A Marine Corps Interwar Period Analysis and Implications for Today

: As the Marine Corps finishes twelve years of combat, it is entering into another interwar period. Significant lessons can be learned from studying the post-World War I and post-Vietnam War interwar periods. These lessons are framed along the three phases that constitute an interwar period. Additionally, the doctrine, organization, material, leadership & education, and personnel pillars must be applied during the appropriate phases to successfully navigate the interwar period. The desired endstate of navigating an interwar period is a force that is transformed with a new vision, high quality personnel, updated doctrine and organization, and the material solutions to support the vision. Success in an interwar period is defined as a force that can conduct combat operations during the interwar period while going through transformation, and results in a force that is victorious in the next major conflict.