…Similarly, and later as MARFORPAC’S G5 South Asia Desk Officer, I turned a small platoon-level exercise into what was designed to eventually become a Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), infantry battalion reinforced, engagement.  When I took over the South Asia Desk, the platoon-level exercise did not even have a name.  It was a relatively obscure mil-to-mil exercise that was conducted one year in India and the following year in the United States.  Because of the distance between our two countries, no Desk Officer had attempted to grow this exercise into something more appropriate between near-peer, if not peer, nations.  My belief was that this exercise was totally inadequate and was basically serving next to no purpose as a platoon-to-platoon exchange. I wanted to grow it into an exercise that was strategic in its outlook and impact.

At that time, however, the war in Iraq was raging, and the Marine Corps’ involvement…