congress.
- General James T. Conway, Commandant of The Marine Corps before The House Armed
Services Committee February 24, 2010.
Semper Fi,