The mobility and flexibility inherent in our naval character
have frequently resulted in the nation’s leaders leveraging our proven responsiveness to address a wide range
of crises “in every clime and place.”...
The inherent mobility and carrying capacity of ships
remains the most significant component of U.S. strategic reach, providing joint-force commanders
with the ability to maneuver and support a wide range of tasks...
Projecting influence and power from the sea is
essential to promoting and enhancing stability, defeating threats, and securing the viability of the international system
for the benefit of all. The interrelationship between these two components—sea control and power projection—embodies
the essence of sea power...
the influence and power the nation has found most necessary—whether
near the coast or deep inland—requires forces able to respond and bring a degree of stability to situations
that threaten our citizens, national interests, or the international system. In many of these responses, the identification
of adversaries is often difficult, and the division line between friend and foe often lacks clarity. Historically, enemy forces
in these operations tend to demonstrate a great deal of innovation in creating lethal and political effects. Activities
in these demanding operations are not just enemy-focused. Rather, they are highly complex endeavors requiring integration...
responding to crises requires a high degree of adaptability and agility to thrive in uncertain and chaotic environments...
Highlighting the strategic value of the ability to maneuver forces
from the sea across the sea-land-air domains, the eminent military historian B. H. Liddell Hart noted that “Amphibious
flexibility is the greatest strategic asset that a sea-based power possesses."...
Our suitability to engage with partners, respond
to crises, and project combat power across the interface between the sea, land, air, space, and
cyber domains is complemented by... our responsiveness to missions across the range of military missions...
When responding to crises, including those characterized as small wars,
the institutional forte of recognizing, understanding, and adjusting to changing patterns of war wrought
by diverse social, geographical, political, and technological threats, and the unconstrained creativity of an opportunistic
enemy, is fundamental...
While many uncertainties cloud the future, it is clear that the
United States must possess a flexible force—one that can engage, respond, and project—to operate across
the domains that challenge our ability to execute our global responsibilities...
our tradition and reputation for solving intractable problems, and our institutional
adaptability demands that the Marine Corps remains poised to overcome complex challenges in the most austere environments.
In this dynamic and unpredictable expeditionary, an age of uncertainty, it appears that the need and demand for these
skills will appreciate in value and in utilization.
