New in 2019: Top Marine wants to see how 15-man rifle squads perform on a MEU deployment

The Corps is back to experimenting with its rifle squad configurations after culminating the first phase of the Sea Dragon 2025 exercises that tested infantry Marines with new tech and configurations.

While Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. Robert B. Neller initially decided to chop the rifle squad to 12 Marines, he is toying with the idea of boosting the squads to 15 Marines for forward-deployed forces.

And come May, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines will have an additional 92 Marines for an upcoming Marine Expeditionary Unit, or MEU, deployment.

The extra manpower will allow the grunts to experiment and deploy with a full complement of a 15-man squad configuration.

RELATED

These grunts recommended a 15-Marine rifle squad ‘at a minimum.’ The top Marine went with 12.

But the top Marine is considering a 15-Marine rifle squad model that might be carried by deployed Marine Expeditionary Units.

By Shawn Snow

In an after-action report filed in the Marine Corps Gazette, Marines with 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, recommended that the rifle squad should be 15 Marines.

The added size was necessary for the new tech, drones and weapons systems being fielded to future grunts for the upcoming bout with more sophisticated adversaries.

This is an excerpt from “19 Things You Need to Know in 2019,” in the 12-31 print edition of Marine Corps Times.

In Other News

No paper, no plastic: Be ready as commissaries adopt reusable bags

Reusable bags can be more expensive for commissary shoppers up front, but more cost-effective in the long run.

Marine in helicopter unit dies in ‘routine’ operations in California

The Marine was part of Marine Light Attack Helicopter Training Squadron 303, which trains pilots to fly the AH-1Z Viper and UH-1Y Venom helicopters.

Pentagon disputes report of firefight following Abbey Gate bombing

A new report on the 2021 airport bombing in Afghanistan which killed 13 U.S. troops suggests the assault may have involved more than one attacker.

Parachute mishap resulted in Marine’s North Carolina training death

Sgt. Colin Arslanbas, "an outstanding Marine and leader," was in a parachute accident during a predeployment certification exercise.

The man who made Belleau Wood — and the Marine Corps — immortal

Floyd Gibbons made history when his dispatch got past the wartime censor.

Load More