Gen. Amos: Marines not in competition with army.

• Author: Erwin, Sandra I.
• Position: Defense Insider

* Gen. James F. Amos, commandant of the Marine Corps, likes to remind audiences that Marines are not a "second land army." But he often explains that it is harder for Marines to explain their role in national security. Ground wars require armies. Navies fight at sea. Anything aviation is associated with the Air Force. The Marine Corps operates in all three domains but owns none of them, Amos says. Marines, he adds, are the only force that can quickly respond to a crisis on the ground or at sea, and they have their own aviation assets for transportation and for aerial combat.

Amos insists that there is no inter-service budget war. "We have the best relationship with the other services that we've ever had," he says.

In anticipation of a worsening cash crunch at the Defense Department, Amos has ordered frugality across...