In recent weeks some U.S. Marine Corps tank companies have cased their colors, and at the end of July Charlie Company, 2nd Tank Battalion was the latest armor unit to shut down following a ceremony at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. The company’s M1A1 Abram tanks were hauled away the next day—marking the beginning of the end of an era going back nearly eighty years. 

Tanks have been a part of the Corps since the U.S. Marine Corps 1st Tank Battalion was activated at the same post on November 1, 1941, and attached to the 1st Marine Division. Tanks from Companies A and B took part in the landings at Guadalcanal in 1942, but the future of the Corps is one that could be entirely “tank-less.” 

Force Redesign 

In March, the Corps announced that as part of an effort to be a lighter and faster force, it would undergo an ambitious ten-year transformation plan that would see the service eliminate its entire tank force. As a result, over the next decade, the U.S. Marine Corps will ax its tank battalions, as well as it bridging companies. In addition, the Corps announced that the transformation would eliminate a third of its tube artillery, some amphibious vehicles and aircraft as well as thousands of infantry and other personnel.

All of this is in an effort to reshape the service to address threats in the western Pacific region and would see the service get back in touch with its aquatic roots. This is all part of the U.S. Marine Corps’ aggressive Force Design 2030 plan, which will reshape its mission focus from violent non-state actors in the Middle East to peer or near-peer rivals in the Indo-Pacific region, and it would place a greater emphasis on littoral and ship-to-shore operations. 

In total, about thirteen hundred Marines will be impacted by the tank deactivations.

Army and Armor 

But what does it mean for the role of armor on the battlefield? 

As Military.com reported recently, “the move could lead to a bitter inter-service divide if the Army is tasked with filling the gap, defense experts warned.”  

The removal of tanks from the U.S. Marine Corps’ arsenal had been compared to ripping out blades of a Swiss Army knife— suggesting that the U.S. Marine Corps, like the famous knife, can be used to address various tasks. Thinking blades won’t be needed the knife is indeed leaner and lighter, but now it can’t perform certain tasks.

It has also been suggested that should the Corps determine tanks are needed again the service could simply turn to the Army’s 37 tank battalions for assistance. The concern in such a scenario is that it could create inter-service hostilities, but there is also the issue that the Army isn’t trained the same way as the U.S. Marine Corps. Such cooperation would require new training and doctrine. This could put new burdens on the Army. 

To resolve the issues, there has been the suggestion that the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve keep some its tanks, yet one Reserve unit—Alpha Company, 4th Tank Battalion—has already been deactivated, and all of the battalion’s six companies, along with its headquarters, are on track to be deactivated by the end of next year Military.com reported. With that, the U.S. Marine Corps could be a bit closer to being tank-less. 

Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer who has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers and websites. He is the author of several books on military headgear including A Gallery of Military Headdress, which is available on Amazon.com. 

Image: Reuters