Maritime Prepositioning...Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow.

摘要

The United States Marine Corps Maritime Prepositioning Force and Norway Air-Landed Marine Expeditionary Brigade programs are time-tested and operationally indispensable capabilities demanded by the current National Security Strategy. In times of crisis, these two unique and independent programs provide the Marine Corps, and moreover, the United States with a transformational force multiplying capability essential for global reach, rapid crisis response, power projection, and forward presence. The latest Quadrennial Defense Report directs military transformation focused on an unpredictable and asymmetric threat to national security. The author says that the Marine Corps responded to this strategic direction with transformational vision and resultant service strategy capitalizing on the unique capabilities of the Navy/Marine Corps team. The author sees maritime prepositioning as an important ingredient to successfully implementing those visions. The author also provides an overview of Blount Island Command, a critical element of the Marine Corps' geoprepositioning programs. In this overview, the author elaborates on Blount Island Command's role in supporting the prepositioning programs of today, and more importantly, the transformational future. The author concludes that Blount Island Command is a force multiplier for the Maritime Prepositioning Force as well as a critical element of the Marine Corps' transformational future.