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III MEF is the nucleus of a joint and coalition Stand-In Force within the First Island Chain. In competition, III MEF assures and expands access for the joint force across the Indo-Pacific. In crisis, it provides in-place response forces to secure allies and partners while deterring adversary aggression. In conflict, III MEF fights from advanced naval bases as part of a naval expeditionary force and enables Joint Force objectives in the Indo-Pacific.
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Marines with Maritime Raid Force fast-rope from a CH-53E Super Stallion during alternate insertion and extraction training.
Staff Sgt. Jacob Rizzo, with Marine Wing Support Squadron (MWSS) 171, Marine Aircraft Group 12, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, fires an M4 carbine.
U.S. Marine Corps private first class and a veteran of the Battle of Iwo Jima, pays respects to fallen comrades at the 80th Reunion of Honor ceremony.
Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 465 prepares to take off during Korean Marine Exchange Program 25.1 at Suwon Air Base, South Korea, March 13, 2025.
Marine with 3d Reconnaissance Battalion, 3d Marine Division sights in during the Korean Marine Exercise Program 25.1.
III Marine Expeditionary Force units disembark the High-Speed Transport ship USNS Guam (T-HST-1) as part of Freedom Banner 25.
NORTHERN LUZON, Philippines – U.S. Marines with 3d Marine Littoral Regiment, 3d Marine Division, deployed to the Philippines in support of Exercise Balikatan 25, scheduled for April 21 to May 9, 2025. During this year’s iteration of the Integrated Air and Missile Defense event (IAMD), one of the 6 Combined Joint All-Domain Operations events scheduled during Balikatan 25, U.S. Marines with 3d Littoral Anti-Air Battalion’s Ground-Based Air Defense Battery (GBAD) will conduct live-fire training with the newly fielded Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS).
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MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII, HAWAII – Since January 14, a platoon of U.S. Marines with 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division has been conducting training on Marine Corps Base Hawaii in preparation for integrating with 3d Marine Littoral Regiment and its subordinate battalions while forward in the Philippines for Exercise Balikatan 25.
IWO TO, JAPAN – Veterans, families, active-duty U.S. Marines and Sailors, Japan Self Defense Force members, and U.S. and Japanese dignitaries gathered for the 80th Annual Reunion of Honor at Iwo To, Japan on March 29. The event, held on the year of the 250th anniversary of the United States Marine Corps, was a memorial to the selfless service, sacrifice, and valor exhibited during the Battle of Iwo Jima.
PHILIPPINE SEA, (March 11, 2025) – As midnight approaches through the warship’s red-lit passageways and inside every busy berthing, the familiar anthem “We Ready” by Archie Evermore blares over the ship’s public address system or 1 Main Circuit (1MC). Capt. Tim Carter, commanding officer of the amphibious transport dock ship, USS San Diego (LPD-22), arrests the speaker system right on cue for his address. Meanwhile, choppy seas gift some sailors and Marines with glazed eyes, upset stomachs, and pounding headaches. Thankfully, the sea sickness is only temporary. Carter zealously declares to those onboard that the ship, its crew, and its embarked Marine Corps landing force is indeed ready for whatever may come as they transit the Indo-Pacific.