Since 9/11, the Marine Corps has been operating largely outside its natural element, fighting land wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, far from its traditional sea base. While proud of their performance in Southwest Asia, Amos noted that, unlike its sister services, the Corps does not have a specific combat domain, but a “lane” – crisis response, whenever, wherever, and however the government requires it. Even with the long focus in Southwest Asia, he was quick to add, Marines also have remained active in that realm, from rescuing a downed Air Force pilot in Libya to disaster relief support for allied nations to participating in 65 security cooperation events in 19 different nations in Latin America.

In 2012, that also included the support Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force 12 (SPMAGTF-12) began providing U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) on theater security cooperation efforts. Established at Naval Air Station Sigonella, Italy, in October 2011, SPMAGTF-12 currently comprises reservists from the 3rd Force Reconnaissance Company along with individual augments from across the United States. SPMAGTF-12 teams help train partner-nation personnel in logistics, counterterrorism, long-range communications, use of non-lethal weapons, maritime security force operations, military planning, small unit leadership, and vehicle maintenance.

The past year also saw the Corps increase its focus on the Pacific, which Amos calls “our institutional DNA,” dating back to Marine combat operations during World War II. Nearly half the Marine Corps already is Pacific-based, with 66,000 in Southern California, 16,000 forward-deployed to Japan, and 8,000 based in Hawaii, and a rotational force in Darwin, Australia, which he said is expected to grow from 250 in 2012 to some 2,500 in the next few years.

Having a well-equipped, trained, and ready Marine Corps in the Pacific is vital to America’s interests, Amos said, noting that the Asia/Pacific region is home to five of the nation’s major mutual defense treaties, 12 of 15 top trading partners, 61 percent of the world’s population, and 15 of the world’s 28 megacities.

As it works to adapt to all of the challenges manifesting in the coming decade, the Marine Corps marked a number of changes and progressions in 2012, from receipt of its first F-35B multi-role, short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) supersonic stealth fighters to evolving a new Cyber Command, expanding and refining its 7-year-old special operations command (MARSOC – the only component scheduled to grow amid an overall downsizing), embarking Marines on San Antonio-class landing platform docks (LPDs), developing the next variant of the America-class amphibious assault ships, experimenting with the use of unmanned rotorcraft to reduce the number of high-risk land convoys resupplying forward-based forces, upgrading training to reflect lessons learned from more than a decade of constant combat, refining the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, continuing collaboration with the Army to develop unmanned ground vehicles – including legged, walking robots expected to become 21st century pack mules – improving personal weaponry and body armor, enhancing battlefield communications and networking, and expanding the combat training – if not yet actual deployment – of female Marines.

Maj. Gen. Paul E. Lefebvre, who retired as MARSOC’s third commander in August 2012, said the Marine special operations force will continue to grow toward full endstrength in FY 2016 while maintaining its current high operational tempo for some time to come.

“We expect that while our current demands will remain about the same, those demands will change qualitatively – that is, we will have to modify our training, unit T/Os [tables of organization] and concepts of employment according to new missions and locations. We’ll need to be intellectually and organizationally flexible so we can rapidly retool our forces to support rapidly developing situations,” he said.

“Our unique and inherent enabling capabilities – communications, combat service support, and intelligence, for example – make us very agile, and we can task organize to meet a wide array of authorities and mission requirements. As a result, we have the potential to be employed very differently than our current model, because we are prepared to adapt and modify according to evolving mission requirements.”

In November 2012, MARSOC expansion included standing up two new battalions to accommodate an influx of combat support and combat service support personnel. The Marine Special Operations Logistics Battalion (MSOLB) and the Marine Special Operations Combat Support Battalion (MSOCSB) will add nearly 800 Marines to the command’s support component by 2016. Specifically trained to meet special ops needs, they will enhance intelligence, engineering, explosive ordnance disposal, and other capacities for MARSOC teams operating in remote locations with little access to conventional support assets.

“The support we’re going to be able to deliver to our deployed SOTFs {Special Operations Task Forces} and companies is going to increase their survivability and their ability to conduct operations globally,” according to Col. Jeffrey Fultz, commanding officer of the Marine Special Operations Support Group, which oversees the new battalions.

“Combat support battalion Marines are not only able to find and fix, they’re also able to finish. With the addition of headquarters company – which includes multipurpose canines and Joint Terminal Attack Controllers –and communications company, they’re adding a whole new piece to their kit bag and their ability to support MARSOC worldwide.”

The Marines also stood up three law enforcement battalions in 2012, the first such units in the Corps. A result of requirements coming out of Iraq and Afghanistan, each 500-man battalion will be able to quickly deploy specially trained military police officers and dogs around the world to help investigate crimes from terrorism to drug trafficking, and train fledgling security forces in allied nations. They also will make permanent skills that Marines have honed in Southwest Asia, where combat duties extended to “street cop” level neighborhood policing.