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October 11, 2007 6:28 AM
First In...Now Out?
What does it mean when even the Marines want to leave Iraq?
The Marine Corps is pressing to remove its forces from Iraq and to send marines instead to Afghanistan, to take over the leading role in combat there, according to senior military and Pentagon officials.
OK, OK...it doesn't mean a lack of confidence on the part of the Marines in the mission, as much as war opponents might want it to. What it more likely means is that the armed forces are taking steps to plan for the long haul...and that such long-term planning may create some tensions down the road:
Military officials say the Marine proposal is also an early indication of jockeying among the four armed services for a place in combat missions in years to come. "At the end of the day, this could be decided by parochialism, and making sure each service does not lose equity, as much as on how best to manage the risk of force levels for Iraq and Afghanistan," said one Pentagon planner.
Tensions over how to divide future budgets have begun to resurface across the military because of apprehension that Congressional support for large increases in defense spending seen since the Sept. 11 attacks will diminish, leaving the services to compete for money.
So, while the headline in The Times first screamed to me that even the Marines had lost faith that there was a mission to accomplish, it now looks more likely that if we're planning for years upon years, the reports of troop withdrawal have been greatly overstated.
One more reason to demand timelines for withdrawal before Congress authorizes any more funding for this ill-fated Occupation.
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Discussion
Marines, led by the new Commandant, have proposed the switch because it makes organizational and tactical sense.
There are 25,000 Marines in Iraq and 26,000 Army, Navy and Air Force in Afghanistan. While there are currently no Marine combat units in Afghanistan they have been there in past years.
It would eliminate some command problems, streamline resupply and logistics (Marines and Army have differences in equipment), improve battle space communications and control and dramatically change the training process.
Right now training units back in the US for both the Marines and the Army are forced to train for two vastly different combat environments depending on where the incoming units are slated to be assigned. Assigning Afghanistan to the Marines and Iraq to the Army would allow each of them to focus their training on their respective TAORs (Tactical Area of Responsibility).
Take something as simple as language. Currently one of the biggest problems troops in the field face is translation and currently that means when they are headed for Iraq they need Arabic speakers while if headed for Afghanistan they need Pashtu and Farsi speakers. Realigning the two field forces would allow them to focus on developing courses to teach one or the other.
It would vastly improve unit transition issues. Right now you have Army units or Marine units rotating out of a TAOR to be replaced by a unit from an opposite service. Because of differing capabilities, equipment and doctrine what worked for Marines in Ramadi might not work for the Army in Ramadi.
It would also improve the weapon's development process. For example the Marines and the Army were at loggerheads (and both the Army and Marines at odds with the Air Force) in Iraq because each of the services brought a very different viewpoint to the issue of tactical UAV reconnaissance.
I also suspect the USMC move has a lot to do with the current ground situation in Iraq. The Marines are in the main assigned to Anbar Province and have largely fought themselves out of a job they are suited for. Marines are combat assault focused and do not have the range of units (and equipment) which would make them effective in a largely occupational role.
The switch is an idea of serious merit.
Jim Graves
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