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STATEMENT BY
GENERAL WILLIAM L. NYLAND
ASSISTANT COMMANDANT OF THE MARINE CORPS
UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS

BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON MILITARY READINESS
HOUSE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE
UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

OCTOBER 21, 2003   
 

 

Introduction

Chairman Hefley, Congressman Ortiz, distinguished members of the Committee, thank you for this opportunity to once again appear before the committee.  It is my privilege to report on the state of readiness of your Marine Corps, and on behalf of Marines everywhere, I want to thank this Committee for its continuing support.  Your commitment to improving the readiness of our Nation's warfighting response is integral to maintaining the mission capability of the Marine Corps in the Global War Against Terrorism.  Our successful operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, Liberia, and ongoing presence in the Horn of Africa attest to the state of our readiness.  Your support for the equipping, training, and maintenance of your Marine Corps will enable us to remain the Nation's "Expeditionary Force in Readiness."  

Contingency Operations

Across the spectrum of the missions assigned by the National Military Command Authority, the Marine Corps continues to maintain a global, expeditionary perspective.  We are a Nation engaged in an ongoing Global War on Terrorism; meanwhile, our forces also must continue to serve as a strategic deterrent, an instrument of diplomacy, a rapid reaction force, and the Nation's only truly expeditionary force.  Currently, all but a remnant of our forces engaged in Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) have redeployed from Iraq.  Our seasoned veterans have redeployed to resume their forward deployed presence missions, to reestablish routine unit rotations, and to prepare for whatever missions may come next.  As the Marine Corps continues to set the force, our forces will remain scalable, sustainable and ready to respond to the full spectrum of operations. 

During Operation Iraqi Freedom, eighty percent of the Corps infantry battalions were deployed in combat operations, the Unit Deployment Program, or as part of the Global Naval Forward Presence Policy.  Approximately seventy percent of the Marine Corps' F/A-18 Hornet jets, attack helicopters, and combat-service-support capabilities were deployed.  All of the Marine Corps AV-8B Harrier squadrons, M1A1 tanks, amphibious assault vehicles, light armored reconnaissance and combat engineer battalions were forward deployed.  The Navy-Marine Corps team deployed two seven-ship Amphibious Task Forces from each coast, with a total of 11,948 Marines, 158 aircraft, 18,000 short tons of principle end items, and their sustainment. Our amphibious ships served as afloat staging areas and airfields when access to both allied and host nations sites were denied.  The attack to capture and liberate Tikrit was the culmination of a reinforced Marine Expeditionary Force assault that lasted twenty-six days and spanned seven hundred and twenty-one miles.  Crossing the initial line of departure was an all out Navy-Marine Corps team effort.   

We off-loaded two squadrons of our Maritime Prepostioning Force - eleven ships providing combat equipment ready for all missions and thirty days of sustainment.   At the same time, our global reach enabled by amphibious platforms from our partnership with the Navy enabled Marine Forces to operate in diverse geographic locations from Afghanistan to Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, the Arabian Gulf, Southwest Asia, Jordan, the Horn of Africa, Turkey, Georgian Republic, Iceland, Guantanamo Bay, Colombia, the Philippines, and North East Asia.  The rapid buildup of forces in the CENTCOM Theater of operations validated the expeditionary posture, strategic agility, and tactical flexibility of the Navy-Marine Corps team. There are profound geopolitical and doctrinal implications for the operational reach demonstrated by Navy-Marine Corps forces during Operation Iraqi Freedom.  As a result of combat operations, several challenges as well as opportunities stand before the Marine Corps with respect to setting our forces in the near term, as well as constituting our forces to address future requirements.

During OIF, the 1^st Marine Expeditionary Force fought as a joint team composed of soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines. Accordingly, the Marine Corps plans for subsequently constituting the force includes both comprehensive and coordinated joint solutions.  Within the Corps, our operating forces are organized as a "Total Force," combining both Active and Reserve components that train and fight together.  We plan to integrate "lessons learned" from our joint and Total Force experience in OIF to further improve our ability to effectively plan, support, train and fight in a joint warfighting environment.

Marine Corps operations throughout the past year have again highlighted the relevance, versatility, flexibility, interoperability, and expeditionary nature of our forces.   In partnership with the Navy, we continue to leverage our forward presence so that we may engage our adversaries wherever we may find them, and at the time of our choosing.   

However, our success in Iraq was not without costs.  During the Marine Corps' fight from Kuwait to Tikrit, a good deal of our equipment, while performing admirably, suffered some form of failure or battle damage.  In a little less than 40 days our forces put a far greater number of miles and flight hours on our rolling stock and aircraft then we would have in peacetime and training operations, and once again our equipment proved worthy of the Marines who operate it.   That said, this would of course require additional supplies and maintenance - funding for which is included in our FY'04 Supplemental Request. 

Marine Corps' weapons systems proved effective under the harshest of conditions and a great deal of ordnance was expended.  Many of our preferred munitions are already being manufactured at maximum production rates to meet inventory replacement requirements, so restoring our inventory levels will require time.  We will continue to prosecute the Global War on Terrorism wherever that path might lead.  Meanwhile the Marine Corps will set the force as swiftly as possible in order to achieve the highest level of readiness expected by our nation.

Setting the Force

When we refer to "setting" the force, we are addressing our efforts to ensure our readiness. When the call came, our Marines and equipment were "set," poised and ready for success.  Their performance on the battlefield was superb.  Our Marines endured the hardship of battle and separation from loved ones and emerged with their spirit intact.  Our equipment performed under the rigors of combat without the benefit of routine maintenance cycles.  Today we are dealing with the effects of our recent successes.  Some of the effects are immediately obvious while some will be apparent only over time.  By rotating and repairing our units and equipment, we ensure the highest possible state of readiness.  In this sense, we will be continuously  "setting" the force for some time.  In the near-term FY 2003-2004 period, we will re-deploy forces from OIF and engage in maintenance and training activities to meet our planned presence and operational planning requirements.  The near term force setting challenges that lie before us continue to be assessed and will not be fully realized until all of our forces have returned home, resumed routine deployments and our Maritime Prepositioning Force is fully constituted.  The Marine Corps objective in setting and constituting the force is to maintain a high state of preparedness as a ready force while preparing for the future as a joint partner in answering challenges to national security.  As with any objective there is a cost, and I come prepared to discuss those costs with you today.

Supplemental Funding

The Marine Corps received sufficient funding through the FY 2003 Supplemental to cover all of its Military Personnel and Operations and Maintenance requirements.  Likewise, the FY 2004 Contingency Operations Supplemental request also addresses all of our essential and anticipated Military Personnel and Operations and Maintenance requirements.  To that end our supplemental funding request contains operational support costs of $1.04[A1] 5 billion to cover the incremental operational costs, OPTEMPO, training, material and services, facilities/base support costs, constitution, and depot maintenance.  The FY 2004 Supplemental also includes $830 million in the Marine Corps Military Personnel accounts to cover the costs of Mobilized Marine Reservists, active duty end strength carryover, and the costs associated with contingency plans to deploy a MAGTF in support of OIF as early as Spring 2004 for a period of up to one year.   A longer deployment or a larger force would result in a requirement for additional funding.   Additionally, $351.3 million is included in the FY 04 Supplemental request for Personnel Support costs in support of ongoing Marine Corps support of Operations Noble Eagle, Enduring Freedom, and Iraqi Freedom.  These costs cover our Active and Reserve component activation/deactivation costs, temporary additional duty, Class II supply for, clothing, tools, and administrative supplies, and Class VIII personal demand items including medical supplies, and Reserve.  This $351.3 million portion of the request also includes $18 million in DHP for health care for activated reserve forces and their families.   

Equipment Replacement 

The Marine Corps objective in setting and constituting the force is to maintain a high state of preparedness as a ready force.  This will obviously take both time and money.  Two of our four divisions are currently reporting significant degradations in readiness because of equipment loss or damage.  

During OIF, the Marine Corps offloaded two Maritime Prepostitioning Squadrons. 

Our equipment came off Maritime Prepositioning Ships Squadrons 1 and 2 with equipment readiness ratings of 98% and 99% respectively.   After combat operations much equipment is worn and broken, and assessment of the material condition of that equipment is ongoing.  We have approximately 2,000 Marines in Kuwait working to both assess and where feasible bring that equipment up to a usable condition.  In the interim, the equipment we back load will be usable, able to shoot, move, and communicate.    The equipment going to reconstitute the Maritime Prepositioning Force losses is being pulled from assets left behind by deploying units, and global war reserve stocks.  It will take time to return the Maritime Prepositioning Force program to pre-employment capability.    We are taking advantage of the constitution process to transform our MPS through the implementation of the Maritime Prepositioning Ship Realignment Plan.  This plan shifts several ships among the Maritime Prepositioning Squadrons in order to achieve enhanced capability and interoperability in support of deliberate and contingency plans.   We have used many assets from the Norway Air-Landed Marine Expeditionary Brigade (NALMEB) Prepositioning Program in the constitution of our Maritime Prepositioning Squadrons, and expect to tap further into the assets stored there as we progress in the overall Maritime Prepositioning Force constitution.  

Depot Maintenance 

Returning our operating and Maritime Prepositioning Force equipment to full mission capabilities is one of our highest priorities, and that priority is reflected in both the FY 2003 and FY 2004 Supplemental requests for depot maintenance funding.  However, we have constrained our request for equipment throughput at our two Marine Corps depots in order to preclude a significant investment in new facilities or production line tooling.  We will continue to evaluate options to accelerate our depot maintenance throughput in order to return mission essential equipment to the Fleet Marine Forces as expeditiously as possible. 

Aircraft Replacement

The Marine Corps intent for replacing combat losses is to continue our transformation and modernization initiatives to the extent that we can, and to recapitalize only when necessary.  We have put forth a plan for replacing all our aircraft that were lost during OIF.  We lost seven aircraft during OIF, not all of which will be replaced in the near term with like model replacements.  For example, AV-8B Harrier aircraft are no longer in production, so the AV-8B lost during OIF will be replaced by the next generation Joint Strike Fighter, which begins production in FY 2006.  This will ultimately allow us to constitute our force with a more capable platform and accelerate our transformation efforts.   Similarly, two CH-46E Sea Knights helicopters are projected to be replaced by two MV-22 Ospreys in FY 2004.  A CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter will be replaced by a CH-53E from the boneyard after modernization at a cost of $1.5 million.  Two UH-1N Huey, and two AH-1W Super Cobra helicopters that were lost, will be replaced by 4 H-1Y/Z aircraft in FY 2004. 

Other Investment Items

The FY 2004 Supplemental includes a Marine Corps request of $123.4 million to replace combat losses and facilitate implementation of OIF lessons learned.  The $123.4 million portion of the FY 2004 Supplemental request includes $23.2 million for eleven Light Armored Vehicles (LAV), $13.1 million for 77 MK48 Logistics Vehicle System modifications, $8.3 million for three M88A2 Recovery vehicles, and $78.8 million for 105 Amphibious Assault Vehicle replacement and upgrade vehicles.

Any inventory shortfalls due to delays in equipment or munitions replacement are manageable in the near term, and we continue to explore options to accelerate the procurement of next generation replacement items with enhanced capabilities as part of our force constitution efforts.   The impact of the delay in funding all of our identified requirements on combat readiness is modest and must be weighed against the opportunities available to provide the force with truly transformational capabilities.

Our Marines have done an exceptional job.  They have embraced every mission with enthusiasm.  The number of first term reenlistments to appropriate skills is at an all time high at a time when the average number of unit-deployed days is approaching 300 out of the last 730 days.  We are actively monitoring our OPTEMPO.  As our forces return there are Marines who will be leaving active Service, and there will be young Marines that are finishing boot camp and entering the operating forces.  These young Marines must be properly trained before deploying in support of the Global War on Terrorism.  For the Marines that remain in our ranks, we will refocus our enlisted professional military education (PME) to ensure that it addresses the joint aspect of warfighting.

Marines returning from combat operations and lengthy deployments will be supported by unit Commanders at every level who will monitor, train, and offer treatment to Marines experiencing adverse post-deployment effects.  To that end, a new program called Warrior's Return will provide Marines that experience difficulty in adjusting with medical and counseling assistance.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I would like to again thank the members of the Committee for their outstanding, continuing support for the Marine Corps, and the opportunity to address our readiness issues.  Our expeditionary force in readiness did an exceptional job during Operation Iraqi Freedom.  Their accomplishments were a direct reflection of your continued support and commitment to maintaining our nation's expeditionary warfighting capability.  Your Marine Corps appreciates this opportunity to restate our requirements as reflected in the FY 2004 Supplemental and thanks you for your assistance.  

 [A1]Matches the supplemental justification materials submitted to Congress: $1.047 billion