Battlefield Korea

The Marines are Coming

Once Lieutenant General (LtGen) Roy Cutter got off the phone with the Secretary of Defense, he let out a soft whistle. His executive officer and the rest of his staff stopped talking amongst themselves. All eyes were on him.

“Well, we are deploying to the Pacific…” Cutter announced, “… the entire Marine Expeditionary Force. The SecDef says he wants us deployed to Japan immediately.” He knew that his entire staff would have to get to work immediately if they were going to make the deadline they had just been given.

“What is the timeline for when he wants us to be in Okinawa?” asked his G3, the head of his operations staff.

LtGen Cutter smiled the half-crazy grin of a man who is on the verge of maniacal laughter. “We have a week, but we are not going to Okinawa. He wants us deployed to Japan proper and be prepared to move out from there, to either South Korea or to Taiwan. So, once we get to Japan, we will need to stay packed and ready to ship out. We will be essentially acting as the United States’ quick reaction force for the Pacific.”

“What about the third Marine Expeditionary Force? They are already in Okinawa. What will they be doing?” asked the G2, his intelligence officer.

“The SecDef plans on having them ready to deploy to Taiwan or South Korea, depending on how the situation evolves.”

Cutter leaned back in his chair, reflecting. A more genuine smile spread across his face. “The Pacific is going to be a Marine war, if and when it happens,” he said proudly.

“It does seem like a bit of karma, doesn’t it, Sir? The Marines originally made their name in the Pacific during World War II, and now they will be the main fighting force there again,” said the G2.

“One more thing before we break and start to get the ball rolling on our deployment,” announced Cutter. “As you know, the President has initiated a draft. The Marines are going to be growing by roughly one million. That’s nearly eight times our current size, even with the reserves. I am going to need you to identify two sergeants from each platoon and one officer from each company who can stay behind. They will be assigned to the Marine Recruit Depot and will assist in the training of this new force.”

Sensing that there was about to be some push back, he held up a hand to stop the questions. “I’ve also been authorized to give any sergeant who volunteers for this duty two bumps in grade, and the officers will get one bump in grade. We are going to need a lot more sergeants and officers as our force grows, so start identifying your up-and-comers and get them ready to fill in when the time comes. As these new recruits complete training and start to fill out our ranks, a lot of people are going to start receiving promotions and new assignments,” he concluded.

Suddenly, everyone in the room was smiling. It had been getting harder to get promoted in a shrinking Marine Corps, so an increase of this size meant a fast track to the senior ranks.