2nd Lt. Alex Wilbanks first came to Hawaii as a rifleman after joining the Marine Corps as part of the 3rd Marine Regiment in 2008. Throughout his career in the Corps, he flew several combat tours in support of the massive global war on terror.
Recently, he was commissioned as an officer and returned to Hawaii with the same platoon in which he first served as a noncommissioned officer. But a lot has changed in 16 years.
The 3rd Marine Regiment was then reorganized as the 3rd Marine Coastal Regiment (MLR) in an effort to reorganize for the 21st century.
This is the first Marine Corps to adopt new tactics and equipment that reflects the vision of Force Design 2030, a plan to reorganize the Marine Corps and return it to its roots as a naval combat force focused on coastal and island warfare. It is a military unit. A twist of technology. The Oahu-based unit is undergoing sea tests that will serve as a blueprint for how the remaining units reorganize their forces.
“MLR is still rooted in the infantry mission, but with a new flavor,” Wilbanks said. “We’re still doing the same thing that every other force does, but as opposed to what we did in the GWOT, we’re now looking at the Indo-Pacific region and deploying there.”
The Marines are training for a 2025 deployment to the Western Pacific, training with forces from across the region.
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The MLR was tailored in many ways for operations in the Pacific. The designers of Force Design 2030 are Marine Corps leaders who served in Hawaii, ranging from the past two decades hunting terrorists and insurgents through mountains and deserts to confronting Chinese forces in a potential Pacific conflict. He was hoping for a possible tough transition to the Marines.
Tensions are rising in the South China Sea, a vital waterway through which more than a third of international trade passes.
Beijing claims the entire waterway as its exclusive maritime territory over the objections of its neighbors and is using increasingly aggressive tactics to assert its claims. The Chinese military has built bases on disputed islands and reefs and is frequently accused of harassing and attacking fishermen and other maritime workers from neighboring countries, particularly the Philippines.
MLR’s vision is for Marines to use long-range missiles, drones, and other technological tools to sink enemy ships, disrupt naval operations, and secure key positions on islands and coasts.
As they train, they develop new forces in real time. They navigate a changing world, new technologies, and generational divides. The Honolulu Star-Advertiser recently spent some time on the ground in Kaneohe to get an up-close look at Marines.
power of the future
By design, MLR Marines often operate in relatively small groups that are widely dispersed. “That’s a set of questions: How do we maintain a distributed posture and also be able to report when we set up sensors,” said Dylan Green, who has been with the Staff Sergeant Corps for 13 years. What should I do?” he said.
Green is a member of the MLR’s Banjo Company and will be tasked with reconnaissance duties during deployment. It will make extensive use of drones and high-tech communications systems to move and relay information as quietly as possible.
This is a sharp contrast to the way Marines have fought in recent wars, almost always with nearby air support to resupply, rescue wounded and drop bombs on enemy forces. They are currently training for a possible fight against something called “Peer Force” who has the same tools as them.
“The most difficult thing is we don’t have air superiority,” Green said. “I don’t think we even have air superiority.”
Lt. Seth Benscoter, a Naval Academy graduate who was assigned to the MLR as a platoon leader a year ago, said he works with the Marines on how to remain unnoticeable during operations.
“I think at the regimental level we’re working on all kinds of (high-tech) things, but at our level we’re really finding ways to take a hard look in the mirror and see what we’re actually putting out. I think so,” he said. “Like how obvious it is when we’re transmitting on the radio. How obvious is it when we’re in formation in the jungle?”
Recently, a fellow officer in the drone unit arranged for his Marines to fly drones over Benscoter’s Marines while they were training.
“They come out with us and fly (drones) over our field operations and provide an opportunity to observe us with thermo-optical equipment to see what they can actually see. What would a potential enemy with similar abilities see?”
They are also dealing with the potential reality of operating from isolated locations with limited opportunities for resupply. Benscoter said they are “trying to push themselves to find ways to sustain themselves for longer and longer periods of time.”
The MLR’s highly specialized focus on littoral warfare allows it to work more closely with other military branches with different capabilities to ensure collaboration. In Hawaii, the MLR works closely with the Army’s 25th Infantry Division.
Wilbanks said it was a big change, noting that when he served in Hawaii as a non-commissioned officer, he “never really thought about training with them or trying to understand what they were trying to do.” ” he said. …The Army was in Afghanistan, the Marines were in Afghanistan. ”
Maj. Brent Kleckman, a former MLR officer and Marine Corps Reserve officer, said this is forcing leadership to address new challenges in integrating systems and tactics. He explained: “Are the Army’s radars tied together enough to fire[Littoral Combat Team]missiles at their targets?” Conversely, are the MLR’s radars doing the same for Army systems? Is it? This was something the Marine Corps didn’t normally have to worry about until the advent of MLR. ”
Regarding this evolution, Green said, “I don’t think we’ve reached a 100% solution yet, so there’s a lot of trial and error involved.”
But ultimately, U.S. military leaders hope they can fight and win the Pacific conflict. They say they hope that by demonstrating their capabilities and strengthening their alliances, they will ultimately be able to prevent war.
Over the past year, U.S. and Chinese diplomats have worked to defuse tensions. In September, General Wu Yan’an, the Chinese military commander in charge of operations in the South China Sea, attended a military summit in Hawaii and met with Admiral Samuel Paparo, commander of all US forces in the Pacific.
U.S. officials said it was a positive sign nearly two years after Beijing ended most dialogue between U.S. and Chinese military commanders. However, after the visit, the Chinese military conducted a test launch of a ballistic missile, which fell into the Pacific Ocean near Kiribati, an island nation south of Hawaii.
generation gap
The push to reorganize the Corps has been controversial, with retired officers and current leaders expressing deep skepticism and angering some Marine Corps veterans. In particular, the decision to remove all of the military’s tanks to focus on missile and amphibious forces raised eyebrows.
Among the criticisms is that the emphasis on missiles and drones leaves Marine infantry primarily in the role of defending those assets rather than attacking the enemy, and that it disrupts the culture of attack for which it was famous. Some say it will gradually erode.
“That’s understandable,” Wilbanks said. But he defended the training Marines receive.
“Everyone was training to do a certain thing at some point,” Wilbanks said. “Then we immediately pivoted and focused on what the new threat was…I think everyone has their own preferences as to what they think the Marine Corps should do. But right now… So, my understanding is that we are doing what we need to do.”
“I think infantrymen will continue to be infantrymen, regardless of what their actual role or mission is,” Benscoter said. “The best thing about the Marine Corps is that no matter what the mission, no matter the era, no matter what the technology, our ultimate goal is to be ready when called upon. I don’t think that culture will ever go away. No.”
Green said he believes the quality of training in the Marine Corps has improved significantly since he joined.
“The players that are here now are smarter than I was back then in terms of the way they train, the way they approach coaching, the way they lead,” he said. “(We’re) spending more time actually achieving the necessary milestones, which are very important to achieve before we depart for deployment.”
The world has changed a lot, Kleckman said, noting that some of the military’s top leaders are Gulf War veterans and their views on the conflict have been shaped by the wars they fought.
“They predate most types of weapons that we use, and in some cases even existed during the days of dial-up internet,” he said. “Now you’re bringing in 18-year-old (and 19-year-old) kids, and they’re tech-savvy, so what’s going on in Ukraine and Israel and all these places is familiar to them. In fact, they understand it faster than, say, generals and colonels.
He said that even the junior Marines are actively doing their own research on trends and developments in conflicts around the world, adding, “Information is very public, right? And it’s Instagram posts, podcasts, YouTube. You can also access
Some older service members and veterans have criticized younger recruits, accusing the military of going soft, succumbing to “wokeness” rather than discipline and aggression. Some have accused young recruits of being undisciplined and lazy.
“Young people will fact-check things, and I think that’s because kids are smart,” Kleckman said. “It’s no longer Clint Eastwood in Heartbreak Ridge, where you just punch someone and make them do push-ups.”
Kleckman added that he believes it is the responsibility of leaders to explain to Marines why they are doing things the way they are, saying, “Through the habit of being told ‘why,’ we trust our leaders’ motives. Hopefully in the future they will have fewer questions because they trust them.” leadership. ”
“They need it,” Wilbanks said. “If you don’t give, they’re going to find their own ‘why,’ and that might not be the ‘why’ you were going for in the first place, right? And now you go back and fix something.” It’s like this domino effect that could have been avoided if they had said the “why” at the beginning. ”
