The Marine Corps’ aggressive fighting style
Mar 2nd 2008RavenMarine Corps & Raven & War
The Marines are getting back to basics.
Trying to become predators instead of prey, Marines headed to Iraq will go through training built on advice from big-game hunters, soldiers of fortune and troops who grew up around firearms in the woods or the inner city.
“This is the most comprehensive training of its kind in our history,” said Col. Clarke Lethin, chief of staff for the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton.
“These are primal skills that we all have but that we evolved out of,” he added. “We are going back in time. The Marines who go through this program will never be the same. They’ll never look at the world the same again.”
The Marine Corps had not paid much attention to this low-tech combat approach since the Vietnam War. Like the other service branches, the Corps has generally gone high-tech by creating increasingly advanced weapons and developing virtual reality training.
Combat Hunter grew out of a concept by Gen. James Mattis, who has spearheaded the formation of various training programs for the Marine Corps. He saw the need for greater focus on hunting-related skills while overseeing combat forces at Camp Pendleton in 2006.
At the time, the Marines had recently turned the corner on roadside bomb attacks that killed and maimed so many of them in Iraq. They became better at detecting improvised explosive devices and blunting their impact.
Then the insurgents changed tactics. Instead of blowing up Marines, the enemy increasingly turned to shooting them as they patrolled neighborhoods or drove by in convoys.
Mattis, known for out-of-the-box thinking, weighed his options. He considered adding Marine snipers to protect his units, but he rejected the idea because it would take too long to train and field them.
Then he hit upon the idea of Combat Hunter, a strategy that squared with the Marine Corps’ aggressive fighting style.
Good. I like primitive things. Primal things. Our enemies are lower than primitive, so it’s fitting that we return to tried and true war skills.
2 Comments »
2 Responses to “The Marine Corps’ aggressive fighting style”
Duncan on 03 Mar 2008 at Mon 03 March 2008 19:38:40 #
This is one thing I admire ’bout the Marine Corps, and feel the US Army has lost focus on. We need more blood and guts soldiers. Sure, technology is nice, but train a hardened fighting man, and there is your weapon. the USMC has trained and fought with less technologically advanced equipment than other US Army units, and kicked more ass. Imagine what the USMC could do if it was given the top of the line, highest state of the art technology…. just wouldn’t be a fair fight….
Raven on 04 Mar 2008 at Tue 04 March 2008 07:07:25 #
Well let’s be fair here too…the US military would be nothing without it’s Air force.
I truly believe THAT.
But yes we need more ground grunts who know the art of hand to hand combat. Elbow to elbow fighting…the real thing.