The EFV
A critical capability
by Maj David W. Baas
The EFV will provide increased mobility and lethality. (Photo by Pvt Daniel Boothe.)
n the wake of the 2007 Nunn-Mc-
ICurdy certification, questions over
reliability and contemporary operational viability of the expeditionary fighting vehicle (EFV) continue to cloud progress made in the development of the system. Full funding
and support for successful acquisition
of the EFV is vital to the Marine
Corps. The increased mobility, lethality, communications, and survivability
over the current assault amphibious vehicle (AAV7A1 vehicle reliability, availability, maintainability/rebuild to
standard (RAM/RS)) will provide the
Marine air-ground task force
(MAGTF) with a critical, viable capability across the range of military operations. Acquisition of the EFV directly
supports unique core competencies
and fulfills a critical aspect in the Nation’s conventional dominance. This
article aims to identify progress made
in the development of system reliability
and highlight EFV capabilities in order
to broaden the discussion on the acquisition of this critical system.
>Maj Baas currently serves as the Assault Amphibian Advocate, Ground Combat
Element Branch, Plans, Policies, and Operations, HQMC. He is an assault amphibian officer (MOS 1803). He has served in various command and staff billets with the
3d Assault Amphibian Battalion and 3d Marine Regiment. Additionally, he commanded a provisional rifle company with Regimental Combat Team 7 in support of
OIF in 2006.
Maintaining Dominance
In his January 2009 Foreign Affairs
article, “A Balanced Strategy: Repro-gramming the Pentagon for a New
Age,” Secretary of Defense Robert M.
Gates identifies balance as the defining
principle of the new National Defense
Strategy. Not only will the institutionalization of counterinsurgency capabilities be key, but equally important is
the sustainment of the United States’
existing conventional and strategic
technological edge against other military forces. Specifically:
The United States cannot take its current dominance for granted and needs
to invest in the programs, platforms,
and personnel that will ensure that
dominance’s persistence. . . .
Other nations may be unwilling to
challenge the United States. . . . But
they are developing the disruptive
means to blunt the impact of U.S.
power, narrow the United States’ military options, and deny the U.S. Military freedom of movement and
action.
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The scalable MAGTF organization
is tailormade for this requisite principle
of balance. Given the right capabilities,
the MAGTF possesses the inherent
flexibility to enable and sustain freedom
of movement and action in a wide
range of military operations. In Vision
and Strategy2025, the Commandant of
the Marine Corps affirms the following
among our core competencies: forward
naval engagement, joint forcible entry
