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U.S. Marine Corps U.S U.S. Marine Corps he U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) is the na- continued to prioritize “near-term readiness” Ttion’s expeditionary armed force, posi- at the expense of other areas such as capacity, tioned and ready to respond to crises around capability, modernization, home station read- the world. Marine units assigned aboard ships iness, and infrastructure.3 However, as stated (“soldiers of the sea”) or at bases abroad stand in the President’s FY 2019 budget of $43.1 bil- ready to project U.S. power into crisis areas. lion for the Corps, the service elevated mod- Marines also serve in a range of unique mis- ernization as a means to improve readiness for sions, from combat defense of U.S. embassies combat.4 This is consistent with and central to under attack abroad to operating the Presi- its readiness-recovery eforts and represents dent’s helicopter fleet. a shift to a longer-term perspective. Recap- Although Marines have a wide variety of italization and repair of legacy systems is no individual assignments, the focus of every longer sufcient to sustain current operational Marine is on combat: Every Marine is first a requirements. New equipment is necessary. rifleman. The USMC has positioned itself for crisis response and has evolved its concepts Capacity to leverage its equipment more efectively to The measures of Marine Corps capacity in support operations in a heavily contested mar- this Index are similar to those used to assess itime environment such as the one found in the the Army’s: end strength and units (battalions Western Pacific. for the Marines and brigades for the Army). As of March 2019, according to the U.S. Na- Ground Forces. The Marine Corps’ basic vy’s budget highlights document for fiscal year combat unit is the infantry battalion, which (FY) 2020, more than 40,000 Marines (roughly is composed of approximately 900 Marines one-third of Marine Corps operating forces) and includes three rifle companies, a weapons were deployed around the world, “providing company, and a headquarters and service com- immediate options, assuring allies and de- pany.5 In FY 2011, the Marine Corps maintained terring our adversaries.” During the preceding 27 infantry battalions in its active component year, “the Marine Corps executed 170 opera- at an authorized end strength of 202,100.6 As tions, eight amphibious operations, [and] 115 budgets declined, the Corps prioritized readi- theater security cooperation events and par- ness through managed reductions in capacity, ticipated in 51 exercises and relief operations including a drawdown of forces, and delays or for Hurricanes Maria, Florence, and Michael.”1 reductions in planned procurement levels. After Pursuant to the national-level and ser- the Marine Corps fell to a low of 23 active com- vice-level strategic guidance documents that ponent infantry battalions in FY 2015, Congress provide direction and focus for the military began to fund gradual increases in end strength, services,2 maintaining the Marines’ crisis re- returning the Corps to 24 infantry battalions.7 sponse capability is critical. Thus, given the President Donald Trump’s FY 2019 bud- fiscal constraints imposed on it, the Corps has get request increased the size of the active The Heritage Foundation | heritage.org/Military 441 component Marine Corps by 1,100 Marines Aviation. Marine aviation has been particu- to an authorized level of 186,100,8 sustaining larly stressed by insufcient funding. Although enough support for 24 infantry battalions. operational requirements have not decreased, The additional manpower backfilled existing fewer Marine aircraft have been available for units and helped the Marine Corps to recruit tasking or training. For example, according and retain individuals with critical skill sets to its 2019 aviation plan, the USMC currently and specialties. fields 16 tactical fighter squadrons, compared One impact of reduced capacity is a strain to 19 in FY 2017 and around 28 during Desert on Marines’ dwell time. Cuts in capacity—the Storm.12 Though the availability of legacy air- number of units and individual Marines—en- craft has slowly improved—the result of in- abled the Marine Corps to disperse the re- creased funding for spare parts and implemen- sources it did receive among fewer units, thus tation of recommendations from independent maintaining higher readiness levels through- readiness reviews—the Marine Corps “is still out a smaller force. However, without a cor- challenged with low readiness rates in specific responding decrease in operational require- communities,” such as F/A-18 squadrons.13 ments, demand for Marine Corps units and The Corps is introducing the F-35 platform assets has resulted in grueling deployment into the fleet, but F/A-18 Hornets remain “the rates, a situation that has remained large- primary bridging platform to F-35B/C” and ly unchanged since 2018.9 High deployment will remain in the force until 2030.14 This pri- frequency exacerbates the degradation of mary tactical air (TACAIR) capability has to readiness as people and equipment are used be carefully managed as it is no longer in pro- more frequently with less time to recover be- duction. The Navy completed its divestment tween deployments. of F/A-18 A-D models during FY 2019, making The stated ideal deployment-to-dwell them available to the Marines and enabling the (D2D) time ratio is 1:3 (seven months deployed Corps to replace its older aircraft with planes for every 21 months at home).10 This leaves that are less old.15 To further mitigate the aging more time available for training and recovery of its fleet until full transition to the F-35, the and provides support for a “ready bench,” with- Corps is also looking to acquire F/A-18s from out which readiness investments are immedi- other countries as opportunities arise.16 ately consumed. FY 2019 budget constraints The Corps will maintain five squadrons of support only “an approximate 1:2 D2D ratio AV-8B Harriers, introduced in 1985, until FY in the aggregate”11 with the roughly 5 percent 2022.17 In its heavy-lift rotary wing fleet, the increase in funding (compared to FY 2018) go- Corps began a reset of the CH-53E in 2016 to ing toward readiness and modernization at the bridge the procurement gap to the CH-53K expense of capacity or number of units. and aims to “reset…the entire 143-aircraft fleet Infantry battalions serve as a surrogate by FY20,” but this will still leave the service 57 measure for the Corps’ total force. As the first aircraft short of the stated heavy-lift require- to respond to many contingencies, the Marine ment of 200 airframes, and the Marine Corps Corps requires a large degree of flexibility and will not have enough helicopters to meet its self-sufciency, and this drives its approach to heavy-lift requirement without the transition organization and deployment of operational to the CH-53K.18 formations that, although typically centered According to the Corps’ 2019 aviation plan, on infantry units, are composed of ground, the transition to the MV-22 Osprey is complete, air, and logistics elements. Each of these as- with 18 fully operational squadrons in the ac- sets and capabilities is critical to effective tive component.19 However, depending on the deployment of force, and any one of them can results of an ongoing requirements-based be a limiting factor in the conduct of training analysis, the procurement objective could in- and operations. crease to 380 aircraft.20 The Osprey has been 442 2020 Index of U.S. Military Strength called “our most in-demand aircraft,”21 which Thus, while they do help to maintain capacity, means the Marine Corps has to reconcile high programs to extend service life do not provide operational tempos (OPTEMPOs) with the the capability enhancements that moderniza- objective of maintaining the platform in its tion programs provide. The result is an older, inventory “for at least the next 40 years.”22 At less-capable fleet of equipment that costs more present, MV-22 readiness has plateaued at 55 to maintain. percent due to a wide variety in aircraft config- uration, which complicates assessing problems Capability and ordering parts—affecting repairs—and The nature of the Marine Corps’ crisis re- shortfalls in maintenance personnel.23 The sponse role requires capabilities that span Corps has committed to funding its Common all domains. The USMC ship requirement is Configuration-Readiness and Modernization managed by the Navy and is covered in the (CC-RAM) and Nacelle Improvement (NI) pro- Navy’s section of the Index. The Marine Corps grams to increase availability by 15 percent.24 has been focusing on “essential moderniza- Amphibious Ships. Although amphibious tion” and emphasizing programs that “un- ships are assessed as part of the Navy’s fleet ca- derpin our core competencies,” making the pacity, Marines operate and train aboard naval Amphibious Combat Vehicle (ACV) and F-35 vessels. This makes “the shortage of amphibi- JSF programs its top two priorities.30 The ous ships…the quintessential challenge to am- Corps has committed nearly one-third of its phibious training.”25 The Navy was operating overall budget—$13.8 billion in FY 2019 and a only 32 amphibious warfare ships as of August requested $13.9 billion for FY 2020—to force 20, 2019,26 and is projected to continue operat- modernization.31 ing short of the 38-ship requirement until FY Of the Marine Corps’ current fleet of vehi- 2033, thus limiting what the Marine Corps can cles, its amphibious vehicles—specifically, the do in operational, training, and experimenta- Assault Amphibious Vehicle (AAV-7A1) and tion settings.27 Light Armored Vehicle (LAV)—are the old- Because of this chronic shortfall in am- est, with the AAV-7A1 averaging over 40 years phibious ships, the USMC has relied partially old and the LAV averaging 26 years old.32 The on land-based Special Purpose Marine Air- Corps had pursued a survivability upgrade for Ground Task Forces (SPMAGTFs).
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