DTIC ADA504887: The Marine Corps as an Ambidextrous Mixed Martial Artist for the 2025 Fight

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'United
StatesM arine Corps
School of Advanced Warfighting
Marine Corps University
2076 SouthS treet
Marine Corps CombatD evelopment Command
Quantico, Virginia 22 I 34-5068
MASTERO F OPERATIONALP LANNING
TITLE:
The Marine Corps as an AmbidextrousM ixed Martial Artist for the 2025F ight
SUBMITTEDI N PARTIALF ULFILLMENT
OF THE REQUIREMENTSF ORT HE DEGREEO F
MASTERO F OPERATIONALP LANNING
AUTHOR:
Major MichaelJ . Martin, USMC
USMC Schoolo f AdvancedW arfighting
AY 07-08
Mentor:D r. W. R.Johnson
Approved: 2
Date:
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2008 2. REPORT TYPE 00-00-2008 to 00-00-2008
4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER
The Marine Corps as an Ambidextrous Mixed Martial Artist for the 2025
5b. GRANT NUMBER
Fight
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6. AUTHOR(S) 5d. PROJECT NUMBER
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7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION
United States Marine Corps,School of Advanced Warfighting, Marine REPORT NUMBER
Corps University,2076 South Street, Marine Corps Combat Development
Command,Quantico,VA,22134-5068
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ExecutiveS ummarv
Title:
Author: Major Michael J. Martin, United StatesM arine Corps
Thesis: The Marine Corpso f 2025 needst o equallyp roficient in its ability to conductm ajor
theaterw ar (MTW) againstt raditionalf orcesa s well as countert he non-traditionalc hallenges
posed by irregular threatsa nd hybrid warfare.
Discussionz ProjectH orizonbrings togethera ll elementso f theU nitedS tatesG overnmen(t USG) to
conductl ong-term,i nteragencys trategicp lanning.T he purposeo f the projecti s to developr ealistic
interagencys trategiesa nd identify capabilitiesi n which the governments hould invest in order to
preparef or the unforeseenth reatsa ndo pportunitiesth atw ill facet hen ationd uringt hen ext 20 years.
Across much of the world, a new culture of global capitalismi s fueling rapid economicg rowth,
increasingly integrated markets, and dynamic technologicali nnovation. The effects of this
corporate-drivenc apitalismi s pervasive.F oreignp olicy is stronglyi nfluencedb y businessle aders
who are pulling the strings of increasinglyp owerful internationalb odies. The U.S. economy is
thriving, but social safetyn etsh aved isappeareda s the global businessd rive for profits ruthlessly
discardst hosew ho cannot( or do not) contribute.
Povertyi n many developingc ountriesi s exploding. An emergingP an-Islamicm ovementw ith a
messageth at Islam cares( while global capitalismd oesn ot) is attemptingt o fill the void, and has
gatheredp artnersa mongo ther religiousa nd socialm ovements.L eadersf rom the new movement
are benefitingf rom the significanti ncomed erivedf rom hydrocarbone nergyr esourcesa nd are
using someo f the wealth to provide for thosel eft behind. Although the top tier of Americans
haveb enefitedt remendouslyfr om hyper-capitalismm, any othersh aven ot and the global clash
betweenp rofits and principlesi s causingl eadersf rom all sectorsa high degreeo f anxiety.
Optimists seet hesed ivergingp athsa s complementarya nd useful. Pessimistw orry that they
could end up on a collision course,w ith profoundc onsequencefso r the U.S. and the world.
I intend to conduct a thoroughr eview of the theoriesb ehind MTW, irregulart hreats,a nd hybrid
warfare. I will then apply theset heoriest o the proposedf uture of Profits and Principles to develop
a detaileds cenario. In this methodology,a systematicallye xpandedd escriptiono f the operating
environment that the Marine Corps organizationm ight face in 2025 will be explored.
lll
PREFACE
The writer had the opportunity to experiencep rofessional,g raduatel evel military education as
a member of an outstandingg roup of studentsc omprisedo f military officers from the Marine
Corps, our sister serviceso f the Army and Air Force, and foreign militaries representedb y
Australia, Canada,a nd Norway. We were led and taught by an exceptional civilian and militarv
faculty.
Appreciation is extendedt o the following people for their support and advice on this paper:
Dr' Wray Johnsono f the Marine CorpsS choolo f AdvancedW arfighting (SAW), for his valued
mentorship, enthusiastics upport, and excellent suggestionst hroughout this project and
LieutenantG eneralM artin L. Brandtner,U SMC (Ret.),f or his early supporto f the idea for this
paper' his sound advice, direction, and wise counselo n proceedingw ith this project from
inceptiont o completion. Most importantly,t o my wife, Cindy, who put up with me continuing
with a seconds traight year of graduates tudiesa s she raised our two sons and gave birth to our
first daughter.
IV

Introduction
The future ain't what it usedt o be.
-Yogi Berra
Sincet he end of the Cold War, the Marine Corpsh asb ecomet he "91 I force" for the
world's lone remainings uperpower.T he U.S. geopoliticalo utlook changedd ramaticallyw hen
Al Qaedas avagelya ttackedt he U.S. on 1l September2 001.T he U.S. was violently awakened
from its post-ColdW ar snoozeb y attackst hat were a stunninge scalationin the level of violence
from that experiencedin previoust errorista ttacks.C urrentlyt he U.S. finds itself at war with a
transnationallt erroristm ovementf ueledb y a radicali deologyo f hatred,o ppressiona, nd murder.2
After more than six yearso f war, the U.S. and its allies are immersedi n a largely militery
campaignt o stampo ut the evil of transnationatle rrorisma nd its capacityf or massd estruction.
Fully awake,t he U.S.i s now involvedi n the "Long War,"3a seeminglye ndlessir regular
warfare strugglea gainstt ransnationatle rrorism.I raq and Afghanistana re the first battlesi n this
Long War, which may becomea generationasl trugglew ith extremistst hat will take somet ime to
overcome."aI n effect, we find ourselvesin the sames ituationa s our forerunnerso n the eve of
World War II. Not unlike the Marine Corpso f 1941,t he Marine Corpso f 2O25m ust be equally
proficient in its ability to conductm ajor theaterw ar (MTW), or "big wars" (specifically
expeditionaryo perations)a, gainstt raditionalp eerc ompetitorf orcesa s well as countert he non-
traditionalsc hallengep osedb y irregulart hreats,o r "small wars." In order to remaint he
expeditionaryf orce in readinessc apableo f conductingf orcible entry operations,o ur MTW
capabilityc annotb e left on a shelf to be dustedo ff and employedi n somef uture emergency.
Thus, we are currentlyi n dangero f swingingt he pendulumo f resourcesto o far over to
the small wars side of the scale. The Marine Corpso f 2025m ust be an ambidextrousm ixed
martial artist,e quallya depta t fighting a MTW or a small war, or both simultaneouslyO. nly by
achievings omef orm of balance,w ill we be able to fulfill our mandatea s the "Nation's shock
troops",t hat are "most readyw hen the Nation is leastr eady"6
Situation
It's like deja-vu,a ll over again.
-Yogi Berra
The Marine Corpsf ound itself in this very samep osition during the yearsb etweenW orld
Wars I and II. During this period,t he U.S. Marine Corpss erveda s the nations9 11 force of
choiced uring numerouss mall wars in the Caribbeana nd CentralA merica.T he veteranso f these
so-called" BananaW ars" struggledt o capturet he importantl essonsle arnedf or future
generationso f Marinesb y publishingt he Small WarsM anucl.7 Simply stated,i t was a
practitioner'sm anual,w ritten by Marinesw ho had successfullyfo ught America's small wars, for
the future practitionerso f America's small wars.
While the Marinesr ecordedt heir experiencesto producea workabler eference
publication,M arine visionariesw ith one eye toward the future, and the unknown,d evelopeda
competingd octrineo f amphibiousw arfare,w hich in the 1920sa nd 1930sr epresented"f uture
war". TheseM arines leveragedsth e remarkablet echnologicacl hangest hat took placei n the
preceding5 0 years,s tudiedp reviousa ttemptsa t amphibiousw arfareo n the modernb attlefield
(specifically,t he Galipoli Campaignf rom World War I) and developeda baselined octrinei n the
absenceo f actualc ombate xperienceO. n7 Decemberl g4l,Pearl Harbor shockedt he U.S. from
its isolationisti nterwar slumbera nd the amphibiousM arine visionariesw ere soonv indicated.
Unfortunately, at the samet ime, the costly small wars lessonsl earnedo ver the past decadew ere
put on a shelf and forgotten as the Marine Corps marchedi nto history during the famous island
hoppingc ampaigni n the Pacific Theater.
The natureo f today's global economy,a bettedb y modernc omputert echnology,i nvests
minor states,n on-statea ctors,a nd eveni ndividual, with offensivec apabilitiesf ormerly reserved
solely for nation-statesW. eaponso f Mass Destruction( WMD) and masse ffectsh ave increased
the potentiald amaget hat non-statea ctorsc an inflict, while at the samet ime greatlyf acilitating
their reach.eM ass violencea nd the resultingc asualtiesc annotb e takenl ightly, nor can the
increasingl ethality of modernt errorismo n the open societieso f the West, and their dependence
on highly interdependennt etworkso f systemsP. roliferationo f today'sh ighly lethal conventional
weaponsa nd WMD into the handso f non-statea ctorsc annotb e discountedn, or can the efforts
by non-statea ctorst o acquirem ore potentm eanso f destructionW MD.l0
Yet we cannotd iscountt he rise of a peerc ompetitori n the nearf uture that will look to
challengei f not dethroneo ur preeminentp osition as the world's lone superpower". Over the next
50 years,B razTl,R ussia,I ndia and China (BRIC)-the BRICs economies-could becomea much
largerf orce in the world economy.B y 2Q25t hey could accountf or over half the size of the G-
8."11A s thesee conomiesg row to rival the U.S. and its G-8 partners,t he competitionf or scarce
resourcesw ill increased ramatically( particularlyo il, food, and water).t n 2001, Russiaa nd China
signeda "Treaty of Good NeighborlyF riendshipa nd Cooperation."F our yearsl ater, Russiaa nd
China held unprecedentejdo int military exercisesB. oth countriess eet he U.S. predominancein
the post-ColdW ar era as a threatt o their power.T heses tepsc ould lead to a diminishedU .S.
strategicp resencein the Eurasianl andmassfr om the Pacific Oceant o the Baltic Sea.l2
In addition, the 2002 Chinesep ublication,U nrestrictedWarfarep, uts forth the Chinese
view of future war as being a "war beyondl imits."l3 Furthermore,i n2007, China destroyedo ne
of its own aging weathers atellitesw ith a rocket launchedf rom a spacec enteri n Sichuan
province.'oT his new anti-satellitew eaponsc apabilityc ould seriouslyd egradeo ur overwhelming
technologicals uperiorityt hat is the cornerstoneo f how we wage* ar.'' China and other countries
could developf urther capabilitiest o negateo ur currenta dvantagesin the nearf uture.
Popular Myths
You got to be careful if you don't know wherey ou'reg oing, becausey ou might not get there.
-Yogi Berra
Although thereh aveb eenm any studieso n an "American way of war," RussellW eigley's
The American Way of War: A History of the U.S.M ilitary Strategya nd Policy remains the
seminalw ork on the subject.r6L ike-mindedo bserversn ote that,w ith the exceptiono f the
American War of lndependencea, distinctivef orm of Americanw arfareh ase merged,o ne
characterizedb y a strategyo f annihilationo ver an enemy. Although Weigley's thesish as
survivedt he test of time, Max Boot hasp ositeda countert heory. In his book, SavageW ars of
Peace:S mall Warsa nd the Riseo f AmericanP ower, Boot arguest hat America has found itself in
far more small wars than big wars and thereforet hey are more worthy of inclusion as descriptors
of an American way of war.l7 Another scholarh aso ffereda powerful critique in responseto
both of thesea rguements. In a 2004 article entitled "An American Way of War or Way of
Battle," Antulio Echevarriac laims that both Weigley and Boot havec onfusedt he issuea nd