Marine Corps Must Abandon Force Design to Control Strategic Choke Points Against China
Source: https://www.facebook.com/americanspectator/. "Choke Points and the Future of Naval Power | The American Spectator | USA News and Politics." April 28, 2026. spectator.org
The Gist
The author argues that the Marines should ditch their current high-tech missile strategy and go back to using tanks and heavy equipment. This would let them block key shipping lanes that China depends on for oil, which would be a much better way to stop China from attacking Taiwan than the current plan.
Conclusion
The U.S. Marine Corps should abandon its current Force Design strategy and return to heavy equipment capabilities to effectively control maritime choke points as a deterrent against Chinese aggression
Premises
- The Iran conflict demonstrated that controlling choke points like the Strait of Hormuz can cripple enemy economies by blocking 90% of oil and gas imports
- Threatening to blockade both Hormuz and Red Sea choke points would provide real deterrence against Chinese invasion of Taiwan
- Marine Expeditionary Brigades (MEBs) could execute choke point control, but currently lack necessary heavy equipment like tanks and engineers
- The current Force Design strategy has divested tanks, heavy engineers, and artillery to fund missile systems that have proven ineffective
- Force Design's NEMSIS missile system is obsolete - only one battery exists after six years, and hypersonic missiles from other services are superior
- Heavy equipment is needed to build defensive positions, counter amphibious attacks, and conduct shore-to-shore operations against mobile missile launchers
- The U.S. Navy will be fully committed to South China Sea operations, making Marine Corps choke point control essential
Assumptions
- China would be significantly deterred by the threat of oil and gas blockades
- Maritime Prepositioned Ships can be effectively reconfigured with heavy equipment
- The Marine Corps can successfully retrain personnel for tank and engineering operations
- Iran conflict lessons are applicable to future China scenarios
- Choke point control is more strategically valuable than distributed island operations