Small Wars Journal

A Look Inside the Work, Future of Jim Mattis' Task Force Focused on Infantry, Close Combat

Wed, 01/30/2019 - 5:19am

A Look Inside the Work, Future of Jim Mattis' Task Force Focused on Infantry, Close Combat by Todd South – Military Times

Nearly a year after former defense secretary Jim Mattis inked a memo to create the first task force focused solely on making close combat formations more lethal, the group has coordinated efforts to add more than $3 billion toward that goal and now has another year to find a way to institutionalize its mission.

 

Despite the overwhelming sacrifice of close combat units, from infantry to scouts, combat engineers and special operations forces in America’s wars, their equipping, training and cohesion has often received short shrift in funding when compared to stealth bombers, aircraft carriers and even the ground vehicle programs that support them.

 

Mattis, influenced by his time as an infantry officer, brought together reform supporters such as retired Army Maj. Gen. Bob Scales and others to establish the Close Combat Lethality Task Force in 2018 and harmonize efforts across the Army, Marines and SOF communities for best practices and common goals…

Read on.