Our Nation faces challenges that are global in reach and scope. While today's Marines are performing superbly in every time and place, our institution must also devote attention to tomorrow's threats and opportunities. It is our obligation to subsequent generations of Marines, and to our Nation to always have an eye to the future -to prepare for tomorrow's challenges today. This Vision and Strategy document confirms who we are, what we believe, and what we do. It establishes the foundation for our operational concepts and identifies the critical steps needed to shape our Corps for an increasingly volatile an uncertain future. It is grounded firmly in our legislated role as the Nation's "force in readiness," and it will guide our Service so that we are properly organized, trained, equipped, and prepared for tomorrow's challenges. With little warning, our Nation calls its Corps of Marines front and center during its most challenging times. Responding rapidly to crisis and strategic surprise is an integral part of our history as a Corps. In the South Pacific after Pearl Harbor, in Korea after the communist invasion in1950, in the jungle outposts in Viet Nam, in the deserts of Southwest Asia, and in the mountains of Afghanistan-Marines have distinguished themselves as an expeditionary, multicapable force able to respond and win battles for our Nation. We have been prepared in the past because we understood that a force in readiness must be well-trained, broadly educated, and properly equipped for employment across all forms of warfare. We believe the individual Marine is the most formidable weapon on today's battlefield and will remain so tomorrow. Whatever the future holds, our emphasis on making Marines will not change. Expeditionary excellence requires Marines who are morally, physically, and mentally tough. Marines must be agile, capable of transitioning seamlessly between fighting, training, advising, and assisting-or performing all of these tasks simultaneously. Though our Corps has recently proven itself in "sustained operations ashore," future operational environments will place a premium on agile expeditionary forces, able to act with unprecedented speed and versatility in austere conditions against a wide range of adversaries. We must be a two fisted fighter-able to destroy enemy formations with our scalable air-ground-logistics teams in major contingencies, but equally able to employ our hard earned irregular warfare skills honed over decades of conflict. Our Corps must serve credibly as a persistently engaged and multicapable force, able to draw upon contributions from our Total Force, in order to address the full range of contingencies the future will undoubtedly present In short, we must be prepared to move with speed, "live hard," and accomplish any mission. The purpose of the vision and strategy document is to inform all Marines where we intend to take our Corps, to give combatant commanders a concept of how we might best be employed, and to provide our civilian leadership a reference point as to how we see Marine Corps contributions to national defense in the coming years and decades. This document is grounded in the Marine Corps' identity, ethos, values, and competencies. It serves as the principal strategic planning document for our Corps and reflects our legislated roles, functions, and composition. Derived from strategic guidance at the national and departmental levels, it illustrates our utility and value within the joint warfighting community.