Photo By Cpl. Krista James | Maj. Gen. Brian D. Beaudreault, the commanding general of 2nd Marine Division,...... read more read more
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MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C.— Maj. Gen. Brian D. Beaudreault, the commanding general of 2nd Marine Division, discusses issues affecting Marines and sailors within 2nd Marine Division including future deployments, downsizing, and the potential integration of women in combat arms.
As the war in Afghanistan comes to a close, what can Marines within the division expect over the next few years?
We have to be prepared to not fight the last war. By the end of this year the Marine Corps should be out of Afghanistan, which means 2nd Marine Division Marines will be back home. What we don’t want to do is prepare to refight Afghanistan—although we don’t want to lose our expertise in security and counterinsurgency operations, we have to keep an eye on the future.
What is important is to ensure this division is prepared to fight the next war, whatever that might look like. We are a force that is trained in combined arms, so we will see more training that involves getting our units into integrated or large-scale exercises. It is important from a training standpoint that we look forward, take the lessons we have learned in the past, and apply them. The last 13 years of war have generated some great lessons for the Marine Corps. We must take a look at these thematic areas, but not to better ourselves in the fight that we just completed, but we have to ask ourselves ‘How is it going to help us prepare for the future?’.
Marines have to transition their minds away from what we have done in Afghanistan an Iraq and think about the future. We must survey the security environment and decide what does that security environment look like for 2nd Marine Division units and how are we going to employ them. The Marine Corps has asked the division to source manpower for Special-Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force Crisis Response teams and the division will continue to provide battalion landing teams for the Marine Expeditionary Units (MEUs). Although we may not be at war, Marines must continue to have a mindset of readiness and be prepared to deploy.
The Marine Corps is downsizing and the division will see changes due to these efforts. Recently we deactivated 1st Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment and 2nd Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment is scheduled for deactivation. Admittingly, the division will look different than it did, but it will be every bit as ready.
And the way we will ensure readiness is how the Marine Corps has always ensured readiness—and that is the emphasis on the small unit leader. If we maintain a focus on brilliance in the basics and small unit leadership, the Marine Corps will remain strong and we will be ready to fight when our nation calls.
The Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. James Amos has asked Marines to “reawaken” and to make better decisions both on and off duty. What does this mean for 2nd Marine Division?
It is a healthy thing for the Marine Corps to look at who we are and to make sure we are fulfilling our core values of honor, courage and commitment. As Marines, we must be the living examples of the Marine Corps ethos.
As the commandant stated, the goal of the reawakening campaign is to reduce the number of incidents involving Marines. Taking a look at what Maj. Gen. Lukeman and Sgt. Maj. Zickefoose have done, the division is on the right track. For a division of 19,000 Marines, we have had a significantly low number of incidents involving Marines and sailors. In the future, we will continue to refine our policies and procedures in hopes of reducing or eliminating this number altogether.
I do not believe the division needs new initiatives to reach the commandant’s goal; however, I do believe we need to use the programs we have in place to assist junior service members in making better decisions. One thing the reawakening campaign did was force commanders to take a look at internal programs and decide if they were maximizing the value that each program had in its own right.
At the division, programs such as the Marine 360 are giving Marines the opportunity to recenter themselves around our core values. As we move forward, we have to ensure as leaders we are not marginalizing these programs and we are sending our junior troops to support these programs.
Currently, the Marine Corps is field testing a unit at Camp Lejeune which integrates women into combat arms. In your opinion, how important is this unit to the Marine Corps?
The commandant of the Marine Corps has made a significant investment in this unit—with both personnel and resources. We have numerous military and civilian organizations conducting an assessment to determine what gender neutral standards combat arms Marines need to meet, which I believe is something the ground combat element has needed for a long time.
What should be the physical standards associated with being an infantryman, artilleryman, tanker? Is it just because you get assigned the job out of recruit training or should there be some other aspects to maintaining the job specialty?
In my opinion, combat arm specialties should require something more than simply meeting the entry-level requirements. I believe this unit will provide great value to the Marine Corps in defining or at least making recommendations for the commandant to consider what those ground combat element performance standards should look like.
| Date Taken: | 09.10.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 09.10.2014 09:57 |
| Story ID: | 141652 |
| Location: | CAMP LEJEUNE, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 252 |
| Downloads: | 3 |
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