A Letter from LtGen Leonard F. Anderson IV, Commander, Marine Forces Reserve and Marine Forces South

Since 1916, the Marine Corps Reserve has served as an indispensable component of our Nation’s combat power—mobilized in every major conflict from Belleau Wood to the streets of Fallujah. Today,

Read More

Parting Reflections

There is room for some serious improvement in the Corps

[...] I write with genuine concern not contempt. [...] I would love to think everything I write about here goes without saying, given that we have all read Marine Corps Doctrinal Publication 1, Warfighting, at some point. When I checked into the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, in 2008,

Read More

Good Decisionmakers Are Not Enough

We need to train beyond the physical level of war

Divergent thinking, by contrast, involves processes like shifting perspective, transforming or producing multiple answers from the available information and thus favors the production of novelty.3 With Cropley's explanation it is clear that the result of training should be the development of

Read More

Leadership for a More Educated Corps

If maneuver warfare is to work, we must change leadership techniques as well as tactics.

With its emphasis on mission orders, maneuver warfare demands Marines who can be innovative, creative, and flexible-Marines who can exercise initiative in fast-moving, fluid situations without the benefit of orders. This need is clearly identified in FMFM 1.

Read More