An Alternative Marine Corps

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An Alternative Marine Corps

J. K. Rider

In 1976, Martin Binkin and Jeffrey Record wrote Where Does the Marine Corps Go From Here. Their proposal was that there is no need for an amphibious capability of current magnitude. One alternative proposed was to reduce this capability by converting a Marine division to an airborne division. This proposal would also deactivate another Marine division and supporting units. The proposal was analyzed from two points: Was it cost effective; would it leave the United States a less responsive defensive posture. Analysis of the proposal uncovered unanswered questions; important variables had not been considered. Quantitative costs had only been partially covered; qualitative costs were unaddressed. The proposal from that aspect was not cost effective. The study determined, contrary to the authors' claim, the proposal would weaken the United States defense posture in two ways: by assigning the airborne mission to the Marine Corps which has minimal airborne expertise or logistical base to adequately ensure its accomplishment; of greater impact, adoption would reduce our current amphibious force by two-thirds, making it relatively unresponsive for meeting crises.