I checked the thread and the conversation had already started back on
24 March 2020 and
Suhiir gave a good argument why the
USMC could get away with not having them due to support from attack helos and artillery. She unfortunately doesn't have a "crystal ball" and I'm pretty she's not a "
witch" (You don't float on water do you!?! And be careful I did watch that "
documentary" by MP concerning "The Holy Grail" therefore if you (If you were a witch.) float like wood and wood burns what you do with a witch? You burn it!!!
Now back to our normal programming.) so therefore could foresee that's
not going to be the case.
I will start from the beginning and pull a couple of quotes from each as needed.
24 March 2020:
https://www.popularmechanics.com/mil...e-corps-tanks/
This article is worth your time to read as you'll get
some answers to the question,
WHY?
"The Marines are
eliminating all four tank battalions, including three active duty and one reserve battalion equivalent.
21 July 2020:
https://www.military.com/daily-news/...attalions.html
"
All of 4th Tanks' six companies, along with its battalion headquarters, are expected to
deactivate by the end of 2021, Hollenbeck said." (Maj. Roger Hollenbeck,
a spokesman for Marine Forces Reserve.)
29 July 2020 0745:
https://www.armyrecognition.com/defe...ision_lot.html
"from
Marine Corps Combat Development Command: “The Marine Corps is redesigning the
2030 force for naval expeditionary warfare in actively contested spaces, fully aligning the service with the direction of the" National Defense Strategy, it said. To prepare itself for naval expeditionary warfare in contested areas and adapt its means to
Chinese or
Russian units, the Marine Corps has started to implement its plans
to get rid of law enforcement battalions, tank battalions and associated military occupational specialties, and all bridging companies by 2030, according to the announcement that was released March 23. Additionally, the service intends to
reduce the number of
infantry battalions from 24 to 21; artillery cannon batteries from 21 to 5; amphibious vehicle companies from 6 to 4; and cut tiltrotor (MV-22 Osprey), attack and heavy lift squadrons. The blueprint of the plan calls for a
total force reduction of approximately 12,000 personnel over a 10-year period, a decline of slightly less than 7 percent relative to the current structure."
"The Marine Corps
plans to deactivate Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 264; Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 462; Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 469; Marine Wing Support Groups 27 and 37; 8th Marine Regiment Headquarters Company; and 3rd Battalion, 8th Marines. It also
intends to realign 1st Battalion, 8th Marines to 2nd Marines, and 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines to 6th Marines, while deactivating and relocating Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 367 to Camp Pendleton, California. The
Corps is canceling the activation of 5th Battalion, 10th Marines, but its assigned batteries will realign under the existing 10th Marine Regiment structure. The service expects to
reduce the number of F-35B and F-35C primary aircraft authorized per squadron from
16 to 10, the announcement said."
You take away the training units in the beginning, the rest is sure to follow.
01 August 2020:
https://militaryleak.com/2020/08/01/...a1-tank-units/
"...
2nd Tank Battalion left Camp Lejeune, N.C., for the last time this week as part of the service’s sweeping modernization plan that envisions a more agile force..."
"Tank units on the
East and West coasts shuttered this month and began
hauling their armor to military depots."
West Coast:
"And the service isn’t dallying. Early this month, the
1st Tank Battalion at Twentynine Palms, Calif., said goodbye to its tanks. Weeks later,
Alpha Company, 4th Tank Battalion cased its colors down the road at Camp Pendleton, the first of the
Marine Corps Reserve battalion’s six companies expected to do so by the
end of 2021. Last week, some
200 West Coast-based Abrams tanks, M-88 Recovery Vehicles and other equipment began moving through the Corps’ logistics base in Barstow, Calif.,
enroute to Army depots in California and Alabama. Hundreds of Marines in tank units will be able to
change specialties or
transfer into the Army to continue serving as tankers, and those with at
least 15 years of service may apply for early retirement."
East Coast:
On the East Coast,
2nd Tank Battalion’s Charlie Company cased its colors last Friday, where company commander Capt. John Fergerson recalled the role its tanks played in the second battle for Fallujah in Iraq in 2004. The decision to do away with tanks does not diminish their value in past conflicts, the service’s top officials have said. They just won’t be a part of the Corps’ future. The tank units aren’t the only ones packing up.
Three combat logistics units in California, North Carolina and Japan also shut down this summer, along with an engineer support battalion and Marine wing support group, both based in California.
The
4th Battalion will be the last Armor Unit to
case their colors, which Company will have that "honor" to be last has not been announced that I'm aware.
At the rate this is
accelerating, we have an
End Date of DEC 2021 for all USMC Armor based on
numerous reliable web sources.
Putting all the "
Ouh Ra Ra" stuff aside and knowing how my Dad felt about his time in Armor, I won't begrudge any one of those folks if they took the Army offer, not one bit.
There's nothing to read into this it's pretty cut and dry and anyone who's served in the U.S. Military knows how fast things can move when the
upper C of C is motivated and the
CORPS is obviously motivated about Plan 2030.
The 1st refs offers the reasons logic for why but, as quoted from the
interview, in the same breath along with China, mentions
Russia.
Russia will unlikely be an issue to U.S. interests in Asia or the Pacific. However the Baltic and North Sea would be contested and the CORPS would play a major role in "
holding the line" especially as with everything else that happened this week,
POTUS is talking about pulling around
12K troops out of Germany and bringing
about 1/2 them back home and reassign the rest to diffrent European countries.
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/y...l-regrettable/
There is a thought process by the "
experts" that the Army can provide the Armor, sure if we have some there in Europe (And remember we just
put some back a few years ago after
taking them home as well.)
I support the thoughts of some that the
CORPS should at least keep the
4th Reserve Battalion at full strength and move it to the East Coast so it's available if needed, to go to Europe.
Things can change as we're in a Presidential election cycle, if not, then
we'll know the outcome before the next Patch.
But again, as it stands now,
CORPS Armor final flag will be
cased by DEC 2021.
https://www.marines.mil/News/News-Di...-usmc-to-army/
I thought some might want to see what the
CORPS has to say.
Regards,
Pat
