CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. – Marine Forces Special Operations Command will soon begin implementing a phased plan to consolidate all MARSOC personnel and equipment to its headquarters aboard Camp Lejeune by the end of 2022. This initiative will relocate approximately 900 Marines, Sailors, and civilian employees from 1st Marine Raider Battalion and 1st Marine Raider Support Battalion, which have been located aboard Camp Pendleton, C.A. since MARSOC’s inception in 2006.
“MARSOC has been pursuing numerous lines of effort to increase performance, efficiencies, and capabilities in support of the 2018 National Defense Strategy’s imperatives to build a more lethal force and reform the department for greater performance and affordability. One line of effort is the consolidation of all Marine Special Operations Forces to the east coast. Consolidation will enhance the command’s Enterprise Level Agility to meet the future operating environment challenges articulated in the NDS, the Commandant’s Planning Guidance, and our own vision and strategy, MARSOF 2030,” said MajGen Daniel Yoo, MARSOC Commander. “It will also position MARSOC for more economical experimentation, testing, and evaluation of future operating concepts and near-peer offset capabilities, while streamlining organizational learning to enhance component-wide standards, performance, training, and readiness across the force.”
The efficiencies gained through consolidation extend beyond performance and training, with significant impacts to time and money. Consolidation will allow MARSOC to gain back almost 2000 man-days per year that would otherwise be lost to PCS and other TAD requirements not associated with deployments. This creates tangible and significant cost-savings and increased readiness across the force. In addition, MARSOC will be better positioned to meet the Secretary of Defense’s Deployment-to-Dwell (D2D) guidance, providing greater stability and increased quality of life to Marine Raiders and their families.
The physical movement of personnel and equipment from the West to the East Coast will occur over three phases. The phasing plan allows for minimal disruption to normal Marine Corps transition timelines, like those associated with Permanent Change of Station (PCS) orders. It also provides a managed population increase to the local area. Personnel and families will begin moving from the West Coast during the traditional PCS cycle beginning in the summer of 2021.
MARSOC and Marine Corps Installations East (MCIEAST) School Liaisons and Community Plans and Liaison Officers (CPLO) have been working together to estimate impacts on the local communities and school districts. According to Joe Ramirez, MCB Camp Lejeune Director of Government and External Relations, MCB Camp Lejeune will continue working with Onslow and Pender County Schools and Governments to anticipate and plan for increases in student population and to ensure that all students will be accommodated effectively and receive a quality education.
Story by Maj Kristin Tortorici, Marine Forces, Special Operations Command
Photo by Cpl Bryann K. Whitley , Marine Forces, Special Operations Command
They’re going to lose out on those steep hills at Pendleton. Lejeune is way too flat.
Smart move- they’ll be much closer to Fort Bragg and Virginia Beach for training.
Greater quality of life.. Moving people from Southern California to Camp Lejeune…. lol
I thought that too. While I’m sure a ton of folks don’t like Kalifornia, I’m just as certain a lot of dependents especially younger ones can’t see its issues and love it. Moving east will re-adjust their cost of living and put more money back in their pockets.
NG SF recruiters getting a lot of calls right now.
Yessir. 1st Raider Batt was the place to be! San Clemente is paradise.
Stone Bay, not so much. Hello
What happened to the old amphibious reconnaissance school at Ft. Story, Va. ? Seems it would be a nice out of way place to be.
That’s been shut down for years. Also is home to 0 training areas and no major Marine Corps bases…and MARSOC is not Recon.
Incredibly bad decision, not supported by the East or West Battalions and is the brain child of a civilian and Commander with no Special Operations experience. That’s a recipe for success if I’ve ever seen one! CLNC is know for training cancelled for weather and too few training areas and too many units that need them. It’s all about saving money and nothing to do with agility. It will continue to drain the morale of the operational force and their families. Goes against the 2030, “MARSOF as a connector.” You connect by retracting from one of the largest Marine Corps bases in the world; loosing direct access to the units now focusing on the Pacific Theatre? Sounds like the old “bait and switch” to me.
This is a great move. It will put senior leaders in the community closer to the power base, so they won’t have to travel so far to go kiss the ring (and other parts of the anatomy). Will help those O-6s and Flag Officers looking for promotions. On the other hand, losing training areas in SOCAL, access to the Pacific (I thought 21st strategy was to pivot to focus on conflicts with China) and putting all eggs in one basket seems to be secondary considerations. Also, why spend money on items and training the Corp could really use, when you can waste it on moving headquarters (just like the Navy did with SDV teams–move from San Diego to Pearl Harbor, consolidate both teams, move back from Pearl Harbor to San Diego, and re-establish SDV Team TWO all within a single Sailor’s twenty year career). This move is akin to rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.