Guerrilla Warfare, Subversion, Espionage And The USMC

Is the new USMC Unconventional Warfare University General Doug Brown's retirement gift to America and US Army Special Forces?

Quoted from the linked Marine article -
Note: MSOS = Marine Special Operations School

"...the vision of the MSOS is to be the premier FID and unconventional warfare university in the entire SOF community." MORE

Here is the definition of unconventional warfare.

unconventional warfare: A broad spectrum of military and paramilitary operations conducted in enemy-held, enemy-controlled or politically sensitive territory. Unconventional warfare includes, but is not limited to, the interrelated fields of guerrilla warfare, evasion and escape, subversion, sabotage, and other operations of a low visibility, covert, or clandestine nature. These interrelated aspects of unconventional warfare may be prosecuted singly or collectively by predominantly indigenous personnel, usually supported and directed in varying degrees by an external source or sources during all conditions of war or peace. (JCS Pub 1-02) Also called UW.

Does America really want to send the USMC around the world to initiate covert and clandestine guerrilla wars to include subversion and sabotage?

Are "The Few, The Proud" suddenly going to become "Silent Professionals"? I don't think so, but apparently General Brown does. This school was established on his watch. Let's be honest about it. The USMC cannot spell low visibility. They even had to issue a press release to announce they are going to begin studying and teaching Unconventional Warfare. Look at the linked article and recall the recent Marine (trained) Special Operations Force spectacle in Afghanistan. They can neither get organized to, nor conduct even one special operation mission (Failed mission, I should add.) without deliberately calling the entire world's attention to their effort. That is neither covert nor clandestine.

The US Military has spent 55 years and billions of dollars developing a complete, modern and highly skilled unconventional warfare capability and school within US Army Special Forces that actually works well. Does DOD have so much money to waste today that we are going to begin that 55 year long learning curve again from scratch?

This Fiscal Year, General Brown ordered US Army Special Forces to increase strength by 33%. Then he deleted over $13 million from this year's budget of the Special Warfare Center School that is to train all our Green Berets including the extra 33%. Try that kind of financial ambush in your own growing neighborhood school district and see the response you get.

Are we now going to have two inadequately funded schools? Is that General Brown's vision of how to win a war? Is it better to have two inadequate schools than one great one? Why fund a second Special Warfare schoolhouse when the entire world knows and recognizes the US Army Special Warfare Center School as the best in the world, and as a precious few of us know - it is underfunded? This pits the USMC and US Army Special Forces in direct competition with each other for already inadequate funding and other training assets AND in recruiting the special warriors needed for the teams. Since when do we fight each other? Are we not supposed to be coordinating with each other to fight America's enemies? And who are going to be the expert instructors for the USMC Unconventional Warfare schoolhouse? Who in the USMC is experienced in initiating and sustaining guerrilla wars, subversion and espionage?

I have nothing but respect for USMC combat history. And I respect their willingness to participate in any format on any battlefield. The USMC is an outstanding assault and raiding force. If the USMC wants a bigger mission set, I believe DOD could save a fortune by assigning the JSOC and Delta mission to the Marines and it involves missions that the USMC is already trained to do. The USMC was conducting successful raids behind enemy lines for 200 years before JSOC and SOCOM were formed. And that was when America was winning wars.

If DOD and SOCOM want to increase America's unconventional warfare capabilities, returning JSOC's Special Forces trained assets and funding to US Army Special Forces will dramatically increase our unconventional warfare capability immediately. But sending USMC units on clandestine unconventional warfare missions to recruit, train, equip, and lead indigenous forces in order to initiate or support covert guerrrilla wars around the globe is a monstrous tragedy waiting to happen to both America and the USMC.

SF24D