Page 19 - Williams Foundaiton Air-Land Integration April 15

New Approaches to Air-Land Integration

“But change is difficult; and the critics prevalent.”

He noted that if we held this conference 12 years ago, and the room was filled with Marines we would hear
about all the things the Osprey could not do and why we should not go ahead.

“If we brought those same Marines into the conference room now, they would have amnesia about what they
thought then and press me to get more Ospreys and leverage it even more.”

But it is not just about technology – it is about “equipping Marines, not manning the equipment.”

His point was that you needed to get the new equipment into the hands of the Marines at the earliest possible
moment, because the young Marines innovate in ways not anticipated when the senior leadership gets that
equipment to them.

Davis provided several examples of innovation, but one was about the F-35.

He argued that there was no doubt that the F-35 is the right plane for the USMC.

Now that it is in the hands of Marines, they are innovating in ways which the leadership really did not
anticipate and much more rapidly than might be imagined.

He described an event where the Commandant was going witness a Yuma to Nellis scenario in which F-35s
would be used to support Marines in the maneuver space.

He went to the Marines working the exercise and asked: “Was everything ready for the Commandant?”

The answer was: “Sir we are not going to do exactly what you asked for and are not ready to do it that
way?”

Davis commented: “The Commandant is just about here, what are you talking about?”

The Marine major answered: “Frankly, the scenario you suggested was not tough enough for we wanted to
take our F-35s into a more advanced SAM belt to get through and then support the Marines on the ground.”

Davis was a bit taken aback, but the innovation already evident by the squadron pilots was rewarded with a
demonstrated success on the Nellis ranges.

The Commandant was impressed, and although a ground combat Marine, he argued “we need to get that
plane into the hands of Marines as fast as we can.”

The DCA noted throughout his presentation that the RAAF focus on bottom up innovation with the Plan Jericho
processes was what the Marines felt was central to real combat innovation.

And shaping the way ahead was really about leveraging the new platforms, shaping key enablers and then
ensures that whatever follow-on platforms are bought that they build upon but push the innovation envelope.

He saw the tiltrotar experience as a crucial baseline and saw the future of Marine Corps rotor wing as
tiltrotar.

He saw the Cobras, Hueys, and Yankees replaced over time by a new generation tiltrotar aircraft.

He favored developing one, which would be two seaters, and able to be either manned or unmanned to
provide for the kind of flexibility which the Marines would want to reshape the capabilities and approach of
the assault force.

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