Officials weigh restructuring of post-war Marine Corps

Marine Corps officials have launched a sweeping review of force structure and capabilities and plan to report by the end of year how the service should be arrayed for the future security environment, Navy Undersecretary Robert Work said Tuesday.

The Force Structure Review Group will look at everything from equipment to missions, with the goal of defining the heavily deployed Marine Corps' role after the Afghanistan war winds down.

Work, who spoke at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the review group's work would be vetted within the Department of the Navy before being briefed to senior Defense officials.

The review will include input from departing Marine Corps Commandant James Conway, who plans to retire in September, as well as his successor. President Obama has nominated Gen. James Amos, who serves as Conway's deputy, to be the next commandant.

The review group "will outline the size and organization of the post-Afghanistan Marine Corps," Work said, noting that it will incorporate lessons learned in the field over the several years of war, as well as guidance in the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review.

At the earliest, the group's findings would influence budget requests beginning with the fiscal 2013 spending plan. But Work, who served in the Marine Corps for 27 years, cautioned that implementing the findings from the review will hinge largely on the status of operations in Afghanistan.

"All of the changes are going to be conditions based on what happens in Afghanistan, obviously," Work said. "If we're still hard in the fight, then the Marine Corps will stay focused on that fight. But we will at least be thinking of what the Marine Corps will look like."

Though the review is still under way, Work said he believes the future Marine Corps will better reflect its naval roots and have a "tighter linkage with the United States Navy."

"The Marines and the Navy will continue to move closer and closer together," Work said.

Work observed that the Marine Corps, which has become a heavier force as it accumulated armored vehicles and other equipment during ground operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, must again be lighter and expeditionary.

"It is clear that Marine units are heavier across the board," Work said. "And this is going to be important for us to tackle."

The post-Afghanistan Marine Corps, Work said, will also be capable of conducting amphibious assaults and joint forcible-entry operations -- a subject of much debate as the military focuses heavily on ground operations against a nontraditional enemy.

"Even though it may not be used very often, having that capability is like money in the bank," Work said. "When you need it, you need it."

The review also will look at the military's increasing reliance on unmanned air and ground vehicles, as well as efforts to make the force more energy efficient, he said.