Essay about The Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF)

The Marine Corps ability to execute in such an environment hinges on the MAGTF’s center of gravity, the Aviation Combat Element (ACE), and specifically its ‘game-changer’, the MV-22 Osprey. The unique capabilities of this aircraft, especially when coupled with the refueling capability of the C-130, truly provide a unique and efficient method to flow forces over distances inconceivable merely a generation ago. In this instance, the aircraft is the innovation: determining to apply a unique capability in regions of instability is simply logical. However, the semantics of what qualifies innovation is inconsequential. Marines, deployed as a self-contained package, with all of their associated things, can rapidly respond to crisis, bridge gaps between

Marines overcome uncertainty and adversity through the innovative application of combined arms. IO is a natural extension and evolution of our Corps’ combined arms mind-set and maneuverist tradition of taking the initiative embodied within MCDP-1 Warfighting.

The current amphibious concepts and capabilities of the US ensure that we are better prepared to conduct forcible entry operations than we were during the landing at Inchon, and subsequent liberation of Seoul. Amphibious concepts, such as seabasing, amphibious command and control (C2), and the Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG) allow forces to project power across domains. Proof of concept exercises like Bold Alligator continue to refine our amphibious capability to provide flexible, scalable, responsive forces that can conduct a multitude of missions. Inchon, during the Korean War, highlights the benefit of maneuver warfare and joint operations. However, security operations, intelligence, and speed were deficient during Operation CHROMITE. World War II demonstrated a lack of preparedness to conduct amphibious operations in the Pacific by the US and Great Britain. The Pacific Campaign and Inchon prove the need to maintain a professional amphibious force and the importance of concepts like seabasing, C2, and the ESG in amphibious operations. Applying the concepts of seabasing, C2, and the ESG in joint exercises with platforms such as Maritime Prepositioning Force, multipurpose amphibious assault ships (LHD), Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC), AV-8B Vertical/Short Take-Off and Landing (VSTOL) jets, and MV-22 tilt rotor aircraft ensure that we are better prepared to conduct forcible entry operations than we were during the landing at Inchon, and subsequent liberation of Seoul.

With the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq coming to a close, the Marine Corps has found itself reverting back to its maritime traditions. As the Marine Corps footprint continues to shrink in Iraq and Afghanistan, Marines will find themselves aboard ships once again and serving their primary role as the Nation’s force in readiness. This leaves many questioning what the Marine Corps’ future role in irregular warfare will be. In the words of former Commandant General James T. Conway, “We must be a two fisted fighter – able to destroy our enemy formations with our scalable air-ground-logistics teams in major contingencies, but equally able to employ our hard earned irregular warfare skills hones over decades of conflict” (Conway). It is not yet time for the Marine Corps to hang up those boots! The Marine Corps can and will continue to serve as a key component of irregular warfare as it will continue to train and improve irregular warfare tactics to aid those nations with struggling governments from being overtaken by insurgencies/terrorist groups.

The Navy including the Marines must be able to conduct multiple missions simultaneously to overpower the enemy and thwart their forces through joint, collaborated, and swift operations. The application of amphibious doctrine is a complex unified effort requiring a high level of shared knowledge between the various military forces involved (Spiller, 1992).

The Joint Task Force (JTF) did not have the TACON it should have had with the SOF. Prior to the start of the JTF Mountain, the SOF operated under the control of the Joint Special Operations Task Force and bypassed the Joint Commander. SOF groups needed to be inserted at a time when the air support was not bombing the valley.

Amphibious operations are now designed and equipped to operate from the air, sea and land. Movement of combat forces from the sea to the shore is executed by an Amphibious Task Force (ATF) organized and formed by the Navy. The

capabilities; (7) Marine component deployed a Special-Purpose Marine, Air, Ground Task Force (SPMAGTF) to help partner nations extend state presence and security in Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Belize. Working alongside Honduran military and government officials,

In the early 1980s, a growing school of thought in the Marine Corps argued that the military over-emphasized Attrition Warfare in order to defend against the Soviet Union. In 1989, General A.M. Gray provided the Marine Corps with an innovative philosophy on warfare, entitled Fleet Marine Force Manual-1 (FMFM-1), Warfighting. This capstone doctrine centered on an unfamiliar style called Maneuver Warfare. This style of warfare is defined as a “philosophy that seeks to shatter the enemy’s cohesion through a series of rapid, violent, and unexpected actions which create a turbulent and rapidly deteriorating situation with which he cannot cope.” Adoption of this style of warfare was perceived as an antithetical shift

The current concept of Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA) is mainly driven by the transformation of US military to an agile, leaner and more powerful force. This revolution enables the US military to project their forces integrated with precision strike, space warfare, and information war operations expeditiously and strategically. In addition, with the modernization of hardware and equipments, the forces required are greatly reduced. While this revolution have lead to tactical victories over opposing conventional forces on the battlefield, it is not clear that they have tactical advantage over non-conventional/asymmetric threats and its contribution towards the stability of the conflict zone.

Warfighting in today’s environment often leans towards the Irregular Warfare (IW) side of the house where Operational Preparation of the Battlefield (OPB) is required to ensure that should conventional military forces be deployed, they

The Air Force conducts operations along a varying scale of military involvement and violence, referred to as the range of military operations (ROMO).1 It gauges the relative intensity and level of commitment from low to high; and the conflict continuum from stable peace to major war. It also accounts for the relative frequency of occurrence. ROMO helps shape the operational environment and keep the day-to-day tensions between nations or groups below the threshold of armed conflict while maintaining US global influence.2 During the Cold War, the enemy was easily identified and we could anticipate the threat. Today, we are confronted with defeating a “faceless” enemy who continues to seek ways to indirectly attack US forces and coalitions. The

U.S. forces will operate in many different types of terrain. The enemy conceals their footprint through the use of varying tactics like standoff fires and detection by utilizing complex battle positions (CBPs). CBPs are locations designed to protect the occupants from detection and attack while denying their seizure and occupation. The enemy possess advanced reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition capabilities integrated within the local populous. The enemy will attempt to achieve information dominance, manipulate information, and deny information to U.S.

“Army Aviation conducts air-ground operations as the aerial maneuver force of the combined arms team, or as an independent maneuver force in support of ground forces conducting offensive, defensive, stability, and defense support of civil authorities operations. Regardless of the type of mission performed by the ground force, most aviation operations are offensive in nature and designed to provide an asymmetric advantage. This enables the combined arms team to gain and maintain situational understanding, control operational tempo, achieve the element of surprise, seize, retain, and exploit the initiative, present the enemy with multiple dilemmas, gain positions of relative advantage over an enemy force, and/or to prevent an enemy force from gaining a position of relative advantage” (FM 3-04). Army Aviation conducts these operations through movement to contact, attack, recon, security, air assault, air movement, and aeromedical

Over the course of history, the battlefield has changed with technology. The incorporation of aviation assets to help support ground operations has created many benefits. Close air support for joint operations provides over watch and security with great firepower and precision. Another great benefit is the ability for medical evacuation, support, and resupply. The combination of air assets with ground forces aids in battlefield momentum and domination over the enemy when performed without hesitation.