Marine Corps Drawdown, Force Structure Initiatives, and Roles and Missions: Background and Issues for Congress

Abstract

The Marine Corps characterizes itself as a crisis response expeditionary force which is task organized and able to conduct operations across the entire spectrum of military operations. The Corps is a middleweight force that is designed to fill the void in our Nation s defense structure between light Special Operations Forces (SOF) and heavier conventional units. The Marines missions are codified in U.S. Code, Title 10, Section 5063, United States Marine Corps: Composition and Functions, and marines are the nation s primary amphibious force, capable of conducting amphibious assault operations in both permissive and non-permissive environments. Marine operational forces are organized for specific tasks and consist of four elements; a command element; a ground combat element; an aviation element; and a logistics combat element. There are four types of Marine Air Ground Task Forces (MAGTFs): the Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF); the Marine Expeditionary Brigade (MEB); the Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU); and the Special Purpose MAGTF. A number of decisions pertaining to national security strategy, force structure, and declining defense budgets have resulted in a drawdown of the active Marine Corps from 202,000 in 2011 to 174,000 by 2017. Some believe that if sequestration continues, the Marines could be compelled to draw down to a force of 150,000 Marines a strength level Marine Corps leadership has characterized as unviable to execute our current defense strategy. The Marines have instituted a number of force shaping programs to reach the 174,000 endstrength. They believe this force level can be achieved through natural attrition as well as voluntary separation programs where Marines who leave the service early can receive financial compensation. Officials caution that if the Marines are required to drawdown to 150,000, involuntary separation programs might need to be enacted.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 09, 2014
Accession Number
ADA592464

Entities

People

  • Andrew Feickert

Organizations

  • Library of Congress

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Biomedical
  • Cyber
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Amphibious Operations
  • Combat Operations
  • Combatant Commanders
  • Contingency Operations (Military)
  • Force Structure
  • Humanitarian Assistance
  • Littoral Combat Ships
  • Marine Corps
  • Military Operations
  • Military Organizations
  • National Security
  • Personnel Management
  • Special Operations Forces
  • Tactical Air Support
  • Transport Aircraft
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Maritime Combat Support and Expeditionary Logistics.
  • Military Mobilization and Reserve Forces Studies.
  • Strategic Security Studies