On contested shores: The evolving role of amphibious operations in the history of warfare

Abstract

The study of amphibious operations has seen a definite resurgence during recent years. The recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan forced militaries to shift their focus from traditional operations to those of counterinsurgency and counterterrorism. This shift in focus naturally affected the doctrine, organisation and employment of amphibious forces of Western militaries, such as the US Marine Corps and the British Royal Marines – who were both deployed in semi-conventional and counterinsurgency roles in Iraq and Afghanistan for extensive periods. However, after the end of these wars, both the US Marine Corps and the British Royal Marines had to go back to the proverbial drawing board and reassess their traditional roles as amphibious forces. Of interest, is the fact that in 2019, the Commandant of the US Marine Corps, General David H Berger, provided planning guidance in which he argued that the US Marines had to return to the sea, increase their naval integration, and expand their ability to fight not just from the sea but also in terms of sea control from the shore. 602 With this planning guidance, there was bound to be a drastic shift in the doctrine, organisation and employment of the US Marine Corps in general. While these developments were notable, they did not occur in a vacuum. Several militaries across the globe are currently reapplying their minds to amphibious operations and implementing drastic measures to remedy any potential shortfalls that exist in terms of doctrine, organisation and training. These changes are necessitated owing to the increasing likelihood of future amphibious operations due to an unprecedented population growth evidenced in coastal regions across the globe, the concomitant effects of climate change on existing waterways, rives and oceans, and growing political disputes in regions such as the South China Sea and the Arctic. During 2020, the Marine Corps University Press published an edited volume by Timothy Heck and Brett Friedman titled On contested shores: The evolving role of amphibious operations in the history of warfare . The book comprises 23 key chapters that trace the historical evolution of amphibious operations from the sixteenth century through to the present, and even looks toward the