Smaller, leaner: Marines put their new ways to fight to the test - Breaking Defense

A group of six Marines intently watched a CH-53E helicopter slowly approach the refueling station set up several hundreds yards down the landing strip here in rural North Carolina.

The Marines had established a “forward arming and refueling point,” or a FARP, and in most situations, the refueling itself would be a standard event for Combat Logistics Regiment 2. But this particular training event is part of Large Scale Exercise 2023 involving Marine and Navy assets around the world, which means complications — some intentional and some not — can happen at any time.

“The more spread out you are, the less control you can have,” 1st Lt. Anthony Viteri, a combat engineer officer with Marine Wing Support Squadron-271, told reporters. “So, you have to put a lot more trust in the people who are on deck.”

For the Marines here, the globe-spanning exercise was a stress test both of how well the Marine Corps could operate in sync with sailors underway, while also implementing their own new warfighting doctrine that calls for them to operate in smaller units while within the range of enemy fires.

Combat Logistics Regiment 2 commander Col. Ginger Beals said she emphasized “the naval integration” with her Marines, “The relationship between the Marine Corps and the Navy and … how we communicate with one another.”