Originally Posted by
LowObservable
I'm just coming at this from a strategic perspective - and believe that the US has over-invested both in this particular capability, and, more generally, in the notion of amphibious assault against a defended coast.
Where did you come up with this, LO?
USMC doctrine 20 years ago was evolving away from this very limited concept of amphibious ops. The USMC aren't assaulting Tarawa anymore. Their operation concept (as of about 9 years ago when I left the Navy) was a lot more nuanced than that, and used as a basic principle the matter of using their tools to assault behind the coast, as well as coming in over the beach ... but the beach is not necessarily what is being assaulted.
Been a bit out of touch of late, so I don't know for sure if they have regressed, but I think your concern is a bit dated. The one thing I found consistent in the USMC warfighting method was their combined arms approach to pretty much everything.