The

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Fleet Marine Forces (FMF) are combined general- and special-purpose forces within the United States

Department of the Navy Navy Department or Department of the Navy may refer to: * United States Department of the Navy, * Navy Department (Ministry of Defence), in the United Kingdom, 1964-1997 * Confederate States Department of the Navy, 1861-1865 * Department of the ...

that perform offensive amphibious or

expeditionary warfare Expeditionary warfare is a military invasion of a foreign territory, especially away from established bases. Expeditionary forces were in part the antecedent of the modern concept of rapid deployment forces. Traditionally, expeditionary forces w ...

and defensive maritime employment. The Fleet Marine Forces provide the National Command Authority (NCA) with a responsive force that can conduct operations in any spectrum of conflict around the globe.

Organization

The Fleet Marine Forces (FMF) consists of Marine Corps' operating forces components that constitute the Fleet Marine Forces on the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

and

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

coasts, or within its "designate(s)". While the FMF is a Marine Corps organization, the FMF is a type command under the operational control of Navy fleet commanders; the Commandant of the Marine Corps (CMC) retains administrative and training control. The Commanding General of the Fleet Marine Force; either its Pacific (CG FMFPAC) or Atlantic (CG FMFLANT) command, are responsible for the administration and training of all of the subordinate units of the Marine Corps Forces (MARCORFOR). The subordinate units of the Fleet Marine Forces come under the operational control of the commanders,

U.S. Fleet Forces Command The United States Fleet Forces Command (USFF) is a service component command of the United States Navy that provides naval forces to a wide variety of U.S. forces. The naval resources may be allocated to Combatant Commanders such as United Stat ...

(formerly Atlantic Fleet) or

United States Pacific Fleet The United States Pacific Fleet (USPACFLT) is a theater-level component command of the United States Navy, located in the Pacific Ocean. It provides naval forces to the Indo-Pacific Command. Fleet headquarters is at Joint Base Pearl Harbor� ...

, when deployed. The commanders of Marine Forces Command (MARFORCOM) and

(MARFORPAC) serve as Marine Corps component commanders to their respective combatant commanders and may also serve as commanding generals of Fleet Marine Forces (FMFs) Atlantic, or Pacific. The operating forces of the Marine Corps are currently organized into two Fleet Marine Forces (FMF): * Fleet Marine Force, Pacific (FMFPAC) with headquarters in

Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island o ...

Fleet Marine Force, Atlantic Fleet Marine Force, Atlantic (FMFLANT) is an American maritime landing force that is spread across the Atlantic Ocean. It is headquartered at Naval Station Norfolk and directs and commands all the subordinate elements of the Navy Expeditiona ...

(FMFLANT) with headquarters in

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...

. Each FMF is equivalent to a U.S. Navy type command and reports to its respective Fleet Commander-in-Chief. The commanding general—a lieutenant general—may be either an aviator or a ground officer. His deputy commanding general is from the other community. Marine Corps forces are organized into warfighting units of combined arms known as

Marine Air Ground Task Force Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF, pronounced MAG-TAF) is a term used by the United States Marine Corps to describe the principal organization for all missions across the range of military operations. MAGTFs are a balanced air-ground, combined ar ...

s (MAGTFs) and are either employed as part of naval expeditionary forces or separately as part of larger joint or combined forces. Each FMF consists of at least one Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF) consisting of at least one Marine Division (MARDIV), one Marine Aircraft Wing (MAW), one

Marine Logistics Group This is a list of United States Marine Corps logistics groups: See also * List of United States Marine Corps divisions * List of United States Marine Corps aircraft wings This is a list of United States Marine Corps aircraft wings: Active ...

(MLG) (formerly the Force Service Support Group (FSSG)), and an MEF Information Group. Other miscellaneous supporting units may be attached. In addition to one or more MEF(s), each FMF is further organized into one or more intermediate-sized MAGTFs called Marine Expeditionary Brigades (MEBs) and smaller MAGTFs called

Marine Expeditionary Unit A Marine expeditionary unit (MEU, pronounced as one syllable "" IPA: ) is the smallest air-ground task force (MAGTF) in the United States Fleet Marine Force.Advanced Base Force The United States Marine Corps's Advanced Base Force (Advance Base Force in some references) was a coastal and naval base defense force that was designed to set up mobile and fixed bases in the event of major landing operations within, and beyo ...

in the early 20th century. The history of the FMF dates to December 7, 1933, when

Secretary of the Navy The secretary of the Navy (or SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department (component organization) within the United States Department of Defense. By law, the se ...

Claude A. Swanson issued General Order 241 defining the Fleet Marine Force. Claude A. Swanson,

br>The Fleet Marine Force, General Order No. 241
(

Norfolk, VA Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Bea ...

: Dept. of the Navy, December 7, 1933). Momentarily before and during World War II, the Fleet Marine Force had FMF units also in western Pacific assigned to the

United States Asiatic Fleet The United States Asiatic Fleet was a fleet of the United States Navy during much of the first half of the 20th century. Before World War II, the fleet patrolled the Philippine Islands. Much of the fleet was destroyed by the Japanese by Februar ...

, establishing the Fleet Marine Force, Western Pacific (FMFWestPac).

Navy personnel in the Fleet Marine Forces

Fleet Marine Force Enlisted Warfare Specialist Device

For service in the Fleet Marine Force, the

United States Department of the Navy The United States Department of the Navy (DoN) is one of the three military departments within the Department of Defense of the United States of America. It was established by an Act of Congress on 30 April 1798, at the urging of Secretary o ...

issues the FMF Enlisted Warfare Specialist Insignia and the FMF Qualified Officer Insignia (formerly, the Fleet Marine Force Ribbon was issued). Navy Fleet Marine Force personnel, usually

Corpsmen A hospital corpsman (HM r corpsman is an enlisted medical specialist of the United States Navy, who may also serve in a U.S. Marine Corps unit. The corresponding rating within the United States Coast Guard is health services technician (HS) ...

Religious Program Specialist Religious program specialist (RP) is a United States Navy rating. Religious program specialists assist naval chaplains in their duties as well as provide support to naval chaplains in developing programs to meet the needs of U.S. Navy sailors, ...

s or Naval Gunfire Liaison Officers who participate in amphibious assaults, are also eligible to receive the FMF Combat Operations Insignia to certain service medals and ribbons. Such Navy personnel are authorized to wear the Marine Corps utility uniform with Navy insignia, and must conform to all physical requirements of the U.S. Marines.

References

External links

* http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1989/SJH.htm * http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1995/MJS.htm {{authority control United States Marine Corps organization Military units and formations of the United States Navy