21st Century U.S. Military Manuals: U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) Marine Corps Operations (MCDP 1-0)
U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Military, Department of Defense
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CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1 - The Marine Corps in National Defense
CHAPTER 2 - Marine Corps Expeditionary Operations
CHAPTER 3 - Marine Corps Forces
CHAPTER 4 - Employment of Marine Corps Forces at the Operational Level
CHAPTER 5 - Logistics in Marine Corps Operations
CHAPTER 6 - Planning and Conducting Expeditionary Operations
CHAPTER 7 - The MAGTF in the Offense
CHAPTER 8 - The MAGTF in the Defense
CHAPTER 9 - Other MAGTF Tactical Operations
CHAPTER 10 - Military Operations Other Than War
CHAPTER 11 - MAGTF Reconnaissance and Security Operations
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Marine Corps Operations
U.S. Marine Corps
MCDP 1-0
PCN 142 000014 00
DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY * Headquarters United States Marine Corps * Washington, DC 20308-1775
27 September 2001
FOREWORD
Marine Corps Doctrinal Publication (MCDP) 1-0 is the first Marine Corps Operations doctrinal publication written for the Marine component and the Marine air-ground task force (MAGTF). It represents how our warfighting philosophy is codified in operational terms. MCDP 1-0 is intentionally written broadly to capture the employment of Marine components and the MAGTF across the range of military operations. The supporting tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTP) are contained in our warfighting and reference publications.
This doctrinal publication is the transition—the bridge—between the Marine Corps' warfighting philosophy of maneuver warfare to the TTP used by Marines. MCDP 1-0 is written for the Marine component and the MAGTF and is the precursor to future MAGTF-oriented warfighting doctrine. It addresses how the Marine Corps conducts operations to support the national military strategy across the broad range of naval, joint, and multinational operations. MCDP 1-0 explores the contribution to the national defense provided by the unique structure of Marine Corps organizations—the Marine component and the MAGTF. It reflects the notion that "words matter", providing definitions of key operational terms to ensure that Marines speak a common operational language. It describes the role of the Marine component in providing, sustaining, and deploying Marine Corps forces at the operational level of war and how the MAGTF conducts expeditionary operations at the operational and tactical levels.
MCDP 1-0 focuses on how Marine Corps forces conduct operations today and the direction the Marine Corps capstone concept expeditionary maneuver warfare and the supporting concepts of operational maneuver from the sea and ship-to-objective maneuver will take Marine Corps operations in the near future.
MCDP 1-0 concentrates on the operating forces of the Marine Corps—Marine Corps forces as a Service component under joint force command, and the MAGTF. It acknowledges that Marine Corps operations are now and will continue to be joint and likely multinational. It describes how Marine Corps forces support the joint or multinational force commander and what capabilities the Marines bring to a joint or multinational force. It illustrates how the Marine Corps' task-organized combined arms forces, flexibility, and rapid deployment capabilities apply to the widening spectrum of employment of today's military forces. This publication provides the fundamentals of how MAGTFs conduct tactical operations and concisely addresses the types of operations MAGTFs will conduct to accomplish these missions. Marine Corps commanders and leaders at all levels should read and study this publication. Additionally, joint force commanders and their staffs can use this publication to better understand the capabilities of Marine Corps forces assigned to the joint force.
J.L. JONES
General, United States Marine Corps
Commandant of the Marine Corps
The Marine Corps in National Defense
"Despite its outstanding record as a combat force in the past war [World War II], the Marine Corps' far greater contribution to victory was doctrinal [new concepts]: that is, the fact that the basic amphibious doctrines which carried Allied troops over every beachhead of World War II had been largely shaped—often in [the] face of uninterested or doubting military orthodoxy—by U.S. Marines, and mainly between 1922 and 1935."
—General Alexander A. Vandegrift, USMC
"...American history, recent as well as remote, has fully demonstrated the vital need for the existence of a strong force-in-readiness. Such a force, versatile, fast moving, and hard-hitting,... can prevent the growth of potentially large conflagrations by prompt and vigorous action during their incipient stages. The nation's shock troops must be the most ready when the nation is least ready... to provide a balanced force-in-readiness for a naval campaign and, at the same time, a ground and air striking force ready to suppress or contain international disturbances short of large scale war...."
-82nd Congress (1952)
Since 1775, the United States Marine Corps has served as an expeditionary force organized and trained to act in the national security interest and carry out the national military strategy. The Marine Corps' contribution to the national defense has successfully evolved throughout its history by virtue of the ability of Marines to identify and adapt to the nation's national security needs, often before those needs were commonly recognized. Such innovations as the seizure and defense of advanced Naval bases, amphibious operations, close air support, helicopterborne vertical envelopment tactics, maritime pre-positioning forces (MPFs), and task-organized, combined arms forces consisting of aviation, ground, and logistic elements known as Marine air-ground task forces (MAGTFs) are prime examples of how the Marine Corps has adapted and evolved as an expeditionary force. The Marine Corps continually reviews its roles and missions in the context of an uncertain world, adapting to the changing security needs of the Nation while preserving those core values and professional capabilities that make Marines succeed in war and peace.
The Nation requires an expeditionary force-in-readiness that can respond to a crisis anywhere in the world. The Marine Corps provides self-sustainable, task organized combined arms forces capable of conducting a full spectrum of operations in support of the joint force commander. Missions might include forcible entry operations, peace enforcement, evacuation of American citizens and embassies, humanitarian assistance or operations to reinforce or complement the capabilities of other Services to provide balanced military forces to the joint force commander. The unique capability of the Marine Corps as a sea service and partner with the United States Navy allows the use of the sea as both a maneuver space and a secure base of operations to conduct operations in the littoral areas of the world. The ability to remain at sea for long periods without the requirement of third nation basing rights makes the Marine Corps the force of choice in emerging crises. Marine Corps forces exploit the Total Force concept, employing combinations of active duty and reserve Marines to ensure that missions are effectively and efficiently executed.
Naval expeditions comprised of Navy and Marine Corps forces have long been the instruments of choice in our Nation's response to global contingencies. From humanitarian assistance, to peacekeeping, to combat, these forces are normally the first on scene and ready to respond. Naval expeditionary forces combine the complementary but distinct capabilities of the Navy and Marine Corps. They provide strategic agility and overseas presence without infringing on the sovereignty of other nations and simultaneously enable enhanced force protection. They provide a power projection capability that can be tailored to meet a wide range of crises from a major theater war to military operations other than war (MOOTW). Naval expeditionary forces can be task-organized to provide an array of options to the National Command Authorities and combatant commanders in dealing with a particular situation. Naval expeditionary forces provide the United States the unique capability to conduct and sustain operations from the sea—including continuous forward presence and self-sustainment—in support of our national interests without reliance on pre-positioning ashore, foreign basing or the granting of overflight rights.
Historical Role
Throughout its history, the Marine Corps has lead in developing innovative and successful military concepts. These concepts have helped the Marines and their sister Services to win the Nation's battles and wars. The Marine Corps success in developing into the Nation's premier expeditionary force has its roots in decades of innovative thought, bold experiments, and constant training.
The Marine Corps was established in 1775 to provide landing forces (LFs) for Navy ships. Throughout its first 150 years of existence the Marine Corps provided Marines for ships detachments and temporary battalions and brigades formed from ships detachments and Marine Barracks to provide LFs to the fleet during naval expeditions. These forces conducted expeditionary operations throughout the world such as—
• Seizing New Providence in the Bahamas from the British (1776).
• Raising the United States flag over a foreign city for the first time when Lieutenant O'Bannon and eight Marines, leading a rag-tag force of Arabs and mercenaries, captured the Tripolitan city of Derna (1805).
• Accompanying Commodore Perry as he opened Japan to trade with the world (1854).
• Conducting an amphibious assault on Fort Fisher in the Civil War (1865).
• Landing at Guantanamo Bay during the Spanish American War (1898).
Marines participated with Army forces in sustained combat operations as in the capture of Mexico City (1847) and in the Meuse-Argonne offensive during World War I (1918). Marines also conducted other special missions as directed by the President, such as the capture of John Brown at Harper's Ferry (1859) and the defense of the American Legation in Peking during the Boxer Rebellion (1900). Deployed in MOOTW, Marines performed constabulary and nation building duties in the Philippines, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Haiti (1899-1934).
In the years between World War I and World War II, the Marines, building on their long experience as an expeditionary force from the sea, created the concept of modern amphibious warfare. The Marines studied past operations, experimented with new equipment such as landing craft and amphibious assault vehicles, and conducted innovative amphibious exercises with the fleet. These efforts resulted in the doctrine and new tactics, techniques, and procedures in amphibious warfare that were instrumental in winning in the European and Pacific theaters of war during World War II. Not only was this new concept of amphibious warfare displayed at Tarawa, Saipan, and Iwo Jima, the landings at North Africa, Sicily, Salerno, and Normandy were also a direct result of the conceptual effort of the Marines. Lessons learned from World War II operations were applied in the masterful Inchon landing during the Korean War (1950), and the continued evolution of amphibious operations enabled Marine Corps expeditionary operations through the end of the 20th century.
The Marine Corps concept of creating expeditionary combined arms forces that exploited the synergy of task-organized Marine aviation, ground combat forces and combat service support, was codified by the National Security Act of 1947. The MAGTF concept was soon tested in combat with the rapid deployment and highly successful operations of the 1st Marine Brigade (Provisional) in the early days of the Korean War. This MAGTF was rapidly formed and deployed and was instrumental in stopping the North Korean's offensive to drive United States forces from Korea. The 1st Marine Brigade's defense of the Pusan Perimeter enabled the decisive Inchon landing that led to the defeat and expulsion of the North Koreans. Public Law 416 passed by the 82nd Congress in 1952 further solidified the nature of the MAGTF. This law ensured that the Marine Corps would be organized with three aircraft wings and three combat divisions.
Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, the Marines led the way in developing concepts of employment for the helicopter, using this new technology to rapidly move troops, supplies, and evacuate casualties during the Korean War. The concept of vertical envelopment added a new dimension not only to the amphibious assault but to a range of military operations soon to be conducted in Algeria (1954-62), the Sinai (1956), and by Marines and the Army in Southeast Asia (1962-75).
Building on the counterinsurgency experiences of Marines in Haiti and Nicaragua, innovative Marines created the combined action platoon (CAP) program in South Vietnam in 1965. This program placed small teams of Marines, led by noncommissioned officers, in the hamlets and villages throughout the Marines' area of operations (AO). These Marines earned the trust of the villagers by living in the village while protecting the people. Marines led and trained the local people's defense forces, learned the language and customs of the villagers, and were very successful in denying those areas under their control to the enemy. The CAP program became a model for success in countering insurgencies. Many of the lessons learned from the CAP program were emulated in various peace enforcement and humanitarian assistance operations Marines have performed over the last decade, such as Operation Provide Comfort in Northern Iraq (1991) and Operation Restore Hope in Somalia (1992-93).
Following the Vietnam War and military operations such as the ill-fated Iranian rescue mission, Operation Urgent Fury in Grenada, and peace enforcement in Beirut in the 1970s and early 1980s, Congress mandated several important changes in the way that joint forces conducted military operations. The Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1986 defined the responsibilities of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Service chiefs, and combatant commanders and provided the authority to perform them. The law fundamentally changed the way the Department of Defense operated by distinguishing between the operational contributions of the Services and those of the combatant commands. At the operational and tactical levels, the Services were to provide forces to the joint force commander who would then exercise command in operations. This combination of air, ground, and sea forces closely mirrored the organization of the MAGTF. Accordingly, Marines experienced no difficulty in understanding and adapting to joint operations. After all, the MAGTF was the precursor to the functionally oriented joint force. The joint operations concept was validated in Operation Just Cause in Panama (1989) and Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm in the Persian Gulf (1990-91).
The inability of the Nation to rapidly deploy large numbers of heavy forces to the Middle East in the 1970s and 1980s provided the impetus to the Marine Corps to develop and refine the MPF concept. The Marines helped the Navy design the ships of the maritime pre-positioning ships squadrons (MPSRON), identifying the key requirements and features necessary to provide rapid loading and unloading, adequate storage, and supply capacity. The Marines developed and tested the organization of the squadrons and those Marine units that would execute the loading, maintenance, and off-loading of the maritime pre-positioning ships (MPS). The MPFs concept has been validated with the extremely successful employment of MPF in combat operations during Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm, and in humanitarian assistance operations such as Operation Sea Angel in Bangladesh (1991) and Operation Restore Hope in Somalia (1992-93). This concept has provided the combatant commanders with a very flexible capability to rapidly deploy and sustain robust combat and humanitarian forces throughout the littorals.
Maneuver warfare is the Marine Corps warfighting philosophy and forms the basis for the concept of expeditionary maneuver warfare. During the late 1970s and the 1980s Marines embraced the theory of maneuver warfare and developed their own institutional approach to maneuver warfare. This process of debate, discussion, and experimentation culminated in the publication of Fleet Marine Force Manual 1, Warfighting. This seminal document subsequently provided the foundation for the training and education of Marine leaders who conducted maneuver warfare with great success in Operation Desert Storm. Warfighting was followed by a series of doctrinal publications that provided further guidance on the theory and nature of strategy, campaigning, and tactics in maneuver warfare.
The continued development of new concepts and doctrine, along with the refining of accepted doctrine, will help ensure that the Marine Corps provides the Nation with a balanced force in readiness to conduct expeditionary operations in a dangerous and uncertain world.
The Character of Modern Conflict
Despite (or perhaps as a result of) the victory of the United States in the Cold War, the world is characterized by crisis and disorder. Instead of the relative certainty provided by the bi-polar world of the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the world now has a single super power—the United States—and several regional powers. This has led to regional competition in many areas of the world and new threats of terrorism and international organized crime have taken on more menacing dimensions. Burgeoning populations in emerging nations are threatened by famine, shortages of natural resources, and disease, and are particularly vulnerable to natural disasters. All of these factors combine to create an environment where United States military forces are constantly challenged to accomplish multidimensional missions. Marines may be conducting combat, peace enforcement, and humanitarian assistance operations simultaneously within an emerging nation in an austere theater or a major metropolitan city in the littorals.
Operational Environment
The environment where Marines will operate in the next decade reflects the changing character of modern conflict. While the Marine Corps has participated in some combat in urban areas such as Inchon and Seoul in the Korean War, Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic (1965), Hue in the Vietnam War (1968), and Mogadishu in Somalia (1992-93), most Marine Corps combat operations have taken place in isolated unpopulated settings. The growth of cities along the world's littorals means Marines must be prepared to conduct a range of operations in heavily populated urban areas and that civilians and other noncombatants will be an ever-increasing concern to the commander. While fighting and winning the Nation's battles will ever be the focus of the Marine Corps, commanders must be able to successfully conduct a wide variety of missions against diverse and ever-changing threats while under a myriad of political constraints and restraints and while operating under joint or multinational command.
Threat Dimension
As the nature of modern conflict evolves so does the nature of the threat that the Nation and Marine Corps forces face. No longer are Marines only concerned with defeating Soviet or their proxy forces. Marines must be able to face threats that include natural or man-made disasters such as famine or disease, transnational criminals such as drug cartels and weapon smugglers, terrorists, and insurgents, as well as soldiers in the armies of the Nation's foes.
The national armed forces of regional powers continue to be a major threat to world peace. Regional powers and smaller nations continue to field large and relatively competent forces. These forces will continue to modernize their equipment to take advantage of technological advancements and to challenge United States strengths in information technology, intelligence gathering and targeting, and precision strike capabilities. United States forces must remain focused on the challenge of defeating these near peer competitors and regional powers to protect the Nation's interests.
Nonstate actors are those individuals or forces that perform criminal acts of terrorism, drug production and smuggling or conduct guerrilla warfare for personal gain or to achieve the nonlegitimate goals of their organization or cause. In some cases nations support or hire these nonstate actors to achieve their national goals.
Transnational entities conduct a wide variety of activities to threaten United States interests and security abroad and at home. These include terrorism, drug smuggling and production, illegal arms trading, organized international crime, and environmental terrorism. Disasters such as famine and disease, coupled with war and ethnic strife, result in migrations of refugees that overwhelm the resources of the gaining countries. International assistance is often the only recourse to alleviate the suffering of the refugees and prevent the gaining countries from closing their borders.
To succeed against United States forces, the enemy must be smart and flexible. Adversaries will develop forces, tactics, and equipment that will seek to attack perceived United States weaknesses and avoid strengths. These asymmetrical operations will require forces that can change tactics and organizations in anticipation of or in response to a new situation. For example, such an enemy force would conduct conventional force operations during early stages of a crisis while United States forces are deploying and the enemy has temporary superiority of forces. Once the United States has achieved conventional superiority in the AO, the enemy would then quickly adapt and conduct nonconventional operations, such as guerrilla warfare, terrorist attacks, and psychological operations.
Adversaries will conduct operations to set the conditions that lead to accomplishing their national or organizational objectives. They will try to change the nature of the conflict or employ capabilities that they believe the United States will have difficulties countering. Adversaries will attempt to shape the situation by—
• Conducting force-oriented operations against United States forces and coalition partners to create casualties.
• Denying or disrupting United States forcible entry operations.
• Avoiding decisive battles to preserve their forces and prolong the conflict.
• Conducting asymmetrical operations.
• Forming political and military coalitions to limit United States operations.
Adversaries will attempt to prolong the conflict while using terrorism and other attacks to erode international support, alliance cohesion, and the will to fight once United States forces arrive in the crisis area. Use of the media and other information operations to portray United States forces as aggressors, the use of noncombatants to garner world sympathy, and the fear generated by terrorism or the threat of employment of weapons of mass destruction are only some of the ways that an intelligent enemy can shape the situation. By turning world and United States' public opinion against the policies and practices of an alliance or international organization such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization or the United Nations, the enemy can neutralize or eliminate United States military involvement in a crisis.
Political Dimension
The President identifies the United States security objectives in the National Security Strategy, establishing the Nation's broad political, economic, and military interests in peace and war. The National Military Strategy supports the national security strategy by translating strategic political and economic objectives into national military objectives and tasks. These objectives and tasks protect and promote United States national interests. Current national military objectives are to promote peace and stability and, when necessary, to defeat adversaries who threaten the United States, national interests or allies. These objectives drive strategic tasks: shape the international environment and create conditions favorable to United States interests and global security; respond to the full spectrum of crises; and prepare now for an uncertain future.
United States military forces accomplish the national military objectives and tasks through the four strategic concepts of strategic agility, overseas presence, power projection, and decisive force. The Nation's forward-deployed naval forces, together with forward and United States-based forces from all the Services, combine to meet the requirements of conflicts and can operate across the full range of military operations.
Levels of War
The highest level is the strategic. Strategy involves establishing goals, assigning forces, providing assets, and imposing conditions on the use of force. Strategy derives from political and policy objectives and is the sole authoritative basis for military operations. The strategic level of war involves the art of winning wars and maintaining the peace.
The next level—operational—links the strategic and tactical levels. It includes deciding when, where, and under what conditions to engage the enemy in battle. The operational level of war is the art and science of winning campaigns.
The final level of war is the tactical. Tactics are the concepts and methods used to accomplish a particular mission in either combat or MOOTW. In war, tactics focus on applying combat power to defeat an enemy force. The tactical level of war involves the art and science of winning engagements and battles to achieve the objectives of the campaign.
The distinctions between the levels of war are rarely clear and often overlap in practice. Commanders may operate at multiple levels simultaneously. In MOOTW, small unit leaders may conduct tactical actions that have operational and even strategic consequences.
Range of Military Operations
Conflict can take a variety of forms ranging from general war, such as a global conflict between major powers, all the way down to MOOTW where violence is limited and combat forces may not be needed. This range may be characterized by two major categories:
A major theater war is the employment of large joint and multinational forces in combat operations to defeat an enemy nation, coalition or alliance. Operation Desert Storm is an example of a major theater war.
A smaller-scale contingency normally encompasses a wide range of naval, joint or multinational operations in small wars and MOOTW. Peace enforcement operations in the Balkans and humanitarian assistance operations are examples of smaller-scale contingencies.
The National Security Structure
The Marine Corps' involvement in national security has its foundation in law. The National Security Act of 1947 unified the defense establishment, assigned roles, missions, and functions among major Department of Defense agencies, including the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Military Services, and combatant commands.
National Command Authorities
The National Command Authorities include the President and the Secretary of Defense or their duly deputized alternates or successors. They exercise authority over the Armed Forces through combatant commanders and the Secretaries of the Military Departments and the chiefs of the Services for those forces not assigned to the combatant commanders. The National Command Authorities translate policy into national strategic military objectives.
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
In accordance with Title 10, United States Code, Sections 151 and 153, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff assists the President and the Secretary of Defense in providing strategic direction of the Armed Forces. His responsibilities include—
• Presiding over the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
• Acting as the spokesman for the combatant commanders.
• Preparing military strategy, assessments, and strategic plans.
• Providing for the preparation and review of joint operation plans.
• Providing military guidance to the Services in preparation of their detailed plans.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff
The Joint Chiefs of Staff consists of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Vice Chairman, and the four Service chiefs. Joint Chiefs of Staff members advise the National Command Authorities upon their request or when a member recognizes a matter of national security that merits being addressed. When the Chairman advises the President, National Security Council or the Secretary of Defense, any member may submit advice or an opinion in disagreement with that of the Chairman in addition to the advice provided by the Chairman. Duties of the members take precedence over all their other duties as Service chiefs.
Unified Action
Unified action is a generic term that refers to a broad scope of activities (including the synchronization of activities with governmental and nongovernmental agencies) taking place within unified commands, sub-unified commands, or joint task forces under the overall direction of the commanders of those commands. The national military strategy calls for the Marine Corps to act as part of fully interoperable and integrated joint forces. The joint force commander synchronizes the employment of Marine Corps forces with that of the other Services to fully exploit the capabilities of the joint force and to effectively and efficiently accomplish the mission.
Joint Operations
Joint operations are operations that include forces of two or more Military Departments under a single commander. Joint force commanders use joint forces within their AOs to participate in engagement activities and to conduct military operations in support of the geographic combatant commanders' contingency and war plans. Combatant commanders and their staffs are responsible for preparing plans for engagement with other nations and their forces throughout the theater. They also must prepare and maintain contingency and war plans for their theater of operations.
Engagement is the use of military forces to contribute to regional stability, reduction of potential conflicts, and the deterrence of aggression. Engagement activities are pro-active, conducted at home and abroad, that take advantage of opportunities to shape the international security environment. They include overseas presence, forward deployment, foreign internal development, and alliance and coalition training and exercises.
Contingency plans are plans for major contingencies that can reasonably be expected to occur within the theater of operations. Contingency planning can be deliberate or can be conducted under time constraints in crisis action planning. Contingency plans differ from operation plans as they are in an abbreviated format and require significant time or considerable expansion or alteration to convert them to operation plans or orders. War plans are completed operation plans for major contingencies such as major theater wars.
One of the techniques the combatant commanders and their staffs employ in contingency and war planning is flexible deterrent options. These are tailored military forces and operations designed to effectively and efficiently accomplish an anticipated mission or meet an unexpected contingency. Joint planners use flexible deterrent options within a planning framework intended to facilitate early decision and rapid response by laying out a range of forces and capabilities to be employed by the combatant commanders to accomplish particular missions. Flexible deterrent options are carefully tailored to send the right signal to the threat and the United States and world public. These options should include the minimum military force necessary to accomplish the objectives and the coordinated use of economic, diplomatic, and political actions appropriate to the particular situation. For more on Marine Corps participation in joint operations see chapter 3.
Multinational Operations, Alliances, and Coalitions
Although the United States may act unilaterally when the situation requires, it pursues its national interests through alliances and coalitions when possible. Alliances and coalitions can provide larger and more capable forces, share the costs of the operation, and enhance the legitimacy of the operation in world and United States public opinion. Multinational operations are usually conducted within the structure of an alliance or coalition. Alliances normally have established agreements for long term objectives, developed contingency plans, and standardized some equipment and procedures to ease interoperability. Coalitions are normally established for shorter periods or for specific multinational operations. They normally do not have established procedures or standardized equipment.
However organized, multinational operations normally involve complex cultural issues, interoperability challenges, conflicting national command and control procedures, intelligence sharing, and other support problems. Even long established alliances experience some degree of these obstacles. Unity of command is difficult to achieve in multinational operations. To compensate for this, commanders concentrate on obtaining unity of effort between the participating national forces. Consensus building is the key element in building unity of effort in multinational operations. Multinational operations command and control is usually based on parallel or lead nation command and control structures. Parallel command requires coordinated political and senior military leadership to make decisions and transmit their decisions through existing chains of command to their deployed forces. This is the simplest to establish but limits tempo. Lead nation command and control requires that one nation (usually the one providing the preponderance of forces or capabilities) provides the multinational force commander and uses that nation's command and control system. Other nations' forces are then assigned as subordinate forces. Normally, this structure requires some integration of national staffs.
Multinational commanders must be prepared to accommodate differences in operational and tactical capabilities by nations within the combined force. The commander's intentions, clear guidance, and plans must be articulated to avoid confusion that might occur due to differences in doctrine and terminology. Detailed planning, wargaming, exchange of standing operating procedures and liaison officers, and rehearsals help to overcome procedural difficulties between nations. Finally, the commander should ensure that the missions assigned to nations within the multinational force reflect the specific capabilities and limitations of each national contingent. Mission success should not be jeopardized because of unrealistic expectations of the capabilities or political will of member forces.
Roles and Functions
Roles are the broad and enduring purposes for which the Services and USSOCOM were established by Congress by law. Missions are the tasks assigned by the President or Secretary of Defense to the combatant commanders. Functions are specific responsibilities assigned by the President and Secretary of Defense to enable the Services to fulfill their legally established roles. Various laws, directives, and manuals establish the roles and functions of the Marine Corps and describe the general composition and responsibilities of the Marine Corps. The key sources are Title 10, United States Code, Armed Forces; Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1986; Department of Defense Directive 5100.1, Functions of the Department of Defense and Its Major Components; and the Marine Corps Manual.
Title 10, United States Code, Armed Forces
Chapter 507, Section 5063 details the Marine Corps' composition and functions. The Marine Corps—
• Shall be organized to include not less than three combat divisions and three aircraft wings, and other organic land combat forces, aviation, and services.
• Shall be organized, trained, and equipped to provide Fleet Marine Forces of combined arms, together with supporting aviation forces, for service with the fleet in the seizure and defense of advanced naval bases and for the conduct of such land operations as may be essential to the prosecution of a naval campaign.
• Shall provide detachments and organizations for service on armed vessels of the Navy, shall provide security detachments for the protection of naval property at naval stations and bases, and shall perform such other duties as the President may direct. These additional duties may not detract from or interfere with the operations for which the Marine Corps is primarily organized.
• Shall develop, in coordination with the Army and Air Force, those phases of amphibious operations that pertain to the tactics, techniques, and equipment used by landing forces.
• Is responsible, in accordance with integrated joint mobilization plans, for the expansion of the peacetime components of the Marine Corps to meet the needs of war.
Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1986
Salient features of the act are the—
• Service chiefs (Chief of Staff of the Army, Chief of Naval Operations, Chief of Staff of the Air Force, and Commandant of the Marine Corps) are responsible for organizing, training, and equipping Service forces, while combatant commanders are responsible for the planning and execution of joint operations.
• Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is the principal military advisor to the President, National Security Council, and the Secretary of Defense. While he outranks all other officers of the Armed Forces, he does not exercise military command over the combatant commanders, Joint Chiefs of Staff, or any of the Armed Forces.
• Joint Staff is under the exclusive direction of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. It is organized along conventional staff lines to support the Chairman and the other members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in performing their duties. The Joint Staff does not function as an overall Armed Forces General Staff and has no executive authority.
• Operational chain of command is clearly established from the President through the Secretary of Defense to the combatant commanders.
Department of Defense Directive 5100.1, Functions of the Department of Defense and its Major Components
This directive defines the primary functions of the Marine Corps. Among these primary functions are to—
• Organize, train, equip, and provide Marine Corps forces to conduct prompt and sustained combat operations at sea, including sea-based and land-based aviation. These forces will seek out and destroy enemy naval forces, suppress enemy sea commerce, gain and maintain general naval supremacy, control vital sea areas, protect vital sea lines of communications, establish and maintain local superiority in an area of naval operations, seize and defend advanced naval bases, and conduct land, air, and space operations essential to a naval campaign.
• Provide Marine Corps forces of combined arms for service with the Navy to seize and defend advanced naval bases and to conduct land operations necessary for a naval campaign. In addition, the Marine Corps shall provide detachments and organizations for service on armed vessels of the Navy and provide security detachments for naval stations and bases.
• Organize, equip, and provide Marine Corps forces to conduct joint amphibious operations. The Marine Corps is responsible for the amphibious training of all forces assigned to joint amphibious operations.
• Organize, train, equip, and provide forces for reconnaissance, antisubmarine warfare, protection of shipping, aerial refueling, and minelaying operations.
• Organize, train, equip, and provide forces for air and missile defense and space control operations.
• Provide equipment, forces, procedures, and doctrine to conduct and support electronic warfare.
• Organize, train, equip, and provide forces to conduct and support special operations.
• Organize, train, equip, and provide forces to conduct and support psychological operations.
Functions to be accomplished together with other Services include develop—
• The doctrine, procedures, and equipment of naval forces for amphibious operations and the doctrine and procedures for joint amphibious operations.
• The doctrine, tactics, techniques, and equipment employed by landing forces in amphibious operations. The Marine Corps has primary responsibility for the development of landing force doctrine, tactics, techniques, and equipment that are of common interest to the Army and the Marine Corps.
• Doctrine, procedures, and equipment of interest to the Marine Corps for airborne operations not provided for by the Army.
• Doctrine, procedures, and equipment employed by Marine Corps forces in the conduct of space operations.
In addition to the above functions, the Marine Corps will perform such other duties as the President or the Secretary of Defense may direct. However, these additional duties must not detract from or interfere with the operations which the Marine Corps is primarily organized. These functions do not contemplate the creation of a second land army. Finally, the directive describes collateral functions of the Marine Corps to train its forces to—
• Interdict enemy land and air forces and communications through operations at sea.
• Conduct close air and naval support for land operations.
• Furnish aerial photography for cartographic purposes.
• Participate in the overall air effort, when directed.
• Establish military government, as directed, pending transfer of this responsibility to other authority.
Marine Corps Manual
The Marine Corps Manual adds three more functions. The Marine Corps shall—
• Maintain a Marine Corps Forces Reserve for the purpose of providing trained units and qualified individuals to be available for active duty in the Marine Corps in time of war or national emergency and at such other times as the national security may require.
• Provide Marine Corps officer and enlisted personnel in support of the Department of State security program overseas.
• Organize Marine Corps aviation, as a collateral function, to participate as an integral component of naval aviation in the execution of such other Navy functions as the fleet commanders may direct.
Commandant of the Marine Corps
The Commandant has two vital functions—as a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and as Marine Corps Service Chief. His duties as a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff take precedence over all other duties.
As a Joint Chiefs of Staff member, the Commandant may submit his advice or opinion to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff when it is in disagreement with or provides additional insight to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff's point of view. When the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff submits his advice or opinion to the President, the National Security Council, and the Secretary of Defense, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is obligated to submit any additional input from the Commandant or other members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. When the Commandant is acting in his capacity as a military adviser, he may provide advice to the President, the National Security Council, and the Secretary of Defense when his opinion is requested.
The Commandant may make recommendations to Congress relating to the Department of Defense, providing he has informed the Secretary of Defense prior to the meeting with Congress. The Commandant will attend the regularly scheduled meetings of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. As long as his independence as a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is not impaired, the Commandant will keep the Secretary of the Navy informed of military advice given by the other members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on matters that impact the Department of the Navy.
As the Service chief, the Commandant is subject to the authority, direction, and control of the Secretary of the Navy. He is directly responsible for the administration, discipline, internal organization, training, requirements, efficiency, and readiness of the Marine Corps. He is also responsible for the Marine Corps' materiel support system and accountable for the total performance of the Marine Corps.
Organization and Structure
The Marine Corps' organization consists of Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps; the operating forces; the supporting establishment; and the Marine Corps Forces Reserve. See figure 1-1.
Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps
The Commandant presides over the daily activities of Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps. Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps provides staff assistance to the Commandant by—
• Preparing the Marine Corps for employment. This is accomplished through recruiting, organizing, supplying, equipping (including research and development), training, servicing, mobilizing, demobilizing, administering, and maintaining the Marine Corps.
• Investigating and reporting on the efficiency of the Marine Corps and its preparation to support military operations by combatant commanders.
• Preparing detailed instructions for the execution of approved plans and supervising the execution of those plans and instructions.
• Coordinating the actions of organizations of the Marine Corps.
• Performing such other duties, not otherwise assigned by law, as may be prescribed by the Secretary of the Navy or the Commandant.
Operating Forces
Assigned Marine Corps Forces
All Marine Corps combat, combat support, and combat service support units are part of the assigned Marine Corps forces. Normally, these forces are task-organized for employment as MAGTFs.
The Secretary of Defense "Forces for Unified Commands" memorandum assigns designated Marine Corps operating forces to Commander in Chief, U.S. Joint Forces Command (USCINCJFCOM) and Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Command (USCINCPAC). USCINCJFCOM exercises combatant command (command authority) or COCOM of II Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF) through the Commander, Marine Corps Forces, Atlantic (COMMARFORLANT). COMMARFORLANT has Service component responsibilities to USCINCJFCOM, U.S. Commander in Chief, Europe (USCINCEUR), and Commander in Chief, U.S. Southern Command (USCINCSO) as COMMARFORLANT, Commander, Marine Corps Forces, Europe (COMMARFOREUR), and Commander, Marine Corps Forces, South (COMMARFORSOUTH) respectively. USCINCPAC exercises COCOM of I and III MEF through the Commander, Marine Corps Forces, Pacific (COMMARFORPAC). COMMARFORPAC is also the Service component commander for Commander in Chief, U.S. Central Command (USCINCCENT) as Commander, Marine Corps Forces, Central (COMMARCENT). In addition to his Service component responsibilities for USCINCPAC and USCINCCENT, COMMARFORPAC has multiple responsibilities in Korea. He exercises Service component responsibilities over Marine Corps forces as Commander, U.S. Marine Corps Forces - Korea (COMUSMARFOR-K). He also exercises functional component responsibilities as Commander, Combined Marine Forces Command (COMCMFC).These assignments reflect the peacetime disposition of Marine Corps forces. MEFs are apportioned to the geographic combatant commanders for contingency planning and are provided to these combatant commands when directed by the Secretary of Defense.
Assigned Marine Corps forces are commanded by a combatant command-level Marine Corps component commander. He is responsible for—
• Training and preparing Marine Corps forces for operational commitment commensurate with the strategic situation and the combatant commander's requirements.
• Advising the combatant commander on the proper employment of Marine Corps forces, participating in associated planning, and accomplishing such operational missions as may be assigned.
• Providing Service administration, discipline, intelligence, and operational support for assigned forces.
• Identifying requirements for support from the Marine Corps supporting establishment.
• Performing such other duties as may be directed.
Fleet Marine Forces
Fleet Marine Forces units serve with Navy fleets in the seizure or defense of advanced naval bases and in the conduct of such land operations as may be essential to the prosecution of naval operations in support of the joint campaign. When assigned, Fleet Marine Force units are commanded by the Commanding Generals, Fleet Marine Force, Atlantic, Europe, South, or Pacific.
When the combatant commander tasks the Marine Corps component commander to provide assigned Marine Corps forces to the Navy component commander, the combatant command-level Marine Corps component commander CHOPs (change of operational control) MAGTFs and designated forces from Marine Corps forces to the Navy component commander. These Fleet Marine Forces then serve with a numbered fleet or for naval operations and other commitments; e.g., deployed Marine expeditionary units (MEUs).
The relationship between Marine Corps forces and the Fleet Marine Force reflects the roles and functions of the Marine Corps. The Marine Corps has separate responsibilities to provide forces for use by the combatant commanders—Marine Corps forces—and by Navy operational commanders— Fleet Marine Forces. See figure 1-2.
Security Forces
The 4th Marine Expeditionary Brigade (MEB) (Antiterrorism (AT)) provides the unified combatant commanders with a rapidly deployable and sustainable specialized antiterrorism force to deter, detect, and defend against terrorist actions and conduct initial incident response to combat the threat of terrorism worldwide. The 4th MEB (AT) provides the following capabilities: