Officers such as Charles de Gaulle had their careers threatened when they continued to push for independent mass armored units instead of using tanks solely to support slow moving infantry. In 1936, the French General Staff issued a gag order concerning criticism of the French standing doctrine known as "Methodical Battle" either in public or in professional journals. Historically, that approach has not ended well for the militaries that have employed it. No input from the rest of the active duty or the retired members of the Corps was solicited. The new doctrine was developed behind closed doors by the commandant and a close circle of trusted advisers. The only articles in service-specific publications that have seriously questioned the premises or execution of FD 2030 have been by retired Marines or independent analysts. My question is: What debate? Incoming students at the Marine Corps professional education schools are told in no uncertain terms that the restructured service is a done deal and not up for discussion. David Berger, congratulated his Marines on having an open and honest debate concerning his Force Design (FD) 2030 initiative, which eliminated all the service's tanks, much of its tubed artillery, many helicopters and its heavy engineering capability, and drastically reduced Marine Corps infantry strength. In a recent speech to the Marine Corps Association, the current commandant, Gen.
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