1st Marine Expeditionary Brigade (1st MEB) is a unit in the

I Marine Expeditionary Force The I Marine Expeditionary Force ("I" pronounced "One") is a Marine Air Ground Task Force (MAGTF) of the United States Marine Corps primarily composed of the 1st Marine Division, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, and 1st Marine Logistics Group. It is ...

(I MEF) and is the "middleweight" global crisis response force.

History

The brigade was stationed at Kaneohe Bay Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) from 1956 (when the 1st Provisional Marine Air Ground Task Force was redesignated as the 1st Marine Brigade), until 30 September 1994, when the brigade was deactivated. In 1960 and again in 1964, the brigade participated in large-scale exercises in Taiwan; and in 1990 the 1st Marine Expeditionary Brigade deployed to Southwest Asia during Operation Desert Shield. From 1956 to 1985 while at Kaneohe MCAS, (now known as Marine Corps Base Hawaii), the unit was designated as the 1st Marine Brigade. From 1985 until 1988, the brigade was designated as the 1st Marine Amphibious Brigade and was then redesignated as the 1st Marine Expeditionary Brigade.Hoffman, Jon T. ''USMC: A Complete History.'' Marine Corps Association, Quantico, VA. 2002. pp. 512, 527, 541, 545, 634, and 641. From 1971, in addition to the Brigade Headquarters Group as its

Command Element In the United States Marine Corps, the command element (CE) is the command and control force of a Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF). It provides C3I for the MAGTF. __TOC__ Role within the MAGTF The Command Element (CE), a headquarters unit ...

(CE), the 1st Marine Brigade consisted of the

3rd Marine Regiment The 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment is a regiment of the United States Marine Corps that is optimized for littoral maneuver in the Indo-Pacific Theater. Based at Marine Corps Base Hawaii, the regiment falls under the command of the 3rd Marine Divisi ...

(from 1956 until 1965 the

4th Marine Regiment The 4th Marine Regiment is an infantry regiment of the United States Marine Corps. Based at Camp Schwab in Okinawa, Japan, it is part of the 3rd Marine Division of the III Marine Expeditionary Force. Mission Close with and destroy the enemy by fi ...

filled this role in the brigade) as its Ground Combat Element (GCE),

Marine Aircraft Group 24 Marine Aircraft Group 24 (MAG-24) is a United States Marine Corps aviation unit based at Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay. MAG-24 is subordinate to the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing and the III Marine Expeditionary Force (III MEF). Mission Pro ...

(MAG-24) as its Aviation Combat Element (ACE), and a Brigade Service Support Group (BSSG) as it Logistics Combat Element (LCE).

Organization

Battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions are ...

equivalent

Headquarters & Service Company A headquarters and service company is a company-sized military unit, found at the battalion and regimental level in the U.S. Marine Corps. The U.S. Army equivalent unit is the headquarters and headquarters company. In identifying a specific hea ...

organization, formed of

companies A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared go ...

/ detachments sourced from the parent MEF HQ Group and staff, and with the Deputy MEF Commander as the MEB Commander. * Ground Combat Element (GCE)-

Regimental Combat Team A regimental combat team (RCT) is a provisional major infantry unit which has seen use by branches of the United States Armed Forces. It is formed by augmenting a regular infantry regiment with smaller combat, combat support and combat service ...

(RCT) consisting of a reinforced Marine Infantry Regiment. * Aviation Combat Element (ACE)- Marine Aircraft Group (MAG), consisting of a combination of rotary-wing, tiltrotor, and/or fixed wing aircraft squadrons/detachments and aviation support squadrons/detachments, capable of conducting all six functions of

Marine aviation Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military * ...

including offensive air support,

assault support Assault Support is one of the six functions of United States Marine Corps aviation and comprises those actions required to airlift personnel, supplies or equipment into or within a battle area by helicopters or fixed-wing aircraft. It provides th ...

electronic warfare Electronic warfare (EW) is any action involving the use of the electromagnetic spectrum (EM spectrum) or directed energy to control the spectrum, attack an enemy, or impede enemy assaults. The purpose of electronic warfare is to deny the opponen ...

, control of aircraft and missiles,

anti-air warfare Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes Surface-to-air m ...

and

aerial reconnaissance Aerial reconnaissance is reconnaissance for a military or strategic purpose that is conducted using reconnaissance aircraft. The role of reconnaissance can fulfil a variety of requirements including artillery spotting, the collection of ima ...

. * Logistics Combat Element (LCE)- Combat Logistics Regiment (CLR), consisting of anywhere from 1 to 3 Combat Logistics Battalions (CLB) and capable of providing full-spectrum

Combat Service Support The term combat service support (or CSS) is utilized by numerous military organizations throughout the world to describe entities that provide direct and indirect sustainment services to the groups that engage (or are potentially to be engaged) ...

to all elements of the MEB.

References

;Web
1st Marine Expeditionary Brigade's official websiteArchived
2013-06-21)

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GlobalSecurity.org
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History

Organization

See also

References