Ever since the news came out of the Pentagon about the reshaping, restructure, or “right-sizing” of the Marine Corps, anyone who has a say about it has voiced their opinions. Some reactions are valid, while others hinge on the borderline of absurdity, if there is such a word.
But before we all get too excited, we should first examine the last 10 years of our beloved service. I’m sure we all recall the tragedy of 2001. Americans young, old, rich, poor, and from all walks of life stood together in awe and disgust at the actions that were taken against this great nation. Many of us wanted justice. Thousands stood up to serve the country in any way they felt was necessary in order to right the wrongs that were done. And many knew that the United States Marine Corps would do whatever needed to be done.
People rushed to recruiting offices around the country, many wanting to play their part. You would think that the Corps would open its arms and allow more people in at that time. But there is a reason why we are The Few. The Marine Corps maintained its standards. Potential recruits had to be physically, mentally and morally qualified to join the smallest branch of the armed forces. We were roughly 175,000 strong and were more than capable as always.
Fast forward a few years and the conflict that raged in Afghanistan slowly poured into Iraq. In early 2007, as the U.S. entered its fourth year fighting two wars, the president approved a request for the Marine Corps to grow its then-current end strength from approximately 185,000 Marines to 202,000. The idea was pretty elementary; if we were going to have Marines sustaining forces in two locations, we were going to need more Marines to handle that task.
More Marines were allowed onto recruiting duty to fill the necessary goal. I happened to be one of those individuals, and although the Corps wanted more Marines to fulfill its task, recruiting standards still remained the same. We wanted the best of the best, and that’s what we got.
Now that Marines are no longer in Iraq, now that we want to return to our amphibious, quick strike, “first-to-fight” mentality that the Marine Corps has instilled since 1775, we must again adapt and overcome. “The Marine Corps is America’s Expeditionary Force in Readiness,” Gen. James Amos said during the George P. Shultz lecture series on February 8, 2011. “Alert and ready, we respond to today’s crisis, with today’s force… TODAY.”
The force is returning to its pre-conflict end strength of 185,000 Marines. We’ll accomplish the task by adhering to the standards we have always set, and we’ll remain “ready to respond whenever the nation calls … wherever the president may direct.”