ORBAT USMC Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) with its attached Amphibious Ready Group (ARG). Based on the 2016 MEU and ARG overview. A ? #USMC #Marines #MarineCorps #Navy #USNavy #Military

1. With the USMC currently undergoing profound change announced by Force Design 2030, we’ll look at the principal organizational structure of the amphibious marine task force established by the 2016 overview. Keep in mind that embarked equipment and structure are variable

2. The Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTAF) is an integrated force between air land, maritime and cyberspace environments. Its most common structure is the Navy-Marine Corps Team comprised of the Amphibious Ready Group and the Marine Expeditionary Unit

3. This unit is expeditionary in nature; its amphibious capability enables the US to project power by utilizing the freedom of action of the maritime domain. It also deters enemies, provides assured land access to any region and forces adversaries to invest in countermeasures

4. The MEU is specifically tailored for amphibious operations, crisis response, and limited contingency operations. Its task-organised and scalable, enabling it to be easily modified for specific missions

5. The MEU is structured into 4 distinct elements: Command Element, Ground Combat Element, Aviation Combat Element and Logistics Combat Element. For an estimated total of 2059 marines and sailors

6. The Command Element provides command, control, communications, computers, intelligence (C4I), and joint interoperability to conduct operations

7. The Ground Combat Element includes the infantry, armour, assault amphibian, artillery and engineers needed to fight on land

8. The Aviation Combat Element provides the transport of men and logistics, reconnaissance, and air support to the force

9. Finally the Logistics Combat Element included the capabilities needed to maintain the force during operations. Interesting to mention that the ARG can carry around 15 days’ worth of ammunition for its ground and air fires

10. When it comes to conducting a forcible entry scenario, the task force possesses a variety of equipment that enables it to execute an amphibious assault. Ospreys and Super-stallions are able to airlift around 385 personnel at once each carrying 24 Marines (2 rifle companies)

11. These helicopters can also airlift Humvees, EFSS and M777 directly

12. The AAV platoon and LAV platoon are constituted of amphibious vehicles that can directly assault a beach without needing landing crafts. Although the LAVs seem to be more vulnerable to rougher seas and are often deployed through LCs during exercises

13. Speaking of landing crafts, LCACs and LCUs are what transport tanks, Humvees, and the logistical and engineer vehicles of the Logistics Combat Element from the ARG to the landing point

14. 58 Humvees can transport a company’s worth of marines (with some extra left). It’s worth mentioning that the USMC operates different variants of the HMMVV with different armaments mounted on the turret: 12.7mn Browning, MK.19 grenade launcher or TOW ATGM

15. Overall, the Ground Combat Element is inserted both by air and sea. Its lighter vehicles and artillery can be deployed through both domains which provide essential flexibility and add unpredictability for the enemy

16. The Ground Combat Element and TF more generally are also supported by a variety of naval and air fires that are both internal to the ARG (AV-8B, AH-1Z and UH-1Y) …

17. …or external fires provided by carrier strike and jamming aircraft and naval gunfire and missiles provided by escorts. More broadly the TF can also coordinate with army or air force fires and allied weapons and units

18. I’ll finish by mentioning that aviation fires internal to the TF are primarily focused on close air support with the expectation of the AV-8B which can do some air-to-air combat and which is also currently being replaced by the F-35.

End. Poke: @RALee85 @battle_order @henrikrpaulsson @BA_Friedman @Asulembre @realaludiangov