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Maj. Gen. Jay Bargeron (front center), United States Marine Corps, poses with III Marine Expeditionary Force and Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG) 7 leadership and staff following a Warfare Commanders Conference, October 5. The conference, hosted by ESG 7, provided direction and guidance for forward-deployed force employment and for the leadership and staffs to coordinate warfighting concepts and best practices of expeditionary strike group operations. - Maj. Gen. Jay Bargeron (front center), United States Marine Corps, poses with III Marine Expeditionary Force and Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG) 7 leadership and staff following a Warfare Commanders Conference, October 5. The conference, hosted by ESG 7, provided direction and guidance for forward-deployed force employment and for the leadership and staffs to coordinate warfighting concepts and best practices of expeditionary strike group operations.

ESG 7 Hosts Warfare Commander’s Conference, discusses future concepts of Naval Integration

KADENA AIR FORCE BASE, Okinawa, Japan- Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG) 7/Task Force (CTF) 76, hosted a warfare commanders conference October 4-5.

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U.S. Marines with 3rd Law Enforcement (LE) Battalion, III Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF) Information Group (MIG) shake hands after the deactivation ceremony of 3rd LE Battalion at Camp Hansen, Okinawa, Japan, Oct. 1, 2021. The battalion deactivated as part of Force Design 2030, which redirects the Marine Corps’ mission focus from countering violent extremists in the Middle East to great power/peer-level competition, with special emphasis on the Indo-Pacific region. III MIG functions as the vanguard of III MEF, operating in the Indo-Pacific region’s information environment, and supports MAGTF operations with communications, intelligence, and supporting arms liaison capabilities. (U.S. Marine Corps Photo by Lance Cpl. Manuel Alvarado) - U.S. Marines with 3rd Law Enforcement (LE) Battalion, III Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF) Information Group (MIG) shake hands after the deactivation ceremony of 3rd LE Battalion at Camp Hansen, Okinawa, Japan, Oct. 1, 2021. The battalion deactivated as part of Force Design 2030, which redirects the Marine Corps’ mission focus from countering violent extremists in the Middle East to great power/peer-level competition, with special emphasis on the Indo-Pacific region. III MIG functions as the vanguard of III MEF, operating in the Indo-Pacific region’s information environment, and supports MAGTF operations with communications, intelligence, and supporting arms liaison capabilities. (U.S. Marine Corps Photo by Lance Cpl. Manuel Alvarado)

III MEF Information Group says farewell to 3rd Law Enforcement Battalion

The Marines of 3rd Law Enforcement Battalion, III Marine Expeditionary Force Information Group unfurled their colors for the last time during the unit’s deactivation ceremony aboard Camp Hansen Oct. 1, 2021.

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U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Jenkyn Kittrell and Gunnery Sgt. Luis Feliciano received recognition from the III Marine Expeditionary Force Commanding General, Lt. Gen. H. Stacy Clardy, III on Camp Courtney, Okinawa, Japan, Sept. 15, 2021. The Marines were a part of a group that participated in the Big Ideas Challenge. Their ideas will help pave the way for innovation in the Marine Corps. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Stephanie Varela) - U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Jenkyn Kittrell and Gunnery Sgt. Luis Feliciano received recognition from the III Marine Expeditionary Force Commanding General, Lt. Gen. H. Stacy Clardy, III on Camp Courtney, Okinawa, Japan, Sept. 15, 2021. The Marines were a part of a group that participated in the Big Ideas Challenge. Their ideas will help pave the way for innovation in the Marine Corps. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Stephanie Varela)

Okinawa III MEF Marines receive recognition for Big Ideas

CAMP COURTNEY, OKINAWA, Japan – The second annual Big Ideas Challenge concluded with an awards ceremony held virtually between Okinawa, mainland Japan, and Hawaii on September 15th, 2021. Lt. Gen. H. Stacy Clardy, III, the III Marine Expeditionary Force Commanding General, awarded Maj. Jenkyn Kittrell and GySgt. Luis Feliciano for their submissions.

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U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Micheala Restuvog, the career planner with III Marine Expeditionary Force Support Battalion, poses for a photo on Camp Courtney, Okinawa, Japan, Aug. 17, 2021. Restuvog has served as a career planner for many years now impacting Marines' lives on a daily basis. (U.S. Marine Corps photo/ illustration by Cpl. Francesca Landis) - U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Micheala Restuvog, the career planner with III Marine Expeditionary Force Support Battalion, poses for a photo on Camp Courtney, Okinawa, Japan, Aug. 17, 2021. Restuvog has served as a career planner for many years now impacting Marines' lives on a daily basis. (U.S. Marine Corps photo/ illustration by Cpl. Francesca Landis)

Retention – It’s more than just maintaining

Ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum, you feel your heart beat and you take a deep breath, your hands are shaking from both excitement and nervousness. “Sign here,” you hear a voice in front of you say. “Congratulations on your next four years with the Marine Corps.” “I remember having to sign that contract the very first time,” said Sgt. Micheala Restuvog, the career planner with III Marine Expeditionary Force Support Battalion. “Every time a contract gets pulled out, my heart starts beating for them. Like, oh my God, are you ready?”

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MRF-D brings the HIRAIN to Exercise Loobye

Bradshaw Field Training Area, NT, Australia — The sun rises over the hot, harsh outback, hundreds of miles south of Darwin. On any other day, the sight would be simply calm and quiet, but today on the notional “Bradshaw Island,” a simulated enemy target is about to meet its end in a unique demonstration of expeditionary, precision-strike operations by the United States Marine Corps and Australian Defence Force together.

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III Marine Expeditionary Force depicts their Osprey through a graphic illustration, on Okinawa, Japan, August 19, 2021. This graphic illustration was created using Adobe Illustrator. (U.S. Marine Corps graphic by Lance Cpl. Stephanie Varela) - III Marine Expeditionary Force depicts their Osprey through a graphic illustration, on Okinawa, Japan, August 19, 2021. This graphic illustration was created using Adobe Illustrator. (U.S. Marine Corps graphic by Lance Cpl. Stephanie Varela)

Osprey’s: Taking III MEF to the Next Level

On Dec. 17, 1903, the Wright brothers made history by successfully flying the first airplane. A few years later, on Nov. 13, 1907, Paul Cronu became the first man to successfully fly a twin rotorcraft. Fast forward to March 19, 1989, Bell pilot, Dorman Canon, and Boeing pilot, Dick Balzer, conducted the first ever Osprey flight.

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210623-M-TS451-2483 PHILIPPINE SEA - A U.S. Marine with Force Reconnaissance Platoon, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), observes the Philippine Sea while in route to the USS Germantown (LSD 42) to conduct a Maritime Interdiction Operation (MIO) training exercise June 24, 2021. The MIO consisted of Force Reconnaissance Marines fast roping on to the USS Germantown and executing a search and seizure scenario with support from the Battalion Landing Team 3/5 as the security element. The 31st MEU is operating aboard ships of the America Amphibious Ready Group in the 7th fleet area of operation to enhance interoperability with allies and partners and serve as a ready response force to defend peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Karis Mattingly) - 210623-M-TS451-2483 PHILIPPINE SEA - A U.S. Marine with Force Reconnaissance Platoon, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), observes the Philippine Sea while in route to the USS Germantown (LSD 42) to conduct a Maritime Interdiction Operation (MIO) training exercise June 24, 2021. The MIO consisted of Force Reconnaissance Marines fast roping on to the USS Germantown and executing a search and seizure scenario with support from the Battalion Landing Team 3/5 as the security element. The 31st MEU is operating aboard ships of the America Amphibious Ready Group in the 7th fleet area of operation to enhance interoperability with allies and partners and serve as a ready response force to defend peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.

U.S. 7th Fleet and III MEF Partnership in Indo-Pacific

YOKOSUKA, Japan (June 18, 2021) – For decades, the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps have worked to integrate, operate, and synchronize their efforts in the Indo-Pacific region. U.S. 7th Fleet and III Marine Expeditionary Force (III MEF) have joined forces in execution of numerous operations, focused on enhancing the capabilities of the Blue/Green Team.

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U.S. Marine Corps Master Gunnery Sgt. Ronald Thomas, the distribution management chief with III Marine Expeditionary Force, receives the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal on June 15, 2021. - U.S. Marine Corps Master Gunnery Sgt. Ronald Thomas, the distribution management chief with III Marine Expeditionary Force, receives the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal on June 15, 2021. Thomas and his wife, Master Sgt. Sara Thomas, the G-2 plans chief with III MEF, received medals for their heroic actions at Ta-Taki Falls on Sept. 13, 2020. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Natalie Greenwood)

Marines awarded for Ta-Taki Falls flash flood rescue

U.S. Marine Corps Master Gunnery Sgt. Ronald Thomas and Master Sgt. Sara Thomas received Navy Marine Corps Commendation Medals on June 15, 2021, for their heroic actions in rescuing over a dozen people, including Okinawa residents, during heavy flooding near Ta-Taki Falls.

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The Marine Corps Logistics Organization of the Year for Innovation: III MEF Logistics Innovation Cell

III Marine Expeditionary Force Logistics Innovation Cell won the Marine Corps Logistics Organization of the Year for Innovation in June 2021. The award is open to all Marine Corps units and personnel that have demonstrated an outstanding contribution in a logistics field through development or advancement of concepts, doctrine, technology or procedures that contribute to the improvement of modern logistic practices.

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U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Jonathan Fico, a fire support Marine with 5th Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company, III Marine Expeditionary Force Information Group, assists in establishing an observation post during an exercise near Camp Hansen, Okinawa, Japan, April 21, 2021. - U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Jonathan Fico, a fire support Marine with 5th Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company, III Marine Expeditionary Force Information Group, assists in establishing an observation post during an exercise near Camp Hansen, Okinawa, Japan, April 21, 2021. The training allowed 15th Brigade forces to study tactical communication, maneuver and fires increasing interoperability between the two countries. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Brienna Tuck)