Tag Archives: 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit

U.S. Marines, Japan Self Defense Force Kick Off Iron Fist Exercise in Western Pacific

U.S. Marines, Japan Self Defense Force Kick Off Iron Fist Exercise in Western Pacific

U.S. Marine Corps Col. Matthew Danner, commanding officer of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, right, and Japan Ground Self-Defense Force Col. Yoshikazu Nishida, the commanding officer of the 1st Amphibious Rapid Deployment Regiment, left, visit U.S. Marines with Battalion Landing Team 1/4, 31st MEU, conducting defensive posturing for Iron Fist 23 at Hijudai, Japan, Feb. 19, 2023. US Marine Corps

The U.S Marine Corps and the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) began the bilateral Iron Fist 2023 exercise last week. It’s the first exercise that has been held in Japan since it began in 2006. Previous iterations were held at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif. Read More

USNI News Fleet and Marine Tracker: Feb. 28, 2022

USNI News Fleet and Marine Tracker: Feb. 28, 2022

USNI News Graphic

These are the approximate positions of the U.S. Navy’s deployed carrier strike groups and amphibious ready groups throughout the world as of Feb. 28, 2022, based on Navy and public data. In cases where a CSG or ARG is conducting disaggregated operations, the chart reflects the location of the capital ship. Read More

Navy, Marines Drill with Japanese Forces in Test of New Island-Hopping Concept

Navy, Marines Drill with Japanese Forces in Test of New Island-Hopping Concept

Ships of the America and Essex Amphibious Ready Groups, and Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group, sail in formation with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force during exercise Noble Fusion on Feb. 7, 2022. US Navy Photo

The U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Navy and Japanese Self-Defense Force teamed up in the Philippine and East China seas to test the ideas behind the Marines’ Force Design 2030 plan. Read More

U.S. Carrier Group, Two Amphibious Ready Groups Drill in Philippine Sea with Japan

U.S. Carrier Group, Two Amphibious Ready Groups Drill in Philippine Sea with Japan

Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Handling) 1st Class Ruselle Kane, a native of San Francisco, assigned to Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Essex (LHD 2), signals to an MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter attached to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 21 during a vertical replenishment (VERTREP) in support of Noble Fusion, Feb. 4, 2022 in the Philippine Sea. U.S. Navy Photo

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – A U.S. Navy carrier strike group and two amphibious ready groups are drilling in the Philippine Sea with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force. Read More

Marines Begin Experimentation to Refine Manual for Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations

Marines Begin Experimentation to Refine Manual for Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations

U.S. Marine Corps 1st Lt. Brian W. Nickerson, a platoon commander with Battalion Landing Team 3/4, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), sets security with his Marines during a raid on Camp Hansen, Okinawa, Japan, Feb. 1, 2021. US Marine Corps Photo

The Marine Corps has released the first version of its Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations manual and is kicking off a two-year process of near-constant experimentation and analysis to help refine the document before it becomes formal doctrine. Read More

Marines' Force Design 2030 May Allow MEUs Tailored for Different Geographies, Adversaries

Marines’ Force Design 2030 May Allow MEUs Tailored for Different Geographies, Adversaries

31st Marine Expeditionary Unit Marines embarked aboard San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship USS Green Bay (LPD-20) operate assault amphibious vehicles during a rehearsal exercise with Royal Thai military in support of Cobra Gold 2020 on Feb. 27, 2020. US Marine Corps Photo

The Marine Corps’ new force design may allow East Coast expeditionary units to look much different than West Coast or Japan-based units, a nod to the complex but different environments they’ll operate in and threats they’ll face in the future. Read More

Amphibious Assault Ship USS America Arrives In Japan

Amphibious Assault Ship USS America Arrives In Japan

Sailors man the rails as the amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6) arrives at Sasebo, Japan to join the forward deployed naval forces. America is assigned to Amphibious Squadron Eleven and will serve as the flagship for Expeditionary Strike Group 7 while conducting routine operations in the Western Pacific. Navy photo.

USS America (LHA-6) arrived at its new homeport of Sasebo, Japan, on Thursday, a move that puts the big-deck amphibious assault ship designed to accommodate the F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters in the Western Pacific.

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Amphibious Ops, Air Defense Key in Philippines Exercise With U.S., Japanese Forces

Amphibious Ops, Air Defense Key in Philippines Exercise With U.S., Japanese Forces

Marine Lance Cpl. David Lancheros shares his knowledge about the engagement process of a FIM-92 stinger missile with Philippine Airman 2nd class Sherwin Faoeranga during a subject matter expert exchange as part of exercise KAMANDAG 3 at Colonel Ernesto P. Ravina Air Base, Philippines on Oct. 9, 2019. US Marine Corps Photo

U.S. Marines are sharpening their amphibious skills right alongside amphibious assault vehicle crews of Philippine Marines and Japanese sea soldiers in a series of exercises that aim to tighten cooperation between the three nations. Read More

How to Seize Islands, Set Up a Forward Refueling Point: Marine Corps Recipes for Expeditionary Operations

How to Seize Islands, Set Up a Forward Refueling Point: Marine Corps Recipes for Expeditionary Operations

A Marine with Echo Company, Battalion Landing Team, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, posts security during a simulated airfield seizure after a long-range raid from the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1) at Ie Shima Training Facility, Okinawa, Japan, Aug. 12, 2019. US Marine Corps photo.

The U.S. Marine Corps has been refining a pair of related concepts, Expeditionary Advance Base Operations (EABO) and the overarching Littoral Operations in a Contested Environment, for the past couple years. Read More