USNS Montford Point Connects Skin-to-Skin with USNS Stockham During Exercise Ssang Yong.....photo by Mass Communications Specialist 3rd Class Madailein Abbott

160313-N-WJ640-118 WATERS EAST OF THE KOREAN PENINSULA (March 13, 2016) Expeditionary transfer dock USNS Montford Point (T-ESD 1) connects skin-to-skin with Military Sealift Command ship USNS GySgt. Fred W. Stockham (T-AK-3017) to conduct a seabasing demonstration in support of exercise Ssang Yong 2016 (SY16). SY16 is a biennial combined amphibious exercise conducted by forward-deployed forces with the Republic of Korea Navy and Marine Corps, Australian Army and Royal New Zealand Army Forces in order to strengthen interoperability and working relationships across a wide range of military operations from disaster relief to complex expeditionary operations. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communications Specialist 3rd Class Madailein Abbott/Released)

Am I the only one that's confused by Marine Corps concepts?  We're pushing an aviation centric force structure, Company Landing Teams, SPMAGTF-CRs, delaying decisions on the M1A1, slow walking the AAV Survivability Upgrade, talking about sending LHDs out with only F-35s, adopting a LPD that loses an LCAC....

And yet we still act as if we need MLPs like we're still operating hundreds of AAVs, and Tanks.

The future that HQMC is pushing does not seem to NEED an MLP.  Could this be a ship without a real mission?  Is the theory of the sea base and the need for the lilypad MLP already obsolete?