Tell It to the Marines: Think-Tanks on Maintenance Overhangs and Future Plans

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The leftist Center for American Progress (CAP) and the Lexington Institute have put out an August 2006 publication called “Marine Corps Equipment After Iraq” [PDF format, 780k] that looks at the effects of the war in Iraq on the US Marines’ readiness, equipment, and future procurement priorities. DID covered that subject a little while ago in terms of the US Marines’ own plans for its armor and its LAV fleet in particular, covered their forthcoming EFV program in-depth, and noted the maintenance overhang issue as well. This report puts many of these pieces together, and offers its views on the specific implications for the USMC.

EFV: Command variant
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Readers may recall that DID’s coverage of the CAP’s “Progressive Quadrennial Defense Review” was (deservedly) unkind due to factual gaps and displays of a lack of expertise, but this report appears to have fewer difficulties along those lines. Of course, one may always decide to agree or disagree with their conclusions. The joint report sets out to analyze:

• The impact of the war in Iraq on the readiness and reliability of Marine Corps equipment;
• The lessons learned from the Iraq operation about equipment deficiencies in the Marines active and reserve forces
• The near-term steps required to repair or modify equipment so that the Marine Corps can support continued operations in Iraq and other commitments such as the counter-insurgency campaign in Afghanistan or a campaign on the Korean peninsula;
• The long-term steps required to rebuild or replace aging Marine Corps equipment so that it can participate in the fast-paced, networked military operations of the post-Iraq period.