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The U.S. Marine Corps said on Wednesday it would cut four infantry battalions and 12 flying squadrons over the next five years as it shrinks by 20,000 personnel to meet budget constraints and peacetime needs after more than a decade of war.

The biggest cuts would fall on Marine Corps bases in North Carolina, with Camp Lejeune and the adjacent New River air base losing 5,800 personnel and Cherry Point air base losing another 2,100. Three California Marine bases—Camp Pendleton, 29 Palms and Miramar—would lose a total of 6,000 personnel.

Lieutenant General Richard Mills, head of the Combat Development Command, said the reductions would take place over five years “on a slope as opposed to a cliff” and would take place through “natural attrition,” giving Marines a chance to serve out the terms of their contracts.

“The impact on the individual Marine will mostly be through re-enlistments,” Mills said. “We’re obviously going to … need fewer Marines, so re-enlistments will tighten up. A Marine is … really going to have to be professionally qualified, personally qualified and really be top performers to find a slot to stay in the career force.”

The cuts are part of the Pentagon’s efforts to reduce projected spending by $487 billion over the next decade as called for in a budget agreement last autumn between Congress and President Barack Obama.

The cuts begin to take effect in the budget for the 2013 fiscal year that Defense Secretary Leon Panetta unveiled a month ago. The plan calls for $525.4 billion in base defense spending, about $5.1 billion less than approved for 2012. It also seeks $88.5 billion for the war in Afghanistan.

Mills said the force reduction plan would cut the size of the Marine Corps to about 182,100 personnel from the current 202,000 by the end of 2016, keeping it a “middle-weight force capable of being forward deployed, capable of expeditionary operations.”

The plan will reduce the number of infantry battalions to 23 from 27 to take account of the smaller size of the force. Aircraft squadrons would be reduced to 58 from the current 70. And three headquarters units also would be cut.

The redesigned Marine Corps force structure would bolster capabilities in some areas as envisioned by a new U.S. military strategy unveiled by Panetta in early January. The strategy calls for a shift in emphasis to the Pacific as well as an increased emphasis on special operations forces.

The Marine Corps plan would only cut 200 personnel in Hawaii. It did not elaborate on how bases in Japan would be affected. Mills said those details were still being worked out.

Mills said the corps would add 250 personnel to improve its strength in cyberspace, put an additional 821 people in the Marine Corps Special Operations Command and add another squadron of unmanned aircraft to the Marine Corps Reserves, bringing the total to two.

“It’s a growth industry,” Mills said of the demand for U.S. capabilities in cyberspace. “I think that anybody who follows what General (Keith) Alexander is doing up at Cyber Com (Cyber Command) realizes that it’s expanding both in its capabilities and its requirement. And the Marine component of that is just following right along.”

The Pentagon created the new military command two years ago to build up the military’s ability to attack enemy computer networks and develop defenses for critical U.S. computer infrastructure.

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U.S. Navy Orders Four More LCS Vessels
Mar. 16, 2012 - 06:09PM | By CHRISTOPHER P. CAVAS

Construction contracts for four more Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) were awarded March 16 by the U.S. Navy, bringing the total number of LCS vessels under order or in service to 12.

Lockheed Martin received $715 million for two ships, or $357.5 million apiece.
Austal USA received $691.6 million for two ships, at $345.8 million each.
The funds do not include government-furnished equipment needed to fully outfit each ship, such as weapons or communications equipment.
All the ships were funded in the 2012 defense spending bill.

Lockheed will build the Little Rock (LCS 9) and Sioux City (LCS 11) at the Fincantieri Marinette Marine shipyard in Marinette, Wis. The ships are to be delivered in February and August 2016, respectively, according to the 2013 budget.
Austal USA will build the Gabrielle Giffords (LCS 10) and Omaha (LCS 12) at its yard in Mobile, Ala. The Giffords is to be delivered in August 2015, while the Omaha is to follow in March 2016.

All four ships are part of two 10-ship, fixed-price incentive block buys covering ships from each builder from 2010 to 2015.
Two classes of LCS are in production: Lockheed’s LCS 1-class single-hull ships and Austal USA’s all-aluminum trimaran LCS 2 class. So far, all odd-numbered ships are built to the Lockheed design, while Austal USA’s ships are even-numbered.
The first two LCS ships are in commission, and two more are to enter service this year. The Fort Worth (LCS 3) is to be delivered in June from Lockheed, and Austal USA is aiming for a March 2013 delivery of the Coronado (LCS 4).

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bd popeye said:

USMC looking at a heavy cut in forces.

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An increasingly desperate LightSquared today accused the Federal Communications Commission of violating its constitutional property rights by rejecting its application to build a 4G network on spectrum adjacent to that used by GPS devices, and demanded that the FCC either reverse its decision or give LightSquared a new chunk of spectrum.


The bold claims follow the FCC's decision

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to withdraw LightSquared's conditional approval to use spectrum allocated for satellite transmissions for cell towers instead. In a long

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to the FCC that was made public late Friday, LightSquared claimed the FCC's action constitutes a "taking of LightSquared’s property without just compensation in violation of the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution."

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Norfolk said:

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, by Jon Brodkin, Arstechnica, 16 March, 2012:



More at the link. It was good news when LightSquared's dealings with government insiders was exposed, and its possible interference threat to military GPS signals likely ended. And now, they're left to squirm in public while their insider friends have scampered for cover. We'll see if it sticks.

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Equation said:

Interesting news, how does this interfere with the military GPS, just curious?

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US Marines are set to arrive in Australia's tropical north next month as Washington increases its military presence as part of a renewed emphasis on the Asia-Pacific, reports said Tuesday.

State radio said about 250 Marines were set to deploy to Darwin from early April as part of a process that will see about 2,500 in Australia by about 2016, according to a plan announced by President Barack Obama last year.

"This first year, of course, we start pretty small," the commander of Australia's First Brigade, Brigadier General Gus McLachlan told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

"We have got about 250 arriving in early April. This first year is almost just a foot in the door, proof of concept, and obviously it will build up in a pretty measured pace in the next few years."

Obama announced plans to increase the number of troops, aircraft and ships that will come to the Northern Territory during his first visit as president to Australia in November.

The move rankled China and caused concern for some Asian neighbours who saw it as a statement by Washington that it intends to stand up for its interests in the region amid concern about Beijing's growing assertiveness.

But there will be no US bases on Australian soil, with the Marines accommodated in existing Australian bases as they conduct exercises and training on a six-month rotational basis.

During his visit to Australia, the self-declared "Pacific President" told reporters at a press conference with Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard that when it came to the region: "We are here to stay."

"This is a region of huge strategic importance to us," Obama said.

"And we are going to make sure that we are able to fulfil our leadership goal in the Asia-Pacific region."

Australia and the United States also agreed to enhance cooperation between their air forces, resulting in increased rotations of US planes through northern Australia, which is closer to Asia than it is to Sydney and Melbourne.

The United States currently has only a limited deployment in longstanding ally Australia, including the Pine Gap Joint Defence Facility spy station near Alice Springs

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