What Army logisticians should know about the Marine Corps

Army Logistician, July-August, 2003 by James C. Bates

Joint task force logisticians who understand the logistics-methods and capabilities of the U.S. Marine Corps can enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of logistics operations. This is especially important when one considers that accessing international seaports and foreign shores and providing security for forces transiting through them are ever-increasing concerns of military planners. As a result, joint logistics over-the-shore operations, which require both Navy and Marine Corps and Army forces, most likely will become more prevalent in the future, in both forced and permissive-entry environments.

This changing operational environment means that Army logisticians should be familiar with Marine Corps logistics. What follows is a brief overview of how the Marine Corps conducts logistics, with a specific emphasis on its logistics structure and doctrine. Soldiers serving as joint logistics planners should recognize the synergies involved in Army and Marine Corps operations and should work to streamline combat service support. Moreover, just as other services, agencies, and countries can learn from understanding U.S. Army logistics, the Army can adapt and improve its logistics processes by understanding and incorporating methods from others, like the Marine Corps.

Components of Joint Task Forces

U.S. military operations, regardless of whether they are small-scale peacekeeping operations or major regional conflicts, involve joint forces (provided by the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps) and are conducted under the overarching control of a regional combatant commander--formerly called a commander in chief--from either the U.S. Pacific Command, U.S. European Command, U.S. Central Command, U.S. Northern Command, U.S. Southern Command, or, in some instances, the U.S. Special Operations Command.

The regional combatant commander appoints a joint task force commander, who directly oversees a joint task force (JTF). While the makeup of a JTF can vary (it could have service-specific subordinate commands, for example), it sometimes is composed of an air component command, a maritime component command, a special operations component command, and a land component command. The services provide forces to these component commanders. Typically, the Army and the Marine Corps constitute the land component command. Since these two services operate in the same area of operations, logisticians of one service might be able to use some of the combat service support assets of the other service in addition to their own; they also might tap into the logistics capabilities of joint, interagency, and multinational activities.

Marine Corps Force Structure

Like the Army, the Marine Corps has both an administrative and a deployed organizational structure. There are approximately 173,000 marines on active duty and 100,000 Marine Reservists; there are no Marine National Guard forces. In comparison, the Army has approximately 485,000 active-duty soldiers, 360,000 National Guardsmen, and 200,000 Army Reservists.

The Marine Corps has three active Marine divisions (each with about 18,000 marines), three active Marine aircraft wings (each with about 15,000 marines and 300 aircraft), and three force service support groups (FSSGs), which have about 9,000 marines each. The FSSG is a permanently structured command consisting of eight battalions whose mission is to provide combat service support to Marine Corps forces worldwide.

Marines deploy as a Marine air ground task force (MAGTF), with marines providing their own aviation support. A MAGTF includes a command element, a ground combat element, an aviation combat element, and a combat service support element (CSSE).

MAGTFs deploy in three configurations: a Marine expeditionary force (MEF); a Marine expeditionary brigade (MEB); or a Marine expeditionary unit (MEU) special operations capable (SOC). As a general rule, an MEF has 50,000 marines and is commanded by a lieutenant general; an MEB has 16,000 marines and is commanded by a brigadier general; and an MEU has 2,200 marines and is commanded by a colonel.

An MEF consists of one or more of the following: an infantry division, which consists of three infantry regiments (with a total of nine infantry battalions in the division); an artillery regiment (with four artillery battalions); a tank battalion; a light armored reconnaissance battalion; an amphibious assault battalion; a Marine aircraft wing, which provides both fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft; and an FSSG.

The Marine Corps has three MEF's: the I MEF is located on the U.S. west coast, the II MEF is located on the east coast, and the III MEF is located in Okinawa, Japan. Each of the MEFs has an MEB (the 1st MEB, the 2d MEB, and the 3d MEB, respectively). There also is a 4th MEB (Anti-terrorism), activated in September 2001, that provides antiterrorism support to regional combatant commanders worldwide.

Marine Corps Logistics Structure

The MAGTF's CSSE provides supply, maintenance, transportation, general engineering, health services, and services. Services include personnel administration; religious ministries support; financial management; disbursing; communications; billeting; messing; military bands; morale, welfare, and recreation activities; postal services; exchange services; security support; legal services; civil affairs; and graves registration.