The 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 Naval Station Norfolk is a United States Navy base in Norfolk, Virginia, that is the headquarters and home port of the U.S. Navy's Fleet Forces Command. The installation occupies about of waterfront space and of pier and wharf space of the Ham ...

and directs and commands all the subordinate elements of the Navy Expeditionary Strike Force and

Marine Air-Ground Task Force 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 current power * Marine debris * Marine energy * Marine habitats * ...

components that follow under the

2nd A second is the base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI). Second, Seconds, The Second, or (The) 2nd may also refer to: Mathematics * 2 (number), as an ordinal (also written as ''2nd'' or ''2d'') * Minute and second of arc, ...

(Disestablished and merged with US Fleet Forces Command on 30 September 2011), 4th, and 6th Fleet and the Marine Forces Command (MarForCom). The Commanding General of Marine Forces Command is dual-posted as the Commanding General of the Fleet Marine Force, Atlantic. FMFLANT is under operational control of the Commander-in-Chief,

United States Fleet Forces Command The United States Fleet Forces Command (USFFC) 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 Sta ...

, when deployed.

History

The Fleet Marine Force, Atlantic, traces its history to the

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 beyon ...

, created in the early 1900s. In the early 1920s, the Marine Corps began developing the advanced base doctrine from a defensive posture to one that included offensive amphibious operations. The units of the Advanced Base Force became the East Coast Expeditionary Force in 1921, during the reforms made to the Marine Corps structure by Commandant John Lejeune, to emphasize the more offensive nature of its potential operations. As the expeditionary warfare concept developed, in December 1933 the Fleet Marine Force was established,Swanson, Claude A. (7 December 1933)
The Fleet Marine Force
Marine Corps University. Retrieved 6 October 2023. with one brigade at Quantico, Virginia, and one in San Diego, California.Heinl, R.D., Jr. (November 1947)
The U. S. Marine Corps: Author of Modern Amphibious War
Proceedings of the United States Naval Institute, Vol. 73/11/537. In 1941, the Fleet Marine Force became a training command and two field commands, the Amphibious Corps, Atlantic Fleet, and Amphibious Corps, Pacific Fleet, were created.Garand, George W.; Strobridge, Truman R. (1971)
Western Pacific Operations: History of U.S. Marine Corps Operations in World War II (Volume IV)
Marine Corps History Division – pp. 19–23. Retrieved 6 October 2023. The Basic Post-War Plan No. 2 was issued on 22 March 1946, which divided the Marine Corps into two Fleet Marine Force components: Atlantic (FMFLANT) and Pacific (FMFPAC). The Fleet Marine Force, Atlantic, was activated with the commander of the 2nd Marine Division as its acting commanding general, and under the operational control of the Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet, on 16 December 1946. Its first headquarters was Camp Lejeune in

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

, before being moved to

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...

, in March 1947. On 13 July 1992, FMFLANT became part of Marine Corps Forces, Atlantic (MARFORLANT), which was renamed U.S. Marine Corps Forces Command (MARFORCOM) on 30 December 2005. From 1980, the commanding general of Fleet Marine Force, Atlantic, was also the designated head of Fleet Marine Force, Europe, which became Marine Corps Forces Europe (MARFOREUR) in 1994. In the early 1990s, the post also became the designated commander of Marine Corps Forces South (MARFORSOUTH). These were both "designate" headquarters, meaning they only had a minimal staff during peacetime that would become a larger full service component command only during operations. Commanding General, Fleet Marine Force, Atlantic, was nominally the commander of both. In 2008, MARFOREUR became a separate organization with its own dedicated commander,Major General Cornell A. Wilson
U.S. Marines. Retrieved 5 October 2023. and MARFORSOUTH did so in 2015.Hodge Seck, Hope (30 June 2015)
1-star becomes first dedicated commander of Marine Forces South
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Military Times Sightline Media Group, formerly Gannett Government Media and Army Times Publishing Company, is a United States company that publishes newspapers, magazines, websites, and other publications about the U.S. and other militaries. The company's '' ...

''. Retrieved 22 September 2023. From 1980 to 1997, the commanding general of FMFLANT also was the commanding general of

II Marine Expeditionary Force The II Marine Expeditionary Force (II MEF) is a Marine Air-Ground Task Force consisting of ground, air and logistics forces capable of projecting offensive combat power ashore while sustaining itself in combat without external assistance for a ...

Organization

Reporting directly to the Commanding General, Fleet Marine Force, Atlantic (CG FMFLANT) are the Commanding General, II Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF), the Commanding General, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade (MEB), and the Commanding Officers of three Marine Expeditionary Units (22d, 24th, 26th MEUs). The Commanding General, II MEF, exercises operational control over the 2d Marine Division, the 2d Marine Aircraft Wing, and the 2d Marine Logistics Group.

Hierarchy of Fleet Marine Force units

Naval Support Activity
Norfolk, Virginia Seal of the Commander of the United States Fleet Forces Command

Marine Forces Command (MARFORCOM)

Marine Forces, South (MARFORSOUTH)

Marine Forces, Europe (MARFOREUR)

List of commanders

History

* East Coast Expeditionary Force

References

External links

*http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1989/SJH.htm *http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1995/MJS.htm {{US Navy navbox Military units and formations of the United States Marine Corps de:Fleet Marine Force

History

Organization

Hierarchy of Fleet Marine Force units

Marine Forces Command (MARFORCOM)

Marine Forces, South (MARFORSOUTH)

Marine Forces, Europe (MARFOREUR)

List of commanders

History

See also

References

External links