• This is the latest in a series of semi-regular columns by Robbin Laird, where he will tackle current defense issues through the lens of more than 45 years of defense expertise in both the US and abroad. • The goal of these columns: to look back at how questions and perspectives of the past should inform decisions being made today. • I spent two weeks in December with the 3rd Marine Wing working with 1MEF during the Steel Knight 25 exercise. • Steel Knight represents far more than another Marine Corps training exercise: Conducted across Southern California from December 1-14, 2025, this iteration served as a critical campaign laboratory where I Marine Expeditionary Force tested whether concepts like stand-in forces, distributed operations, and kill webs could actually function at scale under realistic conditions. • The exercise’s most significant departure from traditional training models lies in its rejection of linear force buildup assumptions. • Rather than organizing around the expectation of force closure at secure bases before engagement, Steel Knight 2025 deliberately validated the ability to fight as a distributed, networked stand-in force from the opening moments of crisis.
Article Summaries:
- This is the latest in a series of semi-regular columns by Robbin Laird, where he will tackle current defense issues through the lens of more than 45 years of defense expertise in both the US and abroad. The goal of these columns: to look back at how questions and perspectives of the past should inform decisions being made today. I spent two weeks in December with the 3rd Marine Wing working with 1MEF during the Steel Knight 25 exercise. Steel Knight represents far more than another Marine Corps training exercise: Conducted across Southern California from December 1-14, 2025, this iteration ser
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