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Rear Adm. Don Gabrielson and Brig. Gen. Phillip Frietze, sign the Joint Maritime Component Commander Maritime Campaign Support Plan in a ceremony aboard USS Wichita (LCS 13), Nov. 4.

Photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Jacob Si

U.S. Navy, Marine Corps Commanders Sign Integrated Maritime Campaign Support Plan

9 Nov 2020 | Courtesy Story The Official United States Marine Corps Public Website

Rear Adm. Don Gabrielson, commander, U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S. 4th Fleet, and Brig. Gen. Phillip Frietze, commander, U.S. Marine Corps Forces, South, signed the Joint Force Maritime Component Commander Maritime Campaign Support Plan in a ceremony aboard USS Wichita (LCS 13) at Naval Station Mayport, Florida, November 4.

“This integrated maritime campaign support plan codifies how our team will support the USSOUTHCOM Campaign Plan,” said Gabrielson. “It creates the framework in which we will further develop our already robust integration with MARFORSOUTH as we work together with our maritime forces.”

The MCSP is an overarching playbook for Sailors and Marines to strengthen partnerships in the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility over the next four years, through 2024. The plan brings together USNAVSO and MARFORSOUTH for closer coordination in future operations and activities that will maximize the collective strengths with partner nations and reinforce the United States’ reputation as a highly trusted and impactful partner. The MCSP supports the USSOUTHCOM Campaign Plan and the National Defense Strategy, and acknowledges meeting the challenges posed by a re-emergence of long-term competition with China and Russia.

“The MCSP provides clear guidance for what we need to do to expand and improve our operational readiness at sea, to further engage with our partners and increase our maritime awareness,” said Frietze. “We look forward to putting this plan into action, and I know our partners are excited about upcoming opportunities to operate and exercise together.”

“The MCSP provides our blueprint for both planning and executing future operations and exercises with our partners,” said Cmdr. Rob Wilhelm, lead Navy planner for the MCSP. “The goal is for all operations or exercises to reach MCSP objectives for ourselves and our partners.”

“The MCSP provides clear guidance for what we need to do to expand and improve our operational readiness at sea...” Brig. Gen. Phillip Frietze, commander of U.S. Marine Corps Forces


“We have competitors who seek to replace our influence in the maritime domain with an alternative form of partnership in the USSOUTHCOM AOR,” said Maj. Jon Wilkins, lead Marine planner for the MCSP. “This plan acknowledges the nature of this competition, and seeks to maintain a continuous competitive advantage in the maritime domain by using old tools, common to security cooperation, in new ways.”

The MCSP guides all of USNAVSO’s and MARFORSOUTH’s activities the next four years. It includes four lines of effort focused on strengthening partnerships, becoming a partner of choice, enhancing the logistics capabilities through agreements with partner nations, and fostering innovation leading to modernization and heightened readiness for U.S. forces.

U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S. 4th Fleet supports U.S. Southern Command’s joint and combined military operations by employing maritime forces in cooperative maritime security operations to maintain access, enhance interoperability, and build enduring partnerships in order to enhance regional security and promote peace, stability and prosperity in the Caribbean, Central and South American region.

U.S. Marine Corps Forces, South is the U. S. Marine Corps service component command for U.S. Southern Command. COMMARFORSOUTH commands all Marine forces assigned to Commander, USSOUTHCOM; advises the Commander, USSOUTHCOM on the proper employment and support of Marine forces; conducts deployment and redeployment planning and execution of assigned, attached Marine forces; and accomplishes other operational missions as assigned.