Retired senior commanders criticize the U.S. Marine Corps’ new force design, claiming it is too tiny to combat current threats and has little chance of success.
Several former senior Marine Corps officials are at odds with the service’s present leadership over plans to reorganize the force. It is a battle for the kid’s life, according to retired Lt. Gen. Paul Van Riper, former chief of the Marine Corps Combat Development Command. Former Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work said, “We are not prepared for that scenario.” The new force design review panel of the Marine Corps was critical of choices taken before concept validation. General Anthony Zinni, a retired former leader of the U.S.
Central Command was the panel’s most vociferous critic. Zakheim and Work countered that the design is not fundamentally altering the Marine Corps. The Corps will resemble an upgraded version of its current appearance in the following years: This requires constructing a force that can strike and operate unnoticed inside China’s weapon range. Marine Corps Cmdr. Robert Van Riper and Marine Corps Capt. James Work said, “Marines will die due to this faulty theory.”
