USMC issues Force Design 2030 updates, vows enhanced stakeholder communication

USMC Commandant General David Berger speaks to marines and sailors during a town hall event in Bahrain in December 2019. The service has released a revised Force Design 2030 plan, seeking to better communicate with a variety of stakeholders. (USMC)

The US Marine Corps (USMC) has updated its Force Design 2030 road map with senior leaders, vowing to better communicate plans, and detailing initial infantry battalion changes, plans to maintain a larger number of MV-22 medium tiltrotor squadrons, and more.

The service released the updated document on 9 May, in time for the Modern Day Marine 2022 conference in Washington, DC, with a call to discuss changes to the force at the event. For now, the service is maintaining its focus on the ‘pacing threat', China, and not reversing any big-ticket transformational changes as a result of experimentation or lessons learned from the continuing conflict inside Ukraine.

“My communication is with Congress, with the media to the people, with the civilian leadership here in the Pentagon, with the active-duty marines, and with the veteran marines,” USMC Commandant General David Berger said during a 5 May media roundtable.

“We have to work as hard as we can to be as clear as we can with each of those audiences, and we'll never be satisfied. We're marines.”

The four-star general and other USMC leaders' interest in enhanced dialogue comes at a time when several high-profile retired officers are publicly criticising service plans to abandon tanks in a bid to become a more nimble expeditionary force. Instead, the service wants to invest additional resources in Long Range Precision Fires (LRPF), advanced reconnaissance capabilities, and unmanned systems.