Marine Corps Readiness: Meeting the Challenges While Mitigating the Risks

By Lietenant General (Ret.) George Flynn

Lieutenant General George Flynn, USMC (Ret.) spent 38 years serving in the U.S. Marine Corps. Since retirement, he has consulted with universities, think tanks, and private organizations. Currently General Flynn is the Director of the Center of Adaptation and Innovation (CAI) at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies in Arlington, VA. CAI was established in 2014 to assist and advise senior defense leaders, while identifying and defining new and potentially disruptive defense capabilities.

As the United States’ crisis response force, the Marine Corps prioritizes readiness above capability, capacity, or any other goal. Maintaining this level of readiness in the wake of the 2013 budget sequester has come at the expense of investing in training and future capabilities for the Corps. The Cipher Brief spoke with retired Marine Corps Lt. General George Flynn about the challenges to the Corp’s readiness.

The Cipher Brief: What is the state of USMC readiness right now and what are the challenges, such as bureaucratic, technical, structural, standing in the way of improving readiness?

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