What truly is your Main Effort

My wife and I made a trip to VA this weekend and were able to have dinner with some friends of mine currently attending TBS. During our conversation, the obvious MOS questions arose as MOS assignment is the climactic moment of the course and directs the rest of one's military career. One friend, previously a "Diehard Infantry Hopeful" or a "Hater of POGs" if you will, expressed his top picks, none of which included Infantry.

This is a common theme amongst students at TBS, exclaiming Infantry as their destiny only to change their minds when actually undergoing the course. One reason mentioned for this drastic change was that, and I quote - "You can never talk to an Infantry officer without them speaking in terms of or bringing up MCDP 1 Warfighting." I understood the point he was making, while at the same time shocked by it.

This is the equivalent of a Christian - when speaking to a group of friends about why he doesn't like to spend time with a fellow Christian brother (say Theopolis) - saying "Ehh, I don't care for Theopolis, he is always bringing up the bible, he's just too.... Christian". I think we all can relate to this example and how absurd but yet alarmingly widespread it is. If being a Christian is your utmost desire, and serving and worshiping the God who breathes scripture is your intent, then why on earth would you cite a reason for abstaining from a relationship with someone to be that they embody your very own expressed pursuits and beliefs of said scripture?

Back to my original focus, and purpose of providing the exhaustive example above - 2nd Lieutenants at The Basic School shy away from becoming Infantry officers because Infantry Officers live in accordance with and in light of MCDP 1, the defining doctrine of the Marine Corps - In other words, they are too Marine.  MCDP 1 being hailed as the Bible of the Marine Corps strikes the parallel between the two scenarios above all too well. People tend to create distance between themselves and others who shed light on their own weaknesses and shortcomings, especially those that they would rather keep hidden. Such as not living under the constant authority of Scripture as a Christian, or not taking MCDP 1 seriously as a Marine. The Infantry Officers embodied what my friend knew he didn't and what he would have to sacrifice too much in order to gain. Time, self-comfort, and constant intentional intellectual thought in light of the conduct of war: and thus, reluctant to pursue what he knows he wants to pursue or dare I say should pursue, he makes the claim that they are, "Too into MCDP" Just as a Christian might complain that his Christian brother is "Too into the Bible" - In other words, "their actions prove what they say with their mouths, and mine do not, therefore they make me feel uncomfortable."

Disclaimer - Obviously other MOSs in the Marine Corps are vitally important, I am not making the claim that Infantry should be placed on a pedestal above all else. Infantry is, however, the Main Effort,—"the focal point upon which converges the combat power of the force. "

 Like the commander's intent, the main effort becomes a harmonizing force

for subordinate initiative. Faced with a decision, we ask ourselves: How can I best support the main effort?" - MCDP 1 Warfighting