re: Marines to Shut Down All Tank Units, Cut Infantry Battalions in Major Overhaul

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The largest island the Marines helped take was Okinawa. And even there the force structure was 4 Army divisions and 3 Marine Divisions under the overall command of 10th Army.

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That’s not unheard of, that’s the way it was in WWI as well.

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And in the largest land campaign of the Pacific, there wasn’t a single Marine Division involved. The Philippine Campaign saw the US commit 16 Army Divisions under 6th and 8th Army. No Marine divisions took part in the Philippine Campaign.

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That’s primarily because the Philippine campaign fell under MacArthur’s command which was an all army command. While the island hopping campaign fell under Nimitz, the Navy chief of the PTO. So it was only natural that the USMC fell under the latter and not the former. Furthermore, I’d venture to say that the MacArthur did not fare as well in that theater as Nimitz did.

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The Battle of Okinawa and the Philippine Campaign represent the two largest land battles of the Pacific. In the larger of the two it was an exclusive US Army force fighting on the ground. In the smaller of the two, the US Army still outnumbered the Marines.

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I’m having trouble seeing why that is such a big deal. The USMC even at their height of manpower in WWII was nowhere near what the Army’s was. And that is by design, as you well know, Darth. The USMC wasn’t and isn’t built to have the numbers the Army has. Which is why I said it is a hammer force, built for quick strikes. It’s not built for long sustained battle.

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And let us not forget it was the US Army who fought across North Africa, Italy, and from both north and a south France all the way to central Germany. And if you look at divisional casualty rates you will find that those US Army divisions fighting in Europe suffered higher casualty rates than either Marine or Army divisions fighting in the Pacific. In fact, if memory serves me correct, I believe it was 1st Marine Division that suffered the highest casualty rate of any PTO division, either Army or Marine. However, had that 1st Marine Div fought in the ETO suffering that same casualty number, they’d only rank about 8th on the list.

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Again, I don’t see how that’s a slight at the USMC. The Japanese were not the Germans in manpower and technological prowess. The Army could afford the burn rate of the conflict in the ETO. You well know the USMC couldn’t and wasn’t set up for that type of fighting to begin with.

What I’m simply saying is that the USMC is a strike force, it’s a hammer blow designed for quick action. It’s not designed for drawn out battle. It’s the much smaller force so it can’t operate the same way the Army can.

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and the military had the foresight to divert resources instead of plowing them into an outdated technology simply because it’s what we knew and had in the past.

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Damn baw....do you even BUFF?

Drones won’t work in contested airspace. They’ll get shot down very quickly.

These cuts sound like something Donald Rumsfeld would have come up with.

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I’m sure people thought the same thing when we retired battleships, we will be woefully ill prepared and won’t ever win another war again without them.

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Generals (and obviously other idiots^) are always prepared to fight the last war.

LucasP is not a 2020 Battleship proponent.

You had marine air and marine artillery in the Philippines

You can’t fix stupid

If you want it done call the Marines! Army ain’t guarding the president.

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prepares for a potential face-off with China.

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If you’re calling Darth stupid on this matter then I think you’re being a bit unfair.

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Darth is stubborn. He’s an Army homer who served for a handful of years, got out as an E-4, and thinks he understands all the intricacies of multi-domain operations.

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using the Navy to fill fire support.

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The navy isnt really built for shore bombardments anymore, is it? I know they pack lots of missiles these days but isnt this the whole reason for a battleship?