The squad automatic weapon (SAW) is the most powerful weapon in a rifle squad. It allows squads to maneuver on an enemy and provides the bulk of organic suppressive fire. But if you asked rifle platoon squad leaders to point out their SAW gunners, you’d likely be looking at three of the newest and most junior Marines.

The Marine Corps expects and thus challenges its officers to diversify their experiences, enabling them to develop into Marine air-ground task force officers capable of achieving success in a variety of settings. Therefore, the Marine Corps makes its officer assignments based on the following prioritized criteria:1 • Needs of the Marine Corps. • Military occupational specialty (MOS)/billet variety. • Availability of the individual. • Overseas control date (OCD). • Seniority. Read the entire article: http://www.mca-marines.org/gazette/june09-webarticle3.asp

The late political scientist, Samuel P. Huntington, in The Soldier and the State: The Theory and Politics of Civil-Military Relations, created a conceptual framework for defining a “military professional.” He suggests that a military professional has three consistent characteristics—expertise, responsibility, and corporateness. For someone to be considered a military professional, these characteristics must not only be displayed by each individual, but they must also be institutionalized within the military organization.

No recent ground weapons system has stirred as much debate as the expeditionary fire support system (EFSS). Since 2000 the Gazette has seen numerous articles advocating weapons type, assignment within the ground combat element, and the validity of the EFSS requirement itself. EFSS, in initial form, is an M327 120mm rifled towed (RT) mortar. EFSS should, however, progress to an ultralightweight, fully digitized 105mm pack howitzer (ULWPH), firing advanced ammunition and capable of limited self-propelled mobility via an auxiliary power unit (APU).

View guidance: http://www.nato.int/isaf/docu/official_texts/Tactical_Directive_090706.pdf

Read the article online at Gazette: http://www.mca-marines.org/gazette/july09-webarticle1-professionalizing-the-marine-corps.asp

This little known passage of history is dedicated to Sgt Hedlund, Sgt Robbins, and Doc Collier, and to all of the fallen heroes who gave their lives on “The Road to the Graveyard.” Read the story at: http://www.mca-marines.org/gazette/nov09-the_road_to_the_graveyard.asp