The 4th Marine Expeditionary Brigade was a brigade-sized unit of the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

that was designed specifically to be an anti-terrorism unit. The mission of this unit was to be a quickly deployable unit to wherever needed in the world so they could fight

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

and deter, detect and defend from terrorist groups both domestically and internationally. The unit became operational on 29 October 2001,Pike, John, "4th Marine Expeditionary Brigade (Antiterrorism)", Global Security.org and was deactivated in February 2006. A Marine Expeditionary Brigade (MEB) is a smaller brigade of Marines that can deploy quickly when they are needed.Traynham, Sgt. Stephen L., "4th MEB to deactivate", II Marine Expeditionary Force, U.S. Marine Corps website All ''Marine Expeditionary Brigades'' are a part of a Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF). The reason a MEB exists is that they are large enough to support themselves without needing help from local

infrastructure Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and priv ...

. They are also small enough to transport easily, especially in amphibious mechanized

landing craft Landing craft are small and medium seagoing watercraft, such as boats and barges, used to convey a landing force (infantry and vehicles) from the sea to the shore during an amphibious assault. The term excludes landing ships, which are larger. Pr ...

. The 4th MEB was specifically trained to find and stop terrorist plots so civilians and other active military personnel stay safe. There are different types of MEBs, and not all are anti-terrorism, like the 4th Marine Expeditionary Brigade. The MEBs are designed so no matter what mission comes up, there is always a force that can handle that specific situation effectively.

History

150px, James G. Harbord commanded the 4th Marine Brigade in France 1918. The 4th Brigade was originally formed during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

as the 4th ''Marine Brigade''. It served in France as one of the two infantry brigades of the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

2nd Infantry Division and all Marine combat units in World War I were organized under the 4th Marine Brigade. The 4th fought actions at Belleau Wood,

Soissons Soissons () is a commune in the northern French department of Aisne, in the region of Hauts-de-France. Located on the river Aisne, about northeast of Paris, it is one of the most ancient towns of France, and is probably the ancient capital ...

, and Meuse-Argonne campaign. Following

, the brigade was deactivated until just before the commitment to the

war in Vietnam The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

in 1964 when it was activated as the 4th ''Marine Amphibious Brigade'' and deployed to the East Coast and Caribbean for counterinsurgency exercises. It participated in the intervention in the Dominican Republic in 1965. In the 1970s, the 4th MAB's task changed from counter-terrorism to defending NATO's north flank against the Soviet Union. It was designated to reinforce Norwegian airfields and support a naval campaign to protect Norway. The next major operation for the 4th Marine Amphibious Brigade was going to the Middle East for Operation

Desert Shield The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...

and

Desert Storm The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

in the 1990s. The main mission performed by the 4th MAB was

Operation Eastern Exit Operation Eastern Exit was the codename given to the military evacuation of the United States embassy in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, in January 1991. In late December 1990, violence quickly enveloped the city as armed militants began cl ...

during which the brigade rescued the Soviet ambassador, the U.S. ambassador, and 300 other dignitaries from

Mogadishu, Somalia Mogadishu (, also ; so, Muqdisho or ; ar, مقديشو ; it, Mogadiscio ), locally known as Xamar or Hamar, is the capital and List of cities in Somalia by population, most populous city of Somalia. The city has served as an important port ...

. After a period of deactivation, the 4th Brigade was reactivated as the 4th ''Marine Expeditionary Brigade'' (Anti-Terrorism) on 29 October 2001 at ceremonies held at

Camp Lejeune, North Carolina Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune () is a United States military training facility in Jacksonville, North Carolina. Its of beaches make the base a major area for amphibious assault training, and its location between two deep-water ports ( Wilmingt ...

Jones, 1st Lt. Charlie, "Marine Corps Brigade Reactivation", News Release, USMC, 4th MEB Public Information Office"Commandant activates 4th Marine Expeditionary Brigade", News Release, USMC, Camp Lejeune Public Information OfficeLynch, pp. 1–11 to combat domestic and international terrorism.Polmar (2005), p. 42.

Organization

The organization of the 4th MEB was a unit designed to work independently, but also trained to work with other Marine units. This unit was organized with a couple of other units like th
Chemical, Biological Incident Response Force (CBIRF)
Being paired with this and many other units like the security force battalion broadened the range of response circumstances that the 4th MEB could respond to. With all of the assets the 4th MEB had, it made them very deadly and able to perform the job extremely well. When a mission came up the MEB team could be paired with almost any other unit in the Marines like aviation and ground forces so the mission would have a greater chance of success. The way the Marine Corps set up its forces like the MEB is by having them be part of larger task forces. The category that MEB falls into is Marine air-ground task force (MAGTF) which means they operate both in the air and on the ground. This MAGTF is then subdivided with the Marine Expeditionary Forces (MEF) being the largest of the three subdivisions. The medium-sized one is the Marine Expeditionary Brigade and the smallest is the Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU). This makes the Marine Expeditionary Force a good size, with about 4,800 Marines and Sailors, because it is large enough to sustain itself for long periods but can also send smaller units on patrol."4th Marine Expeditionary Brigade (Anti-terrorism)", USMC pdf The 4th MEB Marines went through extensive training to become part of the anti-terrorism team. The main goal of their training was to learn urban combat tactics. An example was when the team went through BUST, which is Basic Urban Skills Training. The goal of this course is to better train soldiers to be safer when they're in urban environments and perform breaching and other tactics used in urban combat. This training helped the anti-terrorism group become better at eliminating their targets so there were fewer terrorism threats.Higgins, Sgt. Joshua S., 4th MEB focuses on MOUT", News Release, USMC, Camp Lejeune Public Information Office They also go through normal marine boot camp like all Marines must go through. Also, they must train with other units they are paired with like Chemical, Biological Incident Response Force. They do this so if the need arises they are prepared for whatever circumstances could arise. This is extremely important to do because if the units aren’t trained together and they are needed in a time of war the mission could go badly and there would be a larger chance for loss of life.

Awards

On 26 July 2002, the 4th MEB became the first regular military unit to ever receive the Department of State Group Superior Honor Award for the hard work and dedication of its Marines and sailors during

Operation Enduring Freedom Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) was the official name used synonymously by the U.S. government for both the War in Afghanistan (2001–2014) and the larger-scale Global War on Terrorism. On 7 October 2001, in response to the September 11 at ...

. The award recognized Company K, 4th MEB (AT) for outstanding service while stationed at the American Embassy in

Kabul, Afghanistan Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

."Yearly Chronologies of the United States Marine Corps - 2002", U.S. Marine Corps History Division

Notes

;Citations ;References used * * * * * * * * * {{refend

External links

U.S. Marine Corps official website
Brigades of the United States Marine Corps

History

Organization

Awards

See also

Notes

External links