Donald Trump’s Marine Corps Generals: Mattis and Kelly

Many pundits have concluded that President-elect Donald Trump likes retired military officers because he has appointed several to high office.

Many pundits have concluded that President-elect Donald Trump likes retired military officers because he has appointed several to high office. Though, these pundits have failed to note the prominence of retired Marines among them.

Jim Mattis, whom Trump has nominated for Secretary of Defense, and John Kelly, slated to head the Department of Homeland Security, are both retired Marine Corps generals. Their appointments have been welcomed with bipartisan approval.

The Marine Corps used to be considered the least intellectual of the US military services, knuckle-draggers. However, that changed in the 1980s. Mattis and Kelly both received their military education then, at a time of extraordinary intellectual ferment at Marine Base Quantico, the Marines’ education and training center, just outside Washington.

Those who recall that time refer to it as the “Quantico Renaissance.” It involved a great deal of innovative thinking, prompted by America’s defeat in Viet Nam. A handful of men who believed the US approach to that war had been fundamentally wrong advanced this line of thinking.

They challenged a self-entitled, hidebound establishment, unwilling to acknowledge fundamental flaws. The reformers were right—in many respects, their ideas were adopted with time—but almost all paid the price in terms of their careers.

John Boyd, a retired Air Force colonel, was a key figure in the Quantico Renaissance. Professionally, Boyd was a man of rare rectitude: he did what he judged right and urged and cajoled others to do the same.

Boyd famously challenged young people: “Do you want to do something or to be something?” To be or to do: to be a senior official in some US agency or to do something truly meaningful.

The same can be said of those associated with Boyd. They include another central figure at Quantico, Mike Wyly, a Marine officer who taught both Mattis and Kelly. After two tours in Viet Nam, Wyly returned to Quantico, convinced that the Marines needed to be far more innovative and creative in how they fought their wars if they were to avoid defeat in future conflicts.

The established US approach to warfighting relied on massing firepower, supported by advanced technology. But if firepower and technology were the keys to victory, why did the US lose in Viet Nam?

Wyly and Boyd believed that decision-making had to be decentralized, down to lower-ranking officers. As Wyly recalled to Kurdistan24, he instructed his students, “Don’t wait for orders. Act!” The reformers called their approach “maneuver warfare.”

The tension between the old and new ways of war arose with the 1991 Gulf War. The formal US objective was to drive Iraq out of Kuwait, and the coalition commander, Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, first planned a frontal assault on fixed Iraqi positions in Kuwait.

But Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney knew Boyd. Under Boyd’s influence, the plan evolved into a massive left hook through Iraq’s western desert to encircle the Republican Guards, while Marine forces launched a feint toward Kuwait to distract the Iraqis and pin them down.

The ground war was preceded by an extensive aerial bombardment, after which Washington announced the start of the ground campaign. The Marines used this to refine their role further, in accord with the precepts of maneuver warfare

When the start of the ground war was announced, the Marines had already infiltrated through the Iraqi lines! On G-Day, 3,000 Marines were in Kuwait, behind the Iraqis, compounding their confusion and disarray.

A third key figure in the Quantico Renaissance was Marine Corps Commandant, Gen. Alfred Gray. Gray believed that Marines needed to read and think, and he strongly supported Boyd and Wyly.

During the 1991 Gulf War, a young officer—Major John Kelly, future nominee to head Homeland Security—was sent to Kuwait to observe and report on the Marines’ new approach. When Kelly reported back to Gray, his first words were, “Maneuver warfare works.”

Both Mattis and Kelly are remarkable men. Mattis cites from memory long quotes from classic books, even as he is a renowned commander. As Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) began, Mattis led the 1st Marine Division in its race up to Baghdad (speed is an essential part of maneuver warfare.) Mattis believes Iran is the biggest threat in the Middle East. The next Secretary of Defense will be a hard-liner on Tehran.

Kelly was Mattis’ Assistant Division Commander during OIF. Wyly describes Kelly as an extremely smart, innovative officer, always open to new ideas, and without careerist sensibilities.

The youthful years of these two men were, thus, shaped by a handful of dedicated and thoughtful individuals who created a unique intellectual environment, with a critical moral dimension. Thirty years later, that has helped produce two uniquely capable and dedicated leaders, who will return to government service in the next US administration.

 

Editing by Delovan Barwari