Amphibious assault remains at the top of the priorities the U.S. Marine Corps is setting for its post-Afghanistan force, according to a leading official at the Navy Department.

Robert “Bob” Work, undersecretary of the Navy, told a Center for Strategic and International Studies audience in Washington Aug. 3 that his top six priorities for the Marines will be reflected in the Force Structure Review Group findings, expected in November. Budget effects then would be felt in the Fiscal 2013 process.

“We will be capable of conducting amphibious assaults in joint forcible operations,” Work said emphatically. “Why is this true and why does it have to be done? We’re getting close to an answer. We’ve been working on it since last May in a very systematic way.”

The comments come as the need and role of amphibious assault, a traditional Corps specialty, has been debated in light of post-9/11 threats and increasing budget restrictions — leaving one of the Marines’ top acquisition programs, the embattled General Dynamics Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle, in a precarious state.

Yet, Work — a retired USMC colonel and independent analyst before joining the Pentagon under the Obama administration — says the department “never, ever, ever questioned the need to conduct amphibious assaults,” and he underpinned amphibious assault in a list of capabilities “certain to define the future Marine Corps.”

Other priorities on the list include better reflection of the Corps’ “naval character,” Work says. He notes the service has expressed its desire to return to its naval heritage rather than acting as a second army, as has happened in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

“You should see the Marines operate from new platforms,” he says, citing the Littoral Combat Ship and Joint High Speed Vessel as examples. He also says that the “equipment density list” will be higher than it was before the wars. Equipment density refers to the amount of equipment a force takes into combat.

“In Afghanistan, units are spread out incredibly,” Work notes. “That’s required us to put more weapons, communications equipment, etc., into units to allow them to fight.”

But Work also cites the need for the Marines to become a lighter force. “Marine Corps units are heavier across the board,” he says. “The Marines have been asked to produce a Ground Combat Vehicle strategy and we are looking hard at the mix and types of vehicles.”

The Marines also will rely increasingly on unmanned systems, he says. Department Secretary Ray Mabus will unveil “a wide initiative on unmanned systems, and the Marines have been instrumental in establishing that vision,” according to Work.

Finally, the future Marine Corps also will be more energy efficient, Work says. “The Marines are at the forefront of establishing tactical energy savings.”