The opening sentence in the Commandant of the Marine Corps’ October 2025 Force Design update asserts: “The Marine Corps is a globally responsive, lethal, and resilient combined-armed naval expeditionary force that projects power from sea to land and land to sea, fighting as a Marine Air Ground Task Force across all domains in contested environments to deter, deny, and defeat adversaries.”

This statement is aspirational. It does not reflect the current state of the Marine Corps, which is best characterized as a force lacking balanced lethality and battlefield resiliency. Until the senior leadership comes to grip with this truth, the Corps will remain a service in stasis. Optimistic expressions ring hollow when confronted with the realities of resources, defense budgets, Department of War

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