The U.S. Marine Corps and Domestic Operations: Insights on Requirements

In this briefing we examine issues for the U.S. Marine Corps to consider in organizing and conducting Military Support for Civil Authorities (MSCA) operations - or, more simply, domestic operations. This briefing is part of the documentation from a CNA study that examined USMC issues in conducting Humanitarian Assistance Operations (HAOs). The Commanding General, Marine Corps Combat Development Command, and the Commanding General, I Marine Expeditionary Force, requested that CNA conduct the study. We focused on how HAOs differ from traditional warfighting operations and on the implications of these differences for requirements in Marine Corps doctrine, organization, training, and equipment. The briefing does not cover all aspects of domestic operations, nor does it cover every role of Marine forces in these operations. With this background in mind, it focuses on some of the ways in which domestic operations differ from operations conducted outside the United States, and the implications of these differences for the Marine Corps.