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Marine Commandant: Restoring Three Amphibious Ready Groups Is ‘North Star’ as Corps Reconfigures
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Summary
Marine Corps commandant Gen. Eric Smith told the Appropriations subcommittee the service’s top priorities include restoring a three‑amphibious‑ready‑group posture, accelerating force design and improving quality of life, while Navy leaders described partnership on amphibious readiness.
Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Eric M. Smith told the House Appropriations subcommittee that restoring amphibious readiness and advancing Force Design 2030 are the Marine Corps’ top priorities.
"First, restoring a 3 amphibious ready group marine expeditionary unit presence. This is the Marine Corps' North Star," said General Eric M. Smith, outlining a persistent posture of one ARG/MEU off the East Coast, one off the West Coast and one episodically deployed from Japan.
Smith said the amphibious ready group with an embarked Marine Expeditionary Unit is the “Swiss army knife of the joint force,” useful for combat, humanitarian assistance, evacuations and deterrence. He acknowledged current readiness shortfalls and said the service is working with the Navy to improve availability through optimized fleet response planning and other measures.
Admiral John Kilby said the Navy shares the objective of improving amphibious readiness and noted two basic solutions: increase platform readiness or increase hull numbers, or both. Both leaders said they are focused on training, sustainment and maintenance improvements and on ensuring amphibious capability supports distributed operations in contested maritime spaces.
Smith also described progress on Force Design 2030, saying the corps is fielding new capabilities — including unmanned systems, long‑range precision fires and improved air defenses — while balancing crisis response and readiness missions.
Why it matters: Amphibious readiness is central to the Corps’ operational concepts for contested maritime operations and to U.S. options in Indo‑Pacific contingencies. Committee members pressed for concrete timelines and investments to restore readiness levels to support a three‑ARG posture.
The witnesses did not announce specific procurement decisions during the hearing; they committed to continued collaboration with the committee on readiness metrics and force‑design resource needs.
