Marine Corps advances plans for reserve integration at Blount Island

Official Statements

• Blount Island Command, November 13: “JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Marine Corps leaders are advancing plans to give reservists hands-on logistics opportunities and dedicated space at Marine Corps Support Facility Blount Island, Florida. Maj. Gen. Douglas Clark, deputy commander of Marine Forces Reserve and Marine Forces South, visited Nov. 13 to discuss how reservists could work alongside Blount Island Command’s service members, civilians and contractors in Florida and overseas.”

• Blount Island Command, November 13: “Blount Island Command maintains, modernizes and distributes service-managed equipment and supplies positioned aboard ships and at sites ashore, including in Norway and across the Indo-Pacific. Connecting reserve training with that work could help keep those assets ready for Marines to receive and employ during exercises, ongoing operations and crisis response.”

• Blount Island Command, November 13: “Col. David Merles, commanding officer of Blount Island Command and the installation, offered industrial space and waterfront access for training and cargo operations. “Our reservists want to do real-world stuff, and there’s nothing more real-world than what you are all doing on a day-to-day basis,” Clark said during a command brief. Clark said practical logistics experience could help recruit and retain Marines. He urged leaders to “go big” in identifying how reservists could contribute.”

• Blount Island Command, November 13: “You tell me what you need - I want to go after it,” Clark said. “If it’s manpower, I’ve got that.” During a May 14 visit to Blount Island, Lt. Gen. William Bowers, deputy commandant for Manpower and Reserve Affairs, described retention as one of the clearest indicators that the Corps was meeting Marines’ expectations.”

• Blount Island Command, November 13: “Clark and department leaders discussed mobilization exercises, amphibious combat vehicle maintenance and oversight, and ship offloads and backloads. They also examined opportunities for reservists to train with Navy lighterage, which transports cargo between ships and shore. Merles identified potential exercises along the St. Johns River with personnel from regional naval bases. He outlined how the installation can support forces operating in the U.S. Southern Command region.”

• Blount Island Command, November 13: “Clark said he saw “tremendous opportunity” with 4th Combat Readiness Regiment, 4th Marine Logistics Group. The regiment’s leadership visited Blount Island Jan. 12 to explore maintenance support afloat and ashore, including shipboard work, offloads and post-exercise repairs in the Indo-Pacific. Integrating reservists into the command’s work will require leaders to align training schedules and operational plans, Clark said. After visiting a building under consideration for reserve use, he toured the installation’s 1,000-foot slipway and equipment staging areas.”

• Blount Island Command, November 13: “Let us know what you need to enhance the readiness of the total force,” Clark said. “It’s not what Blount Island Command can do to support Marine Forces Reserve - it’s what we can do to support you. That’s what we’re going after here.” “When Marine Forces Reserve reinforces your readiness, we’re reinforcing our own readiness,” he said.”