The 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (31stMEU) is one of seven Marine Expeditionary Units in existence in the United States Marine Corps. The Marine Expeditionary Unit is a Marine Air Ground Task Force with a strength of about 2,500Marines and Sailors.
The 31stMEU consists of a company-sized command element; a battalion landing team (BLT), an infantry battalion reinforced with artillery, amphibious vehicles and other attachments; a medium tiltrotor squadron (reinforced), which includes detachments of short take-off, V/STOL aircraft; heavy, light, and attack helicopters; Combat Logistics Battalion 31.
The 31stMEU is based at Camp Hansen, Marine Corps Base Camp Smedley D. Butler, Okinawa, Japan. The 31stMEU is the only permanently-forward-deployed MEU, and provides a flexible and lethal force ready to perform a wide range of military, humanitarian, and diplomatic operations as the premier crisis response force in the Indo-Pacific region.
The 31stMEU is the only MEU that has retained a battalion landing team with small-boat capability to conduct raids.
Current subordinate units Ground Combat Element: Battalion Landing Team 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines Aviation Combat Element: Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 265 (Rein.), Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 121 Logistics Combat Element: Combat Logistics Battalion 31
History
Vietnam War Combat operations The 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit was commissioned on 1 March 1967, as Special Landing Force Alpha, for operations in Vietnam. The unit made the first of many amphibious deployments from Okinawa to the coast of Vietnam on 10 April 1967.
The first operation conducted was on 14 April 1967, when the MEU conducted a rescue of the crew of , a Panamanian vessel run aground by Typhoon Violet, in vicinity of Minami Ko Shima Island, Japan. Days later, SLF Alpha was committed to Operation Union, a search and destroy mission in Vietnam.
It was during this period of intense combat that SLF Alpha earned the Presidential Unit Citation. The unit participated in continuing combat operations ashore over the next three years, including the Vietnam Tet counteroffensive in 1969, while returning to Okinawa periodically for re-outfitting and the rotation of forces.
Special Landing Force Alpha was officially designated as the 31st Marine Amphibious Unit (MAU) on 24 November 1970. Once more the unit returned to the Gulf of Tonkin. This time the 31st MAU was not committed to overt land operations, as the Vietnam War was winding down. The 31st MAU performed presence missions and conducted a series of special operations to May 1971. From June 1971 until April 1975, the 31st MAU conducted many deployments to the waters off Vietnam.
Operation Eagle Pull
On 6 January 1975, Commander in Chief Pacific Command (CINCPAC) placed the 31st MAU on 96-hour alert to move the evacuation fleet into the Gulf of Thailand for the possible implementation of Operation Eagle Pull, the evacuation of the United States Embassy in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. On the afternoon of 11 April 1975, the 31st MAU received orders to execute Operation Eagle Pull.
At 06:00 on 12 April 12 x CH-53s of HMH-462 launched from the deck of and moved a security force of 360 Marines ashore. The majority of the evacuation proceeded smoothly with HMH-462 transporting 84 US nationals and 205 Cambodians and third country nationals. By 10:41 all the evacuees, including Ambassador John Gunther Dean and President Saukham Khoy had been extracted. Helicopters of HMH-463, operating from , began to land to extract the ground security force. Beginning at approximately 10:50, 107 mm rocket and 82 mm mortar fire began impacting in the vicinity of LZ Hotel. At 10:59, the last element of 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines left the zone. The last Marine helicopter landed on USS Okinawa at 12:15.
On 13 April, the evacuees were flown to U-Tapao Air Base in Thailand. Amphibious Ready Group Alpha proceeded to the South China Sea to rendezvous with Task Force 76 as it stood by to implement Operation Frequent Wind, the evacuation of Saigon.
Operation Frequent Wind
After departing the Gulf of Thailand, the 31st MAU was attached to the 9th Marine Amphibious Brigade in support of Operation Frequent Wind, the final evacuation of Saigon as North Vietnamese forces entered the city.
1980s and 1990s The 31st MAU at this time was established as the only permanently forward-deployed U.S. presence in the Western Pacific, Southern Pacific, and Indian Ocean with Special Operations capabilities. In February 1980, the USS Okinawa task force, already with Marine Cobra gunships and Harrier attack aircraft from California, made port at Pearl Harbor to take aboard the final elements of the MEU, which consisted of 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines (3/3), helicopters from MAG-24, Force Recon, and Marine Amphibious Unit Service Support Group 31 (MSSG-31) in support, all out of Kaneohe Bay's 1st Marine Brigade. On 24 April, this group in support of 3/3 Marines rendezvoused with the aircraft carrier off the coast of Iran, as a reserve in the ill-fated Operation Eagle Claw, the failed attempt to rescue of the 53 American captives at the Embassy of the United States, Tehran.
Combat operations were replaced by regional exercises, which allowed training opportunities in a variety of countries. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, the 31st MEU engaged in humanitarian operations, for example, the 1984 floods in Bangladesh. In 1983, the 31st MEU was recalled from a combined exercise with local forces in Kenya and positioned in the Mediterranean Sea.
From September to October 1983, its mission was to support the Multinational U.S. peacekeeping forces in Beirut, during an intense period of complex political and life-threatening conditions in Lebanon. They took over the command operations after their sister unit, the 24th MEU, was attacked in the Beirut bombing. It was the 31st MEU's last military operation of that period. In May 1985, the unit was deactivated on ship, off the shore of San Diego. During this time the 31st MEU was based at the Marine Barracks, Subic Bay Naval Station.
On 9 September 1992, the unit was redesignated as the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable). In 1994, the unit was relocated to its current home station at Camp Hansen, in Okinawa, Japan.
In November 1998, Saddam Hussein's regime was failing to comply with United Nations resolutions and interfering with weapons inspectors looking for weapons of mass destruction. As the crisis came to a head, the 31st MEU was recalled to Okinawa. At the time, most of the MEU's Marines were on Guam conducting urban warfare training, and a new infantry battalion had just arrived from CONUS. All Marines and equipment were loaded by 11 November, at which time the ships set sail for the Persian Gulf. From November 1998 to February 1999, the 31st MEU sailed off the coast of Kuwait, participating in Operation Southern Watch and Operation Desert Fox.
The 31st MEU, in concert with Amphibious Squadron Eleven (Phibron 11), deployed to support Australian Defence Force (ADF) operations in East Timor from 30 September 1999, to 26 October 1999. Flying from , the MEU conducted "lily pad" operations around East Timor, providing security, logistics, and communications support for the International Force East Timor (INTERFET) led by Major General Peter Cosgrove from the Australian Army. The Marines distributed more than 500 tons of food, water, and supplies around East Timor during this time.
21st century In January 2000, a Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force consisting of Golf Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines, Charlie Company 1st Battalion 5th Marines, then the MEU's Battalion Landing Team; portions of the Command Element; HMM-265, and MSSG-31 deployed to East Timor aboard . In East Timor, the Marines and sailors supported the transition from the Australian-led INTERFET to the new United Nations Transitional Administration East Timor (UNTAET).
Late in the evening of 11 September 2001, all US forces were secured to their quarters as Super Typhoon Nari was passing over Okinawa. After the September 11 attacks, the MEU received a 96-hour warning order for deployment and was notified that naval shipping was en route to embark them soonest. Marines prepared to deploy and began staging equipment as the storm continued. The helicopter squadron was the last to board due to the passing storm, and the on-load was successfully completed in 93 hours. The MEU immediately steamed south towards its expected destination, Afghanistan. As the ships passed Singapore, the MEU was re-tasked to support UNTAET operations in East Timor. The 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, returning from a deployment to East Timor, was assigned the task of supporting combat operations in Afghanistan.
From September 2004 to March 2005, the 31st MEU, including Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion 3rd Marines with attached Charlie Battery of 1st Battalion 12th Marines, conducted combat actions during the Iraq War. Participation included a major role in Operation Phantom Fury, the clearing of Fallujah in November 2004. With organizational changes to Marine Corps' reconnaissance units in 2006, all the MEU's Special Operations Capable (SOC) designations were removed. The 31st MEU then became titled as a Maritime Contingency Force, although it remains capable of conducting the same wide variety of specialized missions on both sea and land.
In February 2006, the 31st MEU was sent to the Philippines to provide relief assistance during the mudslides in southern Leyte.
On 21 September 2007, the 31st MEU Command Element dedicated its headquarters building at Camp Hansen, Okinawa to Sergeant Rafael Peralta, who died in Iraq during Operation Phantom Fury, while assigned to the 31st MEU BLT 1/3 Alpha Company 1st Platoon. Sgt Peralta received the Navy Cross for his actions in Fallujah.
From 13 May to 5 June 2008, Marines of the 31st MEU sailing aboard the 's expeditionary strike group waited off the coast of Burma prepared to provide relief as part of Operation Caring Response following Cyclone Nargis. US leaders sent the strike group home in early June after failing to gain permission for them to come ashore from the Burmese government.
In October 2009, the MEU assisted in humanitarian & disaster relief in Luzon, Philippines after Typhoons Ketsana and Parma hit back to back. Simultaneously, elements of the MEU assisted in Sumatra, Indonesia after earthquakes struck the region.
In October 2010, the 31st MEU conducted humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations in northern Luzon after Super Typhoon Megi hit the Philippines.
Operation Tomodachi, Japan – 2011
The 31st MEU was split into three separate parts on 11 March 2011, the day of the 9.0 earthquake and tsunami. The largest ship, , with most of the Marines and sailors of the 31st MEU aboard, had just completed an exercise in Cambodia and had arrived in Malaysia for a port visit. When the 31st MEU leadership received news of the tsunami, they initiated an immediate recall of all personnel who were away from the ship on liberty. The ship quickly took on some supplies, and in less than 24 hours was underway to Japan where it would meet up with and .
Germantown and Harpers Ferry were both in Indonesia with elements of the 31st MEU embarked. Marines and sailors aboard Harpers Ferry were scheduled to participate in a large humanitarian assistance and disaster relief exercise starting 12 March. Both ships were immediately alerted upon news of the disaster in Japan and headed north for the stricken country in support of what would become Operation Tomodachi.