AW, I'm sorry to hear about your decision. Good luck in finding a place for what you want to do.
As to the Naval Surface Fire Support discussion, there's a whole lot I don't know about how the system is coming together. The problem I think stems from a mindset that prevents development of single purpose platforms. As a big destroyer, having two MSRI capable long range turrets is nice, the 80 cell VLS gives you plenty of anti-ship and deep land attack capability. Frankly, the best platform for anti-small boat swarm is a system of helicopters working with ships and fixed wing aircraft.
As a planner, and an artilleryman, I know that artillery battalions kill things so a ship with two guns that function as two batteries isn't quite enough. A battalion can break a counterattack as it starts but not having that mass of fires increases risk. Given the battlespace involved in a landing, it is hard to put two ships in place that can mutually support one another in providing fires to forces ashore. For me, a four gun ship is closer to correct and having a number of those ships equal to Marine Regiments isn't a bad call. However, that requires investment in a single purpose platform which isn't in vogue.