Good morning. Thank you to the Marine Corps Association and the Marine Corps League for hosting another outstanding Modern Day Marine. 

I should also share that the Secretary of the Navy sends his regards. He wishes he could be here with us today—but he’s exactly where we need him: in the Western Pacific, meeting with key leaders, our allies, and our Marines and Sailors. 

To our industry partners and Members of Congress—thank you for your steadfast support and for championing the vital initiatives that keep our Corps strong. 

But most of all, I want to thank the Marines. You’re the reason we’re here. You’re the reason this institution works. And you’re the reason our Nation sleeps well at night. 

This year marks 250 years of Marines fighting and adapting faster than the enemy. We’ve never been the biggest force—but we’ve always been the fiercest. That’s where our reputation was earned.  

From bayonet charges with eight inches of cold steel to closely coordinated combined arms—sensors, fires, drones, and Marines—integrated to strike fast and finish decisively in contested terrain.  

We don’t sit back and watch warfare evolve—we drive it forward. We bring the same intensity to innovation that we bring to the fight. 

In 1918, at Belleau Wood, Marines demonstrated to the world that American forces could stand toe-to-toe with the best. It was there, under withering fire, that the legend of the United States Marine was cemented—a reputation for grit, precision, and refusal to yield. 

In the 1920s and ’30s, while the world was still reeling from The Great War, the Marine Corps was developing the Tentative Manual for Landing Operations—the first doctrine for amphibious assaults. It became the foundation for the Pacific campaign in WWII.  

We fielded the first combat air-ground task forces in the Banana Wars—long before the term MAGTF existed.  

Small teams of Marines integrated infantry, machine guns, and aviation to fight guerrillas in Nicaragua and Haiti. That was the early blueprint for expeditionary combined arms. 

In WWII, we didn’t just land on beaches. We developed the first amtrack, integrated naval gunfire with air-delivered ordnance, and practiced ship-to-shore coordination with the Navy—that defined modern joint operations. 

In Korea, we executed the first combat vertical resupply mission in U.S. military history at the Battle of the Punchbow —using helicopters not just for replenishment, but also to evacuate 74 seriously wounded men out of the line of fire. This idea would go on to reshape concepts of battlefield maneuver. 

In Vietnam, we refined close air support coordination utilizing Tactical Air Control Parties and ANGLICO teams—these teams now serve with joint and allied forces worldwide. 

In 2004, during Operation Al Fajr in Fallujah, Marines executed one of the most complex modern urban assaults—synchronizing infantry, tanks, UAVs, snipers, engineers, and close air support in a dense city of 300,000. The lessons from that fight changed how we train for Military Operations on Urbanized Terrain across the force. 

Today, more than 33,000 Marines are forward deployed or forward stationed around the world—that’s one-third of our total operating forces. Marines are leading the way in offensive cyber capabilities at the tactical level, conducting MQ-9 strike coordination and reconnaissance from distributed locations, and helping to shape the future of Joint All-Domain Command and Control by acting as the sensing layer inside weapons engagement zones. 

Every generation of Marines has added a new page to the playbook. And now it’s our turn. Force Design, Stand-in Forces, long-range precision fires, maritime denial and control from the shore—these aren’t experiments.  

They are our contribution to the next fight. And like every era before us, they’re built on lessons learned by Marines in conflict. We’ve been doing this for 250 years. And we’re just getting started. 

That brings me to our priorities. 

My number one priority as your Commandant is restoring the 3.0 ARG/MEU—one out of the East Coast, one out of the West Coast, and one forward deployed in Japan. The 3.0 ARG/MEU is our North Star. 

A MEU, embarked on a three-ship ARG, is the most versatile, flexible, and lethal, global response force the United States has. It gives our Nation’s leaders options—without needing a permission slip or a runway. 

A MEU can maneuver hundreds of miles a day, launch from over the horizon, seize key terrain, secure and defend sea lines of communication, conduct expeditionary strikes, and evacuate non-combatants—all from the sea. 

But right now, we can’t maintain that 3.0 ARG/MEU. Our limiting factor is our number of amphibious ships. We don’t have enough ready. We’re working with the Navy to fix that.  

But I need you to understand—this is about more than ships. It’s about deterrence and denial. It’s about making sure Marines are in position when the next fight comes. It’s about making sure we provide our Nation’s leaders with options. 

That’s why 3.0 ARG/MEU matters. 

At the same time, we must remain focused on Force Design—modernizing how we equip our Marines, how we organize our formations, and how we fight—because our adversaries are adapting, and we must stay ahead. 

We are entering our sixth year of Force Design. We made hard calls to divest, and we reinvested every dollar back into your warfighting capability. We’re in the implementation phase, and those investments are showing up in the fleet, now. 

We’ve stood up two Marine Littoral Regiments—3rd MLR in Hawaii and 12th MLR in Okinawa—designed to fight and win inside contested maritime terrain. 

They’ve fielded the G/ATOR, our Ground/Air Task Oriented Radar system for integrated air and ground surveillance. Last summer, during Resolute Dragon 24, Marines even deployed one to Yonaguni—just 68 miles off Taiwan—alongside our Japanese allies. 

3rd MLR is operating NMESIS—the Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System, our shore-based missile system that puts enemy ships at risk. In fact, a couple weeks ago—during Exercise Balikatan 25—Marines deployed these systems to Northern Luzon and Basco Island—positioned with our Filipino allies, at the doorstep of the South China Sea. 

MADIS—the Marine Air Defense Integrated System—is also being fielded now, giving units the ability to detect and engage drones and manned aircraft using both kinetic and non-kinetic means. 

These systems are not limited to the MLRs. We’re pushing them to MEUs and across the MEFs. Every forward-deployed formation must be ready for the fight we know is coming. 

Formations are changing too. Infantry battalions will have dedicated Fires and Reconnaissance Companies—consolidating mortars, scouts, and organic precision fires under one commander to support maneuver at greater ranges.  

We are essentially creating an organic sensing and strike formation inside infantry battalions. That concept came from Marines in the field and was proven through our Campaign of Learning. 

We’ve also agreed to a 13-Marine rifle squad—three fire teams led by a school-trained Sergeant, with an added precision fires Marine to operate our small lethal drones. We are making small units more lethal, more connected, and harder to kill. 

Force Design is happening now. The equipment is arriving. The formations are evolving. And the feedback coming from the Fleet is driving our next steps. 

We’re modernizing with a clear purpose: to keep Marines lethal, survivable, and one step ahead of the enemy. This initiative doesn’t belong to Headquarters Marine Corps. It belongs to the Marines. 

At the same time, we know that readiness doesn’t stop with weapons and tactics. It starts with where you lay your head at night. 

That’s why we launched Barracks 2030—the most ambitious infrastructure plan in the history of our Corps estimated at approximately $5 billion over the next five years. This includes modernizing facilities, professionalizing and streamlining barracks management, and refreshing material on a more frequent basis. 

We’ve got 11 major renovations underway, with 12 more in the pipeline. But I’m not going to sugarcoat it: fixing 20 years of deferred maintenance won’t happen overnight. 

This is going to take time. We’re going to do it the right way, not the fast way. 

So yes, the tools are changing. The formations are changing. The fight itself is changing. But what never changes is who we are. 

We are Marines. 

We are a warfighting organization.  

We are disciplined, lethal, and ready. None of what I just talked about—new equipment, new formations, new barracks—matters without that. 

Because in the end, success doesn’t come from plans on paper. 

It comes from people—Marines who show up ready when it matters most. 

Semper Fidelis.