Prepositioning Realignment

Abstract

The Marine Corps' prepositioning programs need to be altered to support the strategic, security, fiscal, and operational realities of the 21st century. The current prepositioning program locations do not support the likely areas where future MAGTF Operations will be executed. Globalization and potential failed states leading to increased instability in certain regions will force the Marine Corps to operate in a wide variety of areas that are not necessarily aligned with current prepositioning program locations. Planned Equipment Density Lists (EDLs) for 2015 are not synchronized with the Navy or Marine Corps visions for operations in 2015. Seapower 21, the concept of Seabasing, and the realities of Joint Warfighting require that the EDLs be changed to mirror operational design, strategic realities, and the Corps' vision for the future. The current and planned prepositioning programs are not designed to maximize support for the likely operations and missions to be conducted in 2105. Military operations other than war (MOOTW) and small wars will characterize the types of missions the Marine Corps will execute in 2015. Current prepositioning programs are designed to support large-scale conventional operations against a near-peer competitor employing Soviet or Chinese style doctrine. This paper will provide specific recommendations for changes that will enable the Marine Corps to employ prepositioned assets in the future based on how and where it could find itself employed in 2015 and beyond. Geographic prepositioning programs as well as maritime prepositioning programs are critical to this analysis. There are larger fiscal and political realities that affect military decisions about prepositioned assets, but this paper will center on needed changes to enhance the prepositioning programs for 2015 and beyond.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2006
Accession Number
ADA508426

Entities

People

  • David Nathanson

Organizations

  • Marine Corps University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Combat Operations
  • Command And Control
  • Department Of Defense
  • Employment
  • Globalization
  • Maintenance
  • Marine Corps
  • Military Operations
  • National Security
  • Naval Operations
  • Naval Warfare
  • New York
  • Security
  • United States
  • United States European Command
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Maritime Combat Support and Expeditionary Logistics.
  • Strategic Security Studies