WASHINGTON -- The 35th commandant, Gen. James F. Amos, tells Marines to prepare for what the future holds – a transformed, flexible and lighter force ready to respond to any contingency.

“As befits our expeditionary nature, Marines will be forward deployed and engaged in areas of instability and potential conflict” said Amos in his Commandant’s Planning Guidance, released Oct. 27. Marines must remain “a multi-capable, combined arms force, comfortable operating at the high and low ends of the threat spectrum, or in the shaded areas where they overlap.”

With keeping the focus on the fight in Afghanistan as his top priority, Amos stresses the importance of being prepared for arising threats to the nation.

“As we look ahead, we see a world of increasing, instability and conflict, characterized by poverty, competition for resources, urbanization, overpopulation and extremism,” said Amos. The world is changing but “one thing has not: America needs an expeditionary force in readiness that is prepared to respond to any crisis.”
In order to maintain the “spirit of innovation and institutional flexibility,” the commandant’s priorities are clear. The four main priorities are:

1) Continue to provide the best trained and equipped Marine units to Afghanistan. This will not change. This remains our top priority!

2) Rebalance our Corps, posture it for the future and aggressively experiment with and implement new capabilities and organizations.

3) Better educate and train our Marines to succeed in distributed operations and increasingly complex environments.

4) Keep faith with our Marines, our Sailors and our families.
The Commandant sets tasks with due dates in order to achieve each of his four priorities.
For more details and a copy of the Commandant's Planning Guidance, follow the link below:

Download a copy of the 35th Commandant of the Marine Corps, Commandant's Planning Guidance

The 35th Commandant of the Marine Corps official website

General James F. Amos official biography

General James F. Amos official photo