The Fleet Marine Force, Pacific (FMFPAC) is the largest maritime landing force in the world. Its units are spread across the Pacific Ocean and reports to the

United States Pacific Command The United States Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM) is the unified combatant command of the United States Armed Forces responsible for the Indo-Pacific, Indo-Pacific region. It is the oldest and largest of the unified combatant commands. Lead ...

. It is headquartered at MCB Camp H. M. Smith, HI 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 3rd, 5th, and 7th Fleet and the Marine Corps Forces, Pacific (MARFORPAC). The Commanding General of Marine Corps Forces, Pacific is dual-posted as the Commanding General of Fleet Marine Force, Pacific. FMFPAC is under operational control of the Commander,

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� ...

(COMPACFLT), when deployed. FMFPAC was established by General 'Howling Mad' Smith in 1944 to assume command of very large Marine forces in the

Pacific theatre of World War II The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War or the Pacific Theatre, was the Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II fought between the Empire of Japan and the Allies of World War II, Allies in East Asia, East and Southeast As ...

, of the order of 500,000. Since then, the forces commanded by FMFPAC have been the largest field command in the Marine Corps, representing two-thirds of its combat strength.

History

The provisional administrative headquarters of Fleet Marine Force, Pacific, was established on 12 June 1944 as the reformation of the V Amphibious Corps, and it formally was designated as Headquarters Fleet Marine Force, Pacific, on 17 September 1944. On 12 July of the same year, Holland Smith became Commanding General, Fleet Marine Force, Pacific, after being appointed by Admiral

Chester Nimitz Chester William Nimitz (; 24 February 1885 – 20 February 1966) was a Fleet admiral (United States), fleet admiral in the United States Navy. He played a major role in the naval history of World War II as Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet, Co ...

, the commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet.MARINE CORPS FORCES PACIFIC
Marine Corps University. Published 15 September 2006. Retrieved 28 September 2023. The force grew to a strength of six divisions and five aircraft wings by the end of the war. The preceding units of the Fleet Marine Force, Pacific, were mainly from the original Fleet Marine Force, established on 7 December 1933 by the Secretary of the Navy, Claude A. Swanson.Swanson, Claude A. (7 December 1933)
The Fleet Marine Force
Marine Corps University. Retrieved 1 October 2023. It consisted of two brigades, one on the East Coast in

Quantico, Virginia Quantico (; formerly Potomac) is a town in southeastern Prince William County, Virginia, United States. The population was 578 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Quantico is approximately 35 miles southwest of Washington, D.C., bound ...

, and one on the West Coast in

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

.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 was reduced to a training command in the continental United States during the war, while two amphibious forces, one in the Atlantic and one in the Pacific, were created as field commands. In 1943 the Amphibious Corps, Pacific Fleet, became V Amphibious Corps. In the spring of 1944, the commander of V Amphibious Corps had his role expanded to cover the III Amphibious Corps as well, and this position developed into the Headquarters, Fleet Marine Force, Pacific, in September 1944. FMFPAC was created as a U.S. Navy type command responsible for organizing, training, and supporting Marine forces in the Pacific Fleet, as well as advising the Commander of the Pacific Fleet on all matters related to the Marine Corps. In December 1946, the

Fleet Marine Force, Atlantic 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 and directs and commands all the subordinate elements of the Navy Expedit ...

(FMFLANT) was created as the East Coast counterpart to FMFPAC. In July 1992, the Marine Corps established two service component commands to geographic unified combatant commands, including the U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Pacific (MARFORPAC). Since then, the Commander, MARFORPAC, has been dual-hatted as the Commanding General, FMFPAC. Marine units from FMFPAC were deployed to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

during the

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led Nationalist government, government of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the forces of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Armed conflict continued intermitt ...

, and participated in the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

and the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. It also sent units to fight in

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

, because before 2005 the area covered by the U.S. Central Command was in the jurisdiction of FMFPAC. The head of MARFORPAC and FMFPAC was also nominally the Commander, U.S. Marine Corps Forces Central Command (MARCENT), from 1992 until 2005, when that role was given to the commanding general,

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 ...

.Dawson, David A. (12 May 2010)
The Evolution of U.S. Central Command from Operational to Strategic Headquarters

U.S. Army War College The United States Army War College (USAWC) is a United States Army, U.S. Army staff college in Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, with a Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Carlisle postal address, on the 500-acre (2 km2) campus of the historic Carlisle B ...

– p. 28. Retrieved 29 September 2023.

Organization

Reporting directly to the Commanding General, Fleet Marine Force, Pacific (CG FMFPAC) are the Commanding Generals of two Marine Expeditionary Forces ( I MEF and III MEF), the Commanding Generals of two Marine Expeditionary Brigades (

1st MEB 1st Marine Expeditionary Brigade (1st MEB) was a formation most recently assigned to I Marine Expeditionary Force (I MEF). First established as 1st Brigade (1901-1914), the brigade has also been activated as 1st Marine Brigade (1947-1949), 1st Pr ...

and 3rd MEB), and the Commanding Officers of four Marine Expeditionary Units ( 11th, 13th, 15th, and 31st MEUs). The Commanding General, I MEF, exercises operational control over the

1st Marine Division The 1st Marine Division (1st MARDIV) is a Marine (military), Marine Division (military), division of the United States Marine Corps headquartered at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. It is the ground combat element of the I Marine E ...

, the

3rd Marine Aircraft Wing The 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (abbreviated as 3rd MAW) is the major west coast aviation unit of the United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, ...

, and the

1st Marine Logistics Group The 1st Marine Logistics Group (1st MLG) is a logistics unit of the United States Marine Corps and is headquartered at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, with several subordinate elements located at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma and ...

, while the Commanding General, III MEF, exercises operational control over the 3d Marine Division, the

1st Marine Aircraft Wing The 1st Marine Aircraft Wing is an aviation unit of the United States Marine Corps that serves as the Aviation Combat Element of the III Marine Expeditionary Force. The wing is headquartered at Camp Foster on the island of Okinawa Island, Okina ...

, and the 3rd Marine Logistics Group.

Hierarchy of Fleet Marine Force units

Commander, United States Pacific Fleet (COMPACFLT)

Camp H. M. Smith
Aiea, Hawaii Commander_United_States_Pacific_Fleet_logo

Marine Forces, Pacific (MARFORPAC)

Marine Forces, Central (MARCENT)

Marine Forces, Korea (MARFORK)

List of commanders

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