The 3,500 marines and sailors of America’s 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) have sailed from Sasebo in Western Japan to the active West Asian combat theatre. The move comes as Washington seeks to re-open the Strait of Hormuz. The critical waterway through which 20% of the world’s oil and gas pass to reach consumers has been closed by Iran, in a bid to exert pressure to bring the conflict to a halt.
How the MEU is structured and what it can do
The 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit is a rapid response force custom-made to resolve any contingency, these can be combat related or a natural disaster. It is the only one of the seven MEUs which is forward deployed. A MEU is composed of a reinforced marine infantry battalion and an aviation element. The MEU is embarked on a set of amphibious assault ships and is part of an expeditionary strike group.Central to the expeditionary unit is a heavily armed Marine Corps infantry battalion. This unit of marines is trained and equipped to come ashore and capture a beach either amphibiously or by helicopter. The heavily armed unit is equipped with armoured vehicles and is reinforced with artillery and air defence elements. This element is equipped to hold ground for as many as 15 days and provide a bridgehead till other units can come ashore and expand the theatre of operations.
USS Tripoli and the air power at sea
The entire force is centered around USS Tripoli, an America-class amphibious assault ship. This ship is a mini-aircraft carrier, it is currently operating in the West Asian theatre with 20 F-35s that are capable of taking-off and landing vertically on the ship. Besides these top of the line fighters, the ship’s air wing also operates the MV-22 Osprey aircraft and the MH-60S helicopters, which are similar to the MH-60R helicopters operated by the Indian Navy. The other two ships in the amphibious ready group are the USS San Diego as well as the USS New Orleans.The U.S. Marine Corps has a unique combat philosophy called the Marine Air Ground Task Force (MAGTF). Under this doctrine, the corps which has its own air arm, uses all its resources as well as naval support to fight. All the air and ground forces report to the MAGTF commander, who is usually a Colonel ranked officer. Usually a much higher headquarter handles both air and ground elements under a single command.The amphibious nature of the MEU gives the theatre commander many options in the Persian Gulf. The U.S. has threatened Iran’s Kharg Island in the recent past and the capture of Iranian islands near the Straits of Hormuz could help open the critical waterway. Tehran on the other hand will now be pressured to defend its vast coastline and outlaying islands, thus putting more pressure on the war torn nation’s shrinking military resources.
