QPME: Warfighting: History of the MCDP, Roots of Maneuver Warfare, and the Doctrine in Action

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Highlights of Institutional Reform

1979-1981

LtCol Michael D. Wyly revamps tactics instruction at Amphibious Warfare School (AWS)

1981 

Gen Gray serves as Commanding General 2d Marine Division (2MARDIV) and G.I. Wilson & William Woods participate in 2MARDIV Maneuver Warfare Board

1986

Goldwater-Nichols Act

1987-1991

Gen Gray becomes 29^th Commandant of the Marine Corps and MCU ideated

1988

LtGen Van Riper serves as Director, USMC Command and Staff College

1989

LtGen Van Riper becomes the first President of Marine Corps University and Maneuver Warfare Mobile Training Teams take maneuver warfare concepts to Marine Corps operating forces

“The intellectual transformation of the Marine Corps involved three main mechanisms. The first was a theoretical mechanism centered on public debate in the pages of Marine Corps Gazette to introduce and defend maneuver warfare to Marine audience. The second was a functional/practical mechanism that involved educational and training initiatives at the Amphibious Warfare School and Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. The third mechanism was the use of institutional authority made possible with the appointment of General Alfred M. Gray, a senior and vocal maneuver warfare champion, to the position Commandant of the Marine Corps.”

From 1958-1983, “the military suffered several operational setbacks: the Vietnam War, the seizure of the USS Pueblo, the seizure of the Mayaguez, the failed Iranian rescue mission, the Marine barracks bombing in Beirut, and the Grenada incursion. These failures had a number of common denominators—poor military advice to political leaders, lack of unity of command, and inability to operate jointly.”

The overarching objective of Goldwater-Nichols as it was ultimately formulated was to balance joint and service interests. It was not to thwart service prerogatives; the services were and would remain the most important elements of the Department of Defense. They were, and are, the foundations on which everything else had to be constructed. To strike that balance, the drafters of the Goldwater-Nichols Act adopted nine objectives:

1. Strengthen civilian authority

2. Improve military advice to the president (in his constitutionally specified capacity as commander in chief of the armed forces), secretary of defense, and National Security Council

3. Place clear responsibilities on the unified commanders in chief for mission accomplishment

4. Ensure that a unified commander’s authority is commensurate with his responsibilities

5. Increase attention to strategy formulation and contingency planning

6. Provide for the more efficient use of resources

7. Improve joint officer management

8. Enhance the effectiveness of military operations

9. Improve Defense Department management and administration"

Locher, p. 105

“Dynamic refinement of the Corps’ professional military education system brought significant curriculum changes in the late 1980s. Maneuver warfare theory was introduced and a focus on Marine Air Ground Task Force (MAGTF) operations was implemented. In 1989, under the direction of then Commandant of the Marine Corps, General Alfred M. Gray, five independent Marine Corps schools were organized into the Marine Corps University.”

(History of MCU)