Why I Prefer Working for the Marine Corps

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Launching the MICLIC

I have done worked for both the US Army, on the recovery vehicle for the now-canceled Future Combat System, and for the Marine Corps on the EFV (Called the AAAV when I worked on it) amphibious landing craft.

I found that the Marine Corps requirements, as well as their personnel, were much more straightforward and matter of fact.

A case in point is the Assault Breacher engineering and mine clearance vehicle, which clears a path through mines launching, the Mine Clearing Line Charge (MICLIC), 1,750 lbs of C4 on a 100 meter rope to clear a path.

It was developed after the Army's Grizzly was canceled.

The Grizzly was much more sophisticated, with a dozer blade/plough, which would automatically maintain the desired depth, and turn over and predetonate mines, it had an automated turret, and when reviewed by the military, they found over 50 flaws that they thought made the vehicle dangerous, and potentially life threatening.

There was also the problem that creating an automatic plough to clear a lane is a non-trivial operation. The Assault Breacher has a far less ambitious blade on the front, which is not intended for quite that level of speed or automation, and because of this, it actually works.

While the EFV is still a bit of a mess, I think that its goal was too ambitious, in general the Marines look for good enough, as opposed to the ultimate in whiz bang, so they get the job done.