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STATEMENT
OF
LIEUTENANT GENERAL EMIL R. BEDARD
DEPUTY COMMANDANT OF THE MARINE CORPS FOR
PLANS, POLICIES, AND OPERATIONS
UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS
BEFORE
THE
HOUSE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE
SPECIAL OVERSIGHT PANEL ON TERRORISM
JUNE 28, 2002
Introduction
Chairman
Saxton, Congressman Turner, and distinguished members
of the Panel, it is my privilege to report on
the state of readiness of America's Marine
Corps.
The
recent terrorist attacks on our nation highlight
the new reality of warfare. The very
visible attacks against icons of our democratic
nation and our citizens no longer represent a
simple violation of international law. As
was evidenced so graphically both in New York
City and Washington, a new form of open
asymmetric warfare was declared against America,
directly targeting civilian and military
personnel and our institutions alike.
We've
been attacked before, but never have we faced an
enemy who operates without a homeland.
We've been attacked by pirates and
terrorists before, but never by ones who
intentionally target civilians with weapons of
mass effects.
The
world is, now more than ever, uncertain and
dangerous.
Now, more than ever, the Marine Corps
seeks to be a certain force in an uncertain
world. For
generations, the Marine Corps has trained and
prepared to be ready to defeat America's
enemies on short notice.
When the trumpet sounded on the 11th
of September, the Nation's force in readiness
answered the call.
Ladies and Gentlemen, your Corps
currently has 4,051 Marines and Sailors engaged
in Operation Enduring Freedom and 36,352 forward
deployed across the globe.
There
are times when our devotion to readiness appears
to put the US Marine Corps at a disadvantage in
the continuing modernization dialogue inside the
Beltway. Being ready at a moment's notice requires focus,
dedication, and flexibility.
Being ready across the full range of
conflict requires organizational scalability.
Our enemies, as we have seen, are
unpredictable and deadly.
Providing a full range of options to the
Combatant Commander has tremendous utility in
today's environment.
What we are, and will always be with your
help, is "Ready".
Prior to September 11th, it
may have been difficult for America to
understand the value of forward deployed ready
and sustainable forces.
I know that the distinguished members of
this Panel understand the value of ready forces
today, and have always understood; we've seen
that through the strong support you've always
provided. I
believe that everyone outside this panel, and
outside this city now understands.
Readiness
- Why the Marine Corps Exists
Let
me describe for you the state of Marine Corps
readiness as I see it from my position:
Our
first priority is, and will continue to be,
readiness.
Our sequence of priorities is "Mission
First, Marines Always".
Our service in Afghanistan attests to the
state of that readiness better than my words
could ever attempt to do.
When the President called, our Marines
proved themselves to be well trained, adequately
equipped, and up to any challenge.
Our equipment, though aging, was superbly
maintained and accomplished the job. Our doctrine of maneuvering from a seabase to objectives well
inland has been evolving for a decade, and has
shown itself to be extraordinarily effective on
the modern battlefield.
Value
of Forward Deployed Forces
Today,
your Corps has 36,352 Marines and Sailors
forward based and deployed around the globe.
We have once again shown the value of
forward deployed forces.
In this era of renewed focus on defense
of the American homeland, it is perhaps
important to reemphasize that defense of that
homeland begins not on our shores, but on the
far shore.
Our forward deployed role is comparable
to a fire warden in a National Forest. It is far easier to have a fire warden already on
scene, see the lightning-caused brush fire, and
put it out while still small and manageable than
it is to mobilize national assets once the
initial flames become an inferno.
It is incomparably more difficult and
dangerous to have to deploy a formidable forest
fire fighting capability after that smoldering
fire has grown into an inferno.
At
times, we will be forced to act in ways that
don't impact the sovereignty of those in the
vicinity of our intended action.
Forward deploying those ready forces at
sea frees us from dependence on access to bases
in theater or on the permission of a host
government. The flexibility of a true seabase (as contrasted to units
simply embarked on naval shipping) offers
immense advantages.
A US Navy warship in international waters
is sovereign US territory.
We need ask no one's permission or
acquiescence in the use of facilities to
position and employ US forces.
When combined with the force protection
advantages inherent in being underway at sea,
forward deployed forces operating from a seabase
in international waters provides an invaluable
option for the Country and Joint Force
Commander.
Operations
in Afghanistan
Employing
Operational Maneuver from the Sea
In
operations in Afghanistan, the Navy-Marine Corps
Team, and as full members of the Joint Force,
conducted the deepest expeditionary assault
operations in the history of warfare. This
proved our concepts of Expeditionary Maneuver
Warfare from the Sea and Ship to Objective
Maneuver and was quite unlike the historic
amphibious assaults at Tarawa or Inchon.
We operated from a seabase, reducing our
footprint ashore and thereby minimizing our
force protection requirements and allowing us to
operate immediately with minimal basing in
theater.
We supported Special Operations Forces, we
established bases, we seized and secured
facilities.
And, when called upon, we did our part to
engage and defeat America's enemies.
The
Marine Corps, like everyone else, was surprised
by the September 11th attacks, but we
were not surprised by the nature of the threat.
Over the past decade we have defined a
world more chaotic and a future strategic
environment of increasing uncertainty. We saw the premium that would be placed on speed, precision
and lethality.
Speed not only in movement, but also in
the ability to respond - to be truly
expeditionary. We published a new operational
concept in January of 1996, Operational
Maneuver from the Sea, and the tactical
implementation of that concept, Ship to
Objective Maneuver later in the same
year. In November of 2001 we published Expeditionary Maneuver
Warfare, a capstone concept that melded
our expeditionary culture, warfighting ethos,
and organizational concepts within the context
of seabasing and our support to the Joint
Warfighter. Instead of the traditional
amphibious assault which essentially required
seizing a forward operating base on the beach
and then building up supplies and reorganizing
from landing teams to combat formations,
decisive operations can now be launched directly
from the seabase.
The seabase will transform the way we
project power and influence in the 21st
Century. The
integrated seabase provides a sanctuary from
which fires, command and control, and
sustainment can flow when and where required
without the threats presented by land-based
forward operating bases.
Operations
in Afghanistan
Lessons
Learned
Operation
Enduring Freedom was a success for the Marine
Corps. Marine
forces accomplished every mission assigned to
them with resourcefulness and professionalism,
while rising to a new level of joint
cooperation.
During its operations in Afghanistan, the
Marine Corps established an important
relationship with Special Operations Forces (SOF)
that promises to carry forward into the future.
OEF also marked the
first time a Marine Corps general commanded a
naval task force during wartime.
The Corps' accomplishments during OEF
confirmed the relevance of the Expeditionary
Maneuver Warfare (EMW) concept and validated the
soundness of the Marine Corps' approach to
DoD's transformation initiatives.
Operational
Reach
Afghanistan's
harsh climate, high altitudes, and vast, dusty,
rugged terrain, exacerbated the challenge of
simple geographic distance presented by its
land-locked isolation.
The country's poor infrastructure,
especially the dearth of good airfields,
presented a significant problem to widely
dispersed ground units wholly dependent on
aerial resupply and support.
The
exceptional distances between the U.S. forces'
fixed wing air bases and the ground forces they
supported and targets they serviced extended
fixed wing operations well beyond their normal
operating limits.
One result was a dramatic increase in the
value of refueling aircraft. Hence, the Marine KC-130s proved a linchpin for fixed wing
operations as well as supporting ground
operations with fuel and supplies.
Additionally, the use of carrier-based
strike aircraft in shaping operations greatly
enhanced the ground commander's ability to
maneuver and to find, fix, and destroy enemy
formations and locations.
Moreover, the pairing of Marine land
combat power with the carrier air wings
presented our opponent with multiple threat axes
- something he couldn't defend against.
Hence,
a critical advantage provided by the ACE was
that Marine commanders had organic lift assets
in the three-engine CH-53Es helicopter and
venerable KC-130s, which were responsive to
their immediate critical needs. Even though not all of these advantages were fully exploited
in OEF, they remain an intrinsic trait of Marine
forces.
Reach-Back
Capability
During
Operation Enduring Freedom, the Marine Commander
on the scene had the ability to 'reach-back'
to CONUS based units and tap into subject matter
experts, intelligence, and others with the
needed expertise. In one example, the Marine Corps Intelligence Activity
located in Quantico, Virginia was able to
process and provide the Afghanistan based
commander with Tora Bora and Kandahar terrain,
landing zone, route, and the latest enemy
situation in less than 4 hours. Moreover, as we
deploy and fight in a more distributed and
discrete fashion, this ability to
'reach-back' will enable us to be more
effective and deadly.
Relationship
With Special Operations Forces
During
Operation Enduring Freedom, Task Force 58 worked
with The British Special Air Service, the
Australian Special Air Service, and US Special
Operations Forces.
The British SAS provided a liaison
officer and radio operators to the Task Force.
Although not under the control of TF 58,
the SAS and Marines shared information and
coordinated activities.
Before I go any further, I would like to
mention that Task Force 58 -- under the command
of Brigadier General Jim Mattis - was actually
the command element of the 2d Marine
Expeditionary Brigade. The Brigade concept was reintroduced to the Corps two years
ago as a means for us to rapidly deploy relevant
and sustainable combat power
while retaining the flexibility to scale
operations across the spectrum of war (from low
intensity to high intensity combat).
The
Australian SAS was a very different story.
Unlike
the British, they were under the Tactical
Control of TF 58 throughout the operation. The
Aussie SAS units were integrated completely into
our operations; we supported them with helos
when necessary, provided intelligence support
(and they gave us intelligence that was very
useful), and operating at some distance from us,
secured the left and right flanks of our ground
movements.
The SAS were eager to engage the enemy
and unconcerned about operating hundreds of
miles distant.
To sum up, our interaction with the
Aussies was one based on shared views of the
mission, great initiative and trust.
It was an easy relationship and mutually
supporting.
And, in many ways it highlights the ease
of Marine forces operating in coalition
operations.
New
Systems for New Concepts
The
new systems we have pursued in measured fashion
since the 1980's are the keys to executing
these concepts in the future.
Several of the key systems and platforms,
production of which has been delayed by the
procurement holiday, are very close to coming on
line and they will revolutionize how both the
Marine Corps and the Joint Force Commander, do
business.
In
Afghanistan, using our new operational concepts,
executed with aging equipment, Marines conducted
an operational maneuver from the seabase, at
distances previously thought to be unattainable.
We were able to sustain the force
primarily from the seabase, freeing us from the
requirements of force protection in a large rear
area. With
your help, as new systems come on line, we will
be free of the need for intermediate staging
bases that are now required because of the short
legs of our aging helicopter fleet.
In effect, we will have created the
"maritime" staging base. With V-22 Osprey, the Short Takeoff and Vertical Landing
variant Joint Strike Fighter (STOVL JSF),
Advanced Amphibious Assault Vehicle (AAAV), and
the Expeditionary Fire Support System (EFSS), we
would have been able to move directly from the
seabase to Khandahar airport and have a full
range of expeditionary fires to organically
conduct the full range of military operations.
This will be a revolutionary leap in
capability for the Joint Force Commander
combining the freedom and sustainment of coming
from the sea with the long ranges of tilt-rotor
and STOVL aviation.
Combine our traditionally flexible
organization, the Marine Air Ground Task Force (MAGTF),
with these new systems and platforms and you
will see a highly transformed Marine Corps.
This transformation didn't start as a
result of the QDR, but rather two decades ago,
and these systems and platforms will soon be
ready for fielding through transformational
business practices in support of our changing
concepts, organizations, and doctrine.
In
addition to the systems previously mentioned,
the Marine Corps has made great strides in non
lethal weapons.
Today,
at 14 locations around the globe we have
operationally deployed non-lethal capability
sets that give our Marines and all our forces a
greatly enhanced force protection for countering
precarious situations where non-combatants are
intermingled with combatants or where it is
difficult to discriminate between a real or
perceived threat.
Today's
capabilities are mainly low-tech, using blunt
impact munitions to provide temporary
incapacitating effects.
The good news is that we have identified
several promising directed energy capabilities
that will transform current NLW capabilities to
robust long-range capabilities with applications
at the tactical, operational, and strategic
levels of war.
Specifically, I am referring to the
Active Denial System - a millimeter wave
technology that provides a painful heating
sensation of the surface of the skin without
permanent damage.
This technology is an Advanced Concept
Technology Demonstration (ACTD) which will
provide a residual HMMWV mounted capability in
FY05.
As
the NLW Executive Agent, we have also championed
the Advanced Tactical Laser which is now a
Special Operations Command lead.
This capability has the potential for us
to engage targets which are currently difficult
for us to attack with conventional means.
The example of an adversary placing
weapon systems or command & control centers
among an urban population immediately comes to
mind.
Another
promising technology is the Pulsed Energy
Projectile. We are currently assessing the human effects of this laser
technology to determine if we can provide a
variety of 'tunable' effects from flash-bang
to incapacitation.
New
Organizational Concepts
4th
Marine Expeditionary Brigade (AntiTerrorism)
A
leading example of our transformation since
September 11th is the 4th Marine
Expeditionary Brigade (Antiterrorism).
The 4th MEB (AT) combined our
Marine Security Guard Battalion, Marine Security
Force Battalion (MCSF Bn), and the Chemical
Biological Incident Response Force (CBIRF) with
a specialized anti-terrorism infantry battalion,
as well as a command element complete with
dedicated planners, coordinators, and liaison
officers for anti-terrorism operations.
The 4th MEB (AT) has had an
immediate impact, deploying Marines within 60
days to our re-opened embassy in Kabul,
supporting flight line security in Incirlik,
Turkey, as well as supporting anthrax
identification at the Capitol.
CBIRF
The Chemical Biological
Incident Response Force (CBIRF) has continued to
forge ahead in developing the concepts,
doctrine, organization, techniques, and
procedures to remain DoD's premier complete
incident response force capable of providing
agent detection and identification, casualty
search and rescue, personnel decontamination,
emergency medical care and stabilization of
contaminated personnel.
Since
its establishment in February 1996, CBIRF has
supported twelve National Special Security
Events to include the Atlanta Olympics, two
presidential inaugurations, and every State of
the Union Address.
Most recently CBIRF participated in
Operation Noble Eagle responding to biological
threats in the Longworth and Hart Office
Buildings.
It continues to deploy in support of
exercises both in CONUS and abroad.
CBIRF mobile training teams have provided
support to organizations from Manama, Bahrain to
Manila, Philippines.
CBIRF capabilities continue to mature
with the addition of casualty collection and
rescue personnel and the development of state of
the art personal protection equipment.
Additionally, CBIRF serves as a test-bed
for new and emerging agent identification and
detection technology.
Finally,
we have expanded our Weapons of Mass Destruction
Consequence Management program to include all 10
FEMA Regions.
Within each region we have assigned
Marine Emergency Preparedness Liaison Officers
to train core staff(s) in domestic consequence
management.
Additionally, they provide the Defense
Coordinating Officer information on the Corps'
capabilities so that an accurate assessment can
be provided to the Lead Federal Agency on what
Department of Defense capabilities need to be
requested.
It is an integral part of our homeland
defense support along with the 4th
MEB (AT) and our installations.
Improving
Naval Security
The
Marine Corps' contribution to the forces that
directly support Navy security is over 2300
Marines. These
are organized into Security Force Companies,
Fleet Antiterrorism Security Teams (FAST), and
the Training Cadre.
A cadre of over 70 Marines is employed
throughout the continental United States and
overseas to train naval security force personnel
in small arms and antiterrorism techniques.
Security Force Companies provide the
unique capabilities of armed Marines to Naval
installation commanders for specific threats and
vulnerabilities.
Marines
provide the security for all Navy nuclear
weapons that are not deployed aboard SSBNs.
Two
Fleet Antiterrorism Security Team (FAST)
companies with 13 Platoons are available to
Fleet Commanders. As of today, 2 FAST platoons
are deployed to naval shipyards to support
nuclear reactor refueling /defueling operations,
3 are forward deployed in support of the 5th,
6th, and 7th Fleet
Commanders, the remaining 3 are on a short
tether standby as reaction forces, and 5 are in
various stages of training.
Sustaining
the Current Operational Tempo
Because
we consistently deploy forces forward to various
theaters, the Marine Corps has not had to
radically change how we operate in order to
support the global war on terrorism.
The cost of employing these ready forces
that you fund is minimal when compared to other
options for achieving like capability.
We have slightly adjusted deployment
departure and return dates in order to maintain
the current Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special
Operations Capable) [MEU (SOC)] presence in the
Central Command area of operations, but we have
not had to deploy units out of their normal
sequence or without critical training time.
There have not been significant PERSTEMPO
increases for our Marines.
Of the almost 4,051 Marines participating
in Operation Enduring Freedom, fully 90% were
already forward deployed or scheduled to deploy.
The
Marine Corps can sustain this level of
operations indefinitely.
The real issue for us, as I will address
shortly, is the amount of wear and tear we are
putting on our aging equipment, and ultimately,
the potential for reduced time between
deployments that could impact training.
Our
operational commanders are working on
contingency plans to increase, if necessary, the
number of forward deployed units, and to support
larger contingencies. When required, our Reserve establishment can, and as we have
demonstrated, assist the Active Marine Corps
component in supporting ongoing operations.
We have seamlessly integrated both Marine
Expeditionary Force Augmentation Command
Elements, two infantry battalions, two heavy
helicopter squadrons, two aerial refueler
detachments and critical skill individuals from
our Reserve Component.
How
You Can Help
Having
said how well prepared we are, your natural
question is where, if anywhere, do we need your
help? In
a phrase, "modernization and
transformation," and in terms of platforms,
amphibious shipping.
The
Marine Expeditionary Brigade (MEB) is the
Nation's premier, medium weight, combat
credible, sustainable, forcible entry
capability.
No other combat force in the world,
either on-call today or envisioned for the
future, has the ability to prevail in an
anti-access environment with a forcible entry
and then conduct high tempo full spectrum
operations in support of US national policy.
Amphibious
Shipping
Our
amphibious lift requirement is 3.0 MEB assault
echelons however, we have adapted to a fiscally
constrained amphibious lift capability of 2.5
MEB assault echelon equivalents.
While we cannot achieve 2.5 MEB AE
equivalents with current active duty shipping,
use of reserve shipping in the Amphibious Lift
Enhancement Plan (ALEP) gives the 2.5 MEB AE
within 180 days of ALEP activation.
Unfortunately, as the events of 11
September have shown, we don't anticipate the
luxury of having a 180-day
response time.
We
will be able to achieve our 2.5 MEB lift
requirement with an all-active force upon
delivery of the 12th LPD-17
amphibious ship.
Ultimately, we see the amphibious fleet
consisting of 12 LHDs/LHAs or their
replacements, 12 LSDs, and 12 LPD-17s in the
2015 time frame.
While currently short of the 3.0 MEB AE
goal, this is a force that will provide us, at
some risk, the necessary capability to project
power in an anti-access environment in the near
and mid-term.
Delivery
of the 12 LPD-17 San Antonio class ships is
currently scheduled to be complete in 2015.
We are concerned about potential further
slippage in the LPD-17 program. Such slippage could cause us to fall well below the 2.5 MEB
lift level and leave us without the lift
required to meet the Nation's needs. We are
also concerned with replacing the LHA-1 Tarawa
class ships.
They will begin to reach the end of their
35-year service life in 2011, and considering
the time to design and build a replacement ship,
we need to begin the process now. The overall age of the amphibious fleet is also a concern.
The average fleet age of an amphibious
ship is 25% older than the average of all other
Navy ships.
Maritime
Prepositioning Force (MPF)
Another
equal but unique partner in seabasing that will
help us project power and influence, and counter
an adversary's anti-access strategy and the
persistent shortage of strategic sea and airlift
is the Marine Corps Maritime Prepositioning
Force (MPF).
Today, this force, as you know, loads
leased commercial shipping with three MEB's
worth of ground equipment and 30 days of
supplies and prepositions the shipping in
strategically located ports around the world.
The forces flow into theater through a
mix of strategic airlift and sealift. The forces "marry up" with the prepositioned equipment
and provide the Combatant Commander with a
sustainable, combat capable force.
By minimizing the requirement to use
strategic airlift to flow Marine units to
theater, utilizing MPS saves thousands of
sorties of strategic lift. The Combatant
Commander is thus able to employ those sorties
elsewhere to speed the deployment of other vital
members of the Joint force.
Unfortunately,
the leases on our ships expire in FY 2009, 2010
and 2011. We
need National Defense Sealift Resources to
replace this most flexible and cost effective
asset. We
have developed the concept of MPF Future and
with your help we will replace the existing
program. Meeting
MPF Future requirements will allow at-sea
arrival and assembly of forces, selective
offload of equipment and supplies, and relieve
us of the need for ports and airfields,
revolutionizing Joint Force deployment and
employment. We request your support in
continuing the MPF Future program and truly
transforming the seabase and the capabilities
for Joint Force power projection.
V-22
Osprey - Our Top Aviation Priority
The
V-22 remains the Marine Corps' number one
aviation priority.
With it, Marine forces operating from the
seabase will be able to take the best of
long-range maneuver and strategic surprise, and
marry it with the best of the sustainable
forcible entry capability.
We
are certainly aware of the challenges associated
with the V-22 but are pleased that the aircraft
has returned to flight.
Moreover, both the Secretary of the Navy
and the Under Secretary of Defense for
Acquisition, Technology and Logistics will
periodically review flight test results to
assess the progress of this program.
Of this we are certain: the V-22 will
revolutionize expeditionary aviation and
represents a mature technology ready for
today's environment.
STOVL
JSF - A New Way of Doing Business
In
late October 2001, the contract was awarded for
the Joint Strike Fighter, signaling a new era in
fielding naval aviation. The advantages of a stealthy strike-fighter capable of taking
off from an expeditionary base on land or sea,
flying in supersonic cruise, accomplishing its
mission with advanced sensors and weapons, and
returning to its expeditionary site are truly
revolutionary. This aircraft will transform the very foundations of tactical
airpower. The
Short Takeoff and Vertical Landing Joint Strike
Fighter (STOVL) variant provides operational
access to over three to five times the number of
airfields currently available worldwide capable
of supporting our legacy aircraft. The STOVL JSF can operate from both conventional carriers and
amphibious assault ship decks.
This effectively doubles the number of
shipborne platforms available for operations.
As these highly capable aircraft shift
from seabased platforms to expeditionary
airfields, they can effectively decrease
response time for missions by 75 percent and
increase time on station by 50 percent.
Modernization
and Transformation
The
Marine Corps has always prided itself on taking
care of the equipment and property we are
entrusted.
We think we've been good stewards of
both. We
are now at the point with some of our equipment
and some of our property where it must be
replaced.
Most
of the equipment and weapons systems in our
command elements, ground combat forces and
combat service support units have reached or
exceeded their programmed service lives.
The defense procurement holiday of the
past decade assumed a strategic pause,
coincident with the end of the Cold War, in
which we could skip a generation of procurement
and recapitalize with modern, transformational
equipment.
The global war on terrorism has marked
the end of any strategic pause and has caused us
to operate our equipment at an even higher rate
than anticipated, as the overall tempo of
operations increases.
The
cost of maintaining old equipment is much higher
than maintaining a similar piece of more modern
equipment.
Spares are harder to find and
manufacturers are less willing to produce
components based on old technology.
The result is much higher costs both in
dollars and man-hours.
The
majority of our key aviation equipment is older
than the Marines who use it. Our KC-130s are 19 years past their scheduled retirement.
President Kennedy was in office when our
first KC-130F rolled off of the assembly line.
Our CH-46Es and CH-53Ds are over 30 years
old.
This
is expensive equipment to maintain.
For example, on our CH-46 aircraft,
replacement airframe parts do not exist. Every airworthy airframe is still in service; there are no
retired airframes to use for parts.
Airframe parts have to be hand-made by a
master artisan.
Once crafted, because the Naval Aviation
Depot has never previously fabricated the part,
it must go through a test procedure.
We have the same problem with our UH-1N
and
AH-1 aircraft.
One small panel from the UH-1 tail costs
as much as $5,000 to fabricate and stubwings for
AH-1s cost $4,700 a piece for temporary repairs.
The
man-hour requirements are even more striking.
While our maintenance numbers have held
fairly constant, it's been on the backs of our
young Marines.
The Marines who keep our CH-46s flying
have had to spend as many as 37 maintenance
man-hours per flight hour to keep them mission
ready. This
is over 9 times more man-hours per flight hour
than we're seeing in the new AH-1Z and UH-1Y
programs. Hours
spent maintaining aging aircraft are hours that
are not spent in training or valuable off-duty
time. The
quality of life implications are significant.
Thanks
to your efforts, the FY 2003 budget allows the
Marine Corps to begin to make more robust levels
of investment in ground and aviation
modernization and transformational programs that
we have outlined as vital to future readiness. However, until this new equipment is fielded, we will
continue to ensure the readiness of our legacy
systems. We
will continue to take maximum advantage of
Service Life Extension Programs (SLEPs) that
enable us to improve the reliability and
availability of our legacy systems, as we will
be forced to continue to invest increasing
levels of resources-manpower and dollars-in the
maintenance of our aging equipment.
We ask for your support of the increases
in our FY 2003 budget request for spares,
corrosion control and depot maintenance.
FY
2003 Budget
The
FY 2003 budget request will, with your help,
allow us to increase levels of investment in
modernization of command and control, aviation
and ground equipment such as:
Command
and Control
Exploiting
the capabilities offered by long-range aircraft,
long range fires, operating from a seabase and
with full connectivity to our Joint and
coalition partners poses enormous command and
control challenges.
·
The Unit Operations Center (UOC) is
comprised of Combat Centers and Combat Operation
Centers and will provide a centralized facility
to host Command and Control functionality for
the Command Element, the Ground Combat Element,
the Air Combat Element and the Combat Service
Support Element.
The UOC is scalable and supports command
echelons for battalion and above.
·
The Common Aviation Command and Control
System (CAC2S) will provide a capability that
allows operators to integrate Marine aviation
into Joint and combined air/ground operations in
support of Expeditionary Maneuver Warfare, Ship
to Objective Maneuver and other operations. It
will specifically provide a common suite of
tactical facilities, equipment, and interfaces
for a system that will replace the legacy
command and control equipment currently
associated with the Tactical Air Command Center,
the Tactical Air Operations Center, Air Traffic
Control, Direct Air Support Center, Direct Air
Support Center (Airborne) and the Low Altitude
Air Defense Battalion.
Increased
tactical mobility
·
V-22 program
The
MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor is a revolutionary,
advanced technology vertical/short takeoff and
landing, multi-purpose tactical aircraft being
procured to replace the current fleet of Vietnam
era CH-46E and CH-53D aircraft.
The MV-22's design incorporates the
advanced, but mature, technologies of composite
materials, fly-by-wire flight controls, digital
cockpits, airfoil design, and manufacturing.
The Osprey is capable of carrying 24
combat-equipped Marines or a 10,000 pound
external load.
It has strategic self-deployability with
a 2,100 mile range with a single aerial
refueling. Procurement of the MV-22 remains the Marine Corps number one
aviation acquisition priority.
·
Advanced Amphibious Assault Vehicle
The
AAAV remains the Marine Corps' number one
ground acquisition priority. The
AAAV will allow Marines to eliminate the
battlefield mobility gap and, for the first time
in the history of Naval warfare, conduct deep
maneuver ashore in a single, seamless stroke
giving both the ships and landing forces
sufficient sea space for maneuver, surprise and
protection.
Fires
With
the increased range and speed of the AAAV and
the V-22, the breadth and depth of the
battlefield is increased immensely.
We must have weapons systems with greater
range, greater lethality and greater tactical
mobility. The
Light Weight 155 is one key piece of this new
family of fire support systems and in
conjunction with increased range of the High
Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), we
will have full spectrum, all weather fires
across the depth of the expanding battlefield.
HIMARS, a very lightweight and mobile
system, has the capability of delivering very
high volumes of rocket artillery in support of
the ground scheme of maneuver.
The family of improved mortars, including
a new 120 mm mortar for the infantry battalion,
greatly extends the reach and punch of the
infantry. Naval
Surface Fire Support (NSFS) systems such as the
Extended Range Guided Munition (ERGM), the
5"/62 gun, the Advanced Gun System and the
Naval Fires Control System will provide
essential fire support during the early phases
of the expeditionary operation and long-range
all-weather fire support during operations
ashore. Naval Surface Fire Support can spell the difference
between success and failure in the early phases
of expeditionary operations.
Filling the gap between organic and
aviation delivered fires, NSFS is vital to
all-weather, day and night, precision
application of naval fires.
The
proposed DD(X) destroyer armed with the advanced
gun system (AGS) that will be able to fire a
highly accurate guided projectile to ranges in
the vicinity of 100 miles, at a rate of 12
rounds per minute is a NSFS solution that the
Corps eagerly awaits. Additionally, the AGS will
be capable of firing both high-explosive rounds
and, later, dual-purpose improved conventional
munition (DPICM) ammunition in all weather.
With enhanced Naval Surface Fire
Support and with the implementation of the
Expeditionary Fire Support System now in initial
research and development, we will have a truly
expeditionary range of all weather, day and
night fires.
The Ground Weapon Locating Radar is
necessary to protect our forces from our
adversaries' counter-battery fires.
Again, using Afghanistan as an
illustration, mobile operations in mountainous
terrain place a premium on indirect fires.
We, more than any of the other Services,
place great emphasis on the power of close air
support. Surface
based, indirect fires, whether from the land or
the sea, are irreplaceable when forces are
joined in close combat, particularly in the
early phases of a seabased operation.
Nothing else is as responsive to the
Commander's needs, or as reliable.
They are not weather or facility
dependent.
As such, they are a key component in
continuing to extend the reach and lethality of
our ground forces.
These new ground based systems, and the
seabased fires under development by the Navy in
combination with STOVL JSF and the upgraded
Cobra and Huey helicopter provide the Marine
Corps a complete family of integrated sea, air
and land based fires.
·
HIMARS
High
on our priority list is to marry precision
maneuver with precision fires.
We require ground based fire support
which is lethal, mobile and with long range. HIMARS, the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System fills this
need. The
HIMARS will provide ground-based, responsive,
General Support and General Support Reinforcing
indirect fires that accurately engage targets at
long range, with high volumes of lethal fire,
under all weather conditions and throughout all
phases of combat operations ashore.
It will fire both precision and area
munitions and has a maximum range of 60
kilometers.
·
LW 155
The
Lightweight 155mm towed howitzer is needed to
replace the M-198 howitzer that is at the end of
its service life. It is a joint USMC/US Army system that will meet or exceed
all the requirements of the current M198 system
while reducing the weight from 16,000 to 9,000
pounds. The
maximum range using unassisted projectiles is 15
miles and 18 miles using assisted projectiles.
·
Naval Surface Fire Support
Expeditionary
Maneuver Warfare places unprecedented
requirements for long-range, accurate, timely
fires in support of the maneuver force.
Systems such as the Extended Range Guided
Munition (ERGM) will ensure the continuous
availability of surface based fires firing
during an expeditionary operation.
ERGM is a guided projectile fired from
cruiser and destroyer guns out to a maximum
range of 63 miles.
Development of land attack missile
technologies will provide a supersonic
surface-to-surface missile that will have a
range far in excess of naval guns.
Combined, they will provide a highly
responsive, accurate, all-weather means of
attacking critical targets and providing support
to deployed Marines beyond the range of naval
guns.
Fixed
Wing Aircraft
·
The STOVL JSF will be a single engine,
stealthy, supersonic, strike-fighter aircraft
capable of short takeoffs and vertical landings.
It will combine the basing flexibility of
the AV-8 with the multi-role capabilities, speed
and maneuverability of the F/A-18 to fulfill
both the air-to-ground and air-to-air
requirements of the Marine Corps.
·
KC-130J will bring increased capability
and mission flexibility to the planning table
with its satellite communications system,
survivability enhancements, night systems,
enhanced rapid ground refueling, and improved
aircraft systems.
The KC-130J has 21% increased speed and
35% increased range over current versions of the
KC-130. The
KC-130J will replace our aging fleet of
KC-130Fs, KC-130Rs and KC-130Ts.
Equipping
the Individual Marine
We
believe the deadliest weapon on the battlefield
is a well-trained, well-led, and motivated US
Marine equipped with the finest service rifle
available.
We are seeking to upgrade our service
rifle to better ensure "Every Marine a
Rifleman" remains more than an institutional
belief. Despite my testimony on expensive
programs and futuristic systems we remain
committed to "equipping the Marine" not
manning the equipment, especially in a weapon
system as fundamental as the service rifle and
its associated optics.
Training
We
could have the best, most modern equipment in
the world, but without highly trained Marines to
operate and maintain it, we would have a parking
lot full of expensive gear.
The key to the Marine Corps' success is
no secret, it's our Marines.
They are fit, smart, well trained and
motivated.
They are devoted to their training, their
country, and their Corps.
And for over 200 years, they have
achieved victory over our foes.
Ensuring
these Marines' skills are honed to a razor's
edge is an enduring mission of the Marine Corps.
We train hard and efficiently, trying to
achieve as much combat training as possible at
home station in order to be efficient with our
time and money.
Time spent in transit to distant training
areas is lost training time.
A lost training minute is never regained.
With our forward deployed posture, there
is no time, nor are there training areas, to
retrain and refresh Marines prior to committing
them to either contingency or combat.
They leave their home stations ready, and
we seek to ensure they maintain that readiness
during their forward deployments through an
aggressive exercise schedule.
These exercises, conducted while forward
deployed, hone coalition building skills and
enhance interoperability with allies and
coalition partners.
Training
- Ensuring Success on the Battlefield
There
are few things regarding battle of which I'm
certain, but I know that combat is chaotic and
confusing.
I'm also confident that the weapons
systems and equipment you provide are the best
and most lethal in the history of warfare.
It is essential that we conduct rigorous,
realistic training to ensure the safety of our
Marines and ensure we impose our will on our
enemies. This rigorous training demands we place our Marines, as
closely as possible, under the same stresses,
chaos, and confusion we envision they will face
in combat.
Rigorous,
realistic training can be accomplished in a
variety of ways, but the best method we've
found simulates the way we fight and combines
live fire and maneuver.
We accomplish this most effectively for
our service combat training at the MAGTF
Training Center at 29 Palms California.
We must retain the areas where we train,
particularly those where we train in combined
arms in conjunction with our Navy teammates.
If we can't retain the areas we
currently use, we must replace them with like or
better facilities.
Realistic,
challenging Joint exercises are equally
important to ensure Marine forces are fully
capable of integrated Joint operations.
As a combined arms force of both ground
and air forces, and with our close relationship
to the US Navy, the Marine Corps fully
appreciates the synergy inherent in the Joint
fight and is an active participant in these
challenging exercise programs.
Providing well-trained, Service-unique
capabilities is the greatest contribution to
Joint warfighting capabilities and is our
Nation's truly asymmetric advantage.
One
of the most important things we can provide our
forward deployed Navy-Marine Corps teams is
confidence in their ability to employ all
weapons systems at their disposal.
Confidence that the forward air
controller is going to coordinate an effective
and safe mission, that the ground forces will
suppress enemy air defenses and direct the
trajectories of their projectiles in areas which
don't hazard the aircraft and that the strike
aircraft will hit the target.
We can learn the elements of this
training in parts, and in multiple sites, but
that works on the skills and techniques in
piecemeal fashion, and does not necessarily
engender the critical level of integration
essential for combat readiness.
It is absolutely critical that the Navy
and Marine Corps maintain areas where they can
combine naval gunfire, artillery, air and ground
maneuver forces simultaneously.
Encroachment
- the Dominant Readiness Problem in the 21st
Century
We note with appreciation the Panel's interest
in the degrading effects of encroachment on
combat readiness.
Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton is
cataloging the combined effects of multiple and
overlapping regulations and restrictions and how
they impact our use of our training areas.
The United States Marine Corps is proud
of our record as good stewards of the
environment.
We
are prepared to work through the Secretary of
the Navy to exploit all available measures to
ensure our continued access to our training
areas. We
do have concern about two areas.
The first is the number of regulations
based upon the Endangered Species Act, the Safe
Water Drinking Act, and the Clean Air Act.
Subsequent designation of Marine Corps
training areas as "critical habitat" poses a
great potential for loss of accessible training
areas and could potentially reduce readiness and
increase the cost, in lost time and money, for
training. The
second area of concern is urbanization, further
limiting the four dimensions essential for
training: ground areas, air and sea space, and
access to the electro-magnetic spectrum.
Encroachment issues are emerging as one
of the dominant readiness problems in the 21st
Century.
Taking
care of our Marines and their families
The
greatest single contributor to Marine Corps
readiness is the motivation and desire of our
young Marines to be the very best in the world.
We have approximately 212,000 Marines
today, 172,600 in the active forces and 39,558
in the Reserve.
With your help, we have made significant
progress in taking care of these young men and
women and their families.
Increases in military pay and benefits,
especially basic allowance for housing
increases, improvements in health care,
improvements in on-base housing are key
enhancements you have made reality.
While we recruit Marines, we retain
families. The
young men and women we don't retain return to
society as solid American citizens.
They will uphold their responsibilities,
and their families are as much their
responsibilities as their military duties.
Medical care for sick children, good
schools, a chance to save for a child's
college education are as vital to ensuring our
Marines readiness as ensuring there is adequate
ammunition.
A focused Marine elicits the best from
his training, and knowing that his family is
well taken care of allows a Marine to focus.
The
Marine Corps - A Total Force
It
is important to note that the Marine Corps
operates as a total force, including elements of
both active and reserve components and depends
on total force readiness.
Our reserve component is organized on
exactly the same lines as our active force; we
have not transferred a horizontal capability
from the active to the reserve forces.
Our posture as forward deployed, forces
in readiness does not allow us to have combat
support or combat service support functions
primarily in the reserve structure.
Accordingly, we strive to ensure our
reserve forces are as well trained and ready as
our active force.
We integrate the Marine Corps Reserve
forces into ongoing exercises and training.
Two Combined Arms Exercises per year are
conducted entirely by Reserve forces today.
In support of the Global War on
terrorism, we have activated both Marine
Expeditionary Force Augmentation Command
Elements, two infantry battalions, two heavy
helicopter squadrons, two aerial refueler
transport detachments, as well as other staff
augmentation individuals and units.
I would personally like to express my
gratitude and appreciation especially to the
Marine families, and to the business owners,
companies and government offices at all levels
who have made it possible for our Reserve
Marines to train and to mobilize in support of
our efforts against terrorism.
Safety
I
personally believe deeply in the concept of the
Marine Corps family.
Just as any parent is concerned with his
family's safety, so our Commandant and every
Marine leader are focused on safety.
As our 13th Commandant,
General John Lejeune stated, "In the Marine
Corps, the role of senior to subordinate is not
one of master to servant but rather one of
teacher to student, father to son."
I believe that deeply.
It therefore pains me every time one of
our Marines is hurt or killed.
It is especially painful when that injury
or death was the result of a preventable
accident.
One
of our greatest challenges in this area of
safety is the basic composition of the Marine
Corps. The
average age of our Marines is 24, roughly six to
eight years younger than the average age of the
members of the other services.
We are a young force, and this is part of
the culture of the Corps.
Our unique force structure has fully 68%
of our Marines on the first enlistment at any
one time. While
2001 was a banner year for safety for the Marine
Corps, I cannot say we have done as well
recently. I
am personally focused on this issue, as are all
Marine leaders.
We have not found a common thread or
pattern in our ongoing analyses.
Please rest assured that the Marine Corps
as an institution, and I personally will not
rest until we reduce the level of preventable
accidents to zero.
Conclusion
Marines
were the first conventional ground combat forces
in Afghanistan.
We accomplished that feat with superbly
trained Marines and impeccably maintained
equipment.
While well maintained, that gear is old
and aging fast due to the higher usage rates
caused by the ongoing war.
We were able to defeat our enemies in
Afghanistan because we were ready when called.
This remains our focus, and our number
one mission.
We need your help in keeping up our old
gear, modernizing where we can, and taking care
of our Marines and their families.
What
you saw in Afghanistan is just the beginning of
what America and the world will see from a fully
modernized and transformed Marine Corps.
Marines moved 600 miles inland with
30-year-old helicopters and 35 year old cargo
aircraft C-130's.
Our Marines are ready, our doctrine
works, and with the new hardware ready to come
on line, you're going to get a Marine Corps
that's leaner, more lethal and even more ready
just like you've expected for 226 years.
Only then, it will come with a thousand
mile reach.
We know that we're really just
beginning the hard work of the global war on
terrorism; the tough targets are in our
windshield, not our rearview mirror.
We need your help to be ready for the
tough fights ahead.
We think we've proved worthy of your
continued support and ask that you continue to
support your Marine Corps as you always have.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity
to address readiness - an issue critical to
Marines and our Nation.
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