At the end of the Cold War, the Pentagon was forced to reexamine itself as it began moving roles, missions, and force structure away from the two-superpower model that dominated planning and budgets for almost fifty years. The emphasis then was on “transformation;” developing a new vision of a military better suited to meet the emerging post-Cold War challenges to U.S. national security – asymmetry, (counter) terrorism, etc.

Now the Marine Corps is again revisiting its roles and missions. On March 23, 2020, Gen. David Berger, former Commandant of the Marine Corps, unveiled “Force Design 2030,” a major initiative planned to occur over the coming decade. Under this initiative, the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) intends to redesign its naval expeditionary force and to better align itself with the Pentagon’s 2018 National Defense Strategy. Following years of developing a force focused on conducting inland operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, the 2018 National Defense Strategy directed the Marine Corps to shift its mission focus on a great/near peer competitor (Russia/China) with special emphasis on the Indo-Pacific region; often referred to as the “Pacific Pivot.”

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