Col. John Lehane, who took command of the third Marine Littoral Regiment at a Thursday morning ceremony at Marine Corps Base Hawaii, has been getting a lot of cellphone calls since taking on the Kaneohe-primarily based unit.
“A lot in order that my cellphone stopped working and bricked for just a little bit, ” he informed attendees on the ceremony. However he mentioned there was one name from a common that referred to as to congratulate him that caught with him.
“He mentioned, ‘you realize one thing John, you are gonna should have that unit prepared for fight, and there is a good probability it’ll occur in your tenure, ‘” mentioned Lehane. “So I need to take a possibility to publicly acknowledge that I perceive that, and I’ll do every thing I can to verify these Marines and sailors are prepared for that event ought to we be referred to as to take action.”
The third MLR formally activated final 12 months and is the primary unit of its sort. It’s meant to function a blueprint for an formidable Marine Corps plan to restructure its total power amid boiling geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and China. Beneath an initiative referred to as Drive Design 2030, service leaders envision the Corps returning to its roots as a naval combating power centered on the types of coastal and island operations it performed within the Pacific throughout World Conflict II, however with a twenty first century twist.
Col. Timothy Brady, the outgoing commander, mentioned that his Marines have labored exhausting at “occupied with what it means to be a Marine Littoral Regiment and the way we will should see the battle and flight in a different way than an infantry regiment.”
Brady can be staying on Oahu, taking over a brand new place at Marine Forces Pacific at Camp Smith because the service continues to refine its imaginative and prescient for the Pacific whereas Lehane takes over the MLR. Lehane’s most up-to-date task was aboard the USS Blue Ridge because the Navy seventh Fleet’s maritime operations director. Marine Corps leaders consider that have makes him supreme for weaving the MLR into Navy operations and dealing with the opposite providers.
Marine Corps brass need to see a leaner power that’s extra agile and adaptable, shifting shortly throughout island chains whereas additionally packing a heavy punch. Among the many adjustments is an ongoing effort to section out all of the Marines’ conventional cannon-based artillery on Oahu to exchange them with new ballistic missiles that commanders hope to make use of to sink enemy ships from batteries Marines would arrange on islands and coastlines as they help U.S. Navy operations and allied forces.
The brand new design is geared largely with the Western Pacific in thoughts. A selected focus is the South China Sea, a busy waterway that just about one-third of all world commerce travels by. China claims practically the complete sea as its unique territory over the objections of neighboring nations, and tensions are mounting over territorial and navigation rights.
In 2016, a global court docket dominated in favor of the Philippines and located that China’s claims have “no authorized ” foundation. Beijing rejected the ruling and has doubled down by constructing bases on disputed islands and reefs. The Chinese language army has harassed and generally attacked fishermen and different marine staff from neighboring nations.
For its half, the U.S. and its allies have been crusing warships by the area conducting “freedom of navigation operations.” Earlier this month a Chinese language navy vessel minimize throughout the trail of Pearl Harbor-based Navy destroyer USS Chung-Hoon because it was conducting an train within the Taiwan Strait with a Canadian ship, forcing it to decelerate to keep away from a collision.
Beijing considers self-ruled Taiwan a rogue province, and Chinese language chief Xi Jinpeng has vowed to convey it underneath its management by army power if mandatory. The island is a serious commerce accomplice for the U.S. and a key supplier of semiconductors that many American firms rely on to make their merchandise work.
The third MLR has performed a number of coaching workouts throughout the area. Maj. Gen. Jay Bargeron, commander of the third Marine Division in Japan—of which the third MLR is part—mentioned that the unit has gone “from idea to actuality—from the conceptual unit to a fight credible unit—in what I take into account to be a fairly wonderful, extremely quick time period.”
Nevertheless, not all of the items Marine Corps leaders need are in place as they push ahead with Drive Design 2030.
Marines in Hawaii are alleged to be the primary to obtain new Gentle Amphibious Warships, which might be crewed by a mix of Marines and Navy sailors to hold troops and gear to shore. However Marine Corps and Navy leaders are presently combating over funding priorities. Marine Corps commandant Gen. David Berger has publicly expressed frustration that ships supporting amphibious operation don’t get adequate funding.
Even so, Marine forces in Hawaii are starting to look so much completely different than they did two years in the past.
Among the many most notable adjustments has been the departure of all of the Marines’ conventional helicopters from Oahu to exchange them with ones that help long-range flight operations. Final month, outgoing MCBH base commander Col. Speros Koumparakis mentioned that relatively than having “plane that fly round Hawaii, ” Marines on Oahu can now “depart immediately and, in lower than 36 hours, be with our companions and allies within the first and second island chains.”
Earlier this 12 months in the Philippines throughout Train Balikatan 2023, troops from the third MLR and the Army’s Schofield Barracks-based twenty fifth Infantry Division skilled with the U.S. Navy and Philippines marines conducting island operations within the Luzon Strait simply south of Taiwan.
Throughout the train in addition they performed a live-fire coastal protection train in addition to a ship-sinking train off the west coast of the Philippines. Brady mentioned “we introduced greater than 1, 300, the whole thing of the MLR, ahead into the primary island chain the place we’re related, the place we will do our mission, the place we will get after (it ).”
The seeming breakdown in U.S.- China relations has fueled deep unease within the area. On Monday, the New York-based Eurasia Group Basis launched the outcomes of a survey that discovered that about 81 % of individuals in the Philippines and 67 % of South Koreans assume rising tensions between China and the U.S. are prone to endanger their very own nationwide safety.
Regional leaders have urged Chinese language and American officers to show down the temperature on tensions. At a latest worldwide protection and diplomacy summit in Singapore, Chinese language officers repeatedly refused to fulfill with American counterparts, although some stories counsel casual talks between the 2 did happen. This week U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is about to reach in China in an effort to stabilize the connection.
___
(c)2023 The Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Go to The Honolulu Star-Advertiser at www.staradvertiser.com
Distributed by Tribune Content material Company, LLC.
© Copyright 2023 The Honolulu Star-Advertiser. All rights reserved. This materials might not be revealed, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
