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A Marine expeditionary brigade (MEB) is a formation of the United States Marine Corps, a Marine air-ground task force of approximately 14,500 Marines and sailors constructed around a reinforced infantry regiment, a composite Marine aircraft group, a combat logistics regiment and a MEB command group. The MEB, commanded by a general officer (usually a brigadier general), is task-organized to meet the requirements of a specific situation. It can function as part of a joint task force, as the lead echelon of the Marine expeditionary force (MEF), or alone. It varies in size and composition, and is larger than a Marine expeditionary unit (MEU) but smaller than a MEF. The MEB is capable of conducting missions across the full range of military operations.

NATO Map Symbol

Notional Marine expeditionary brigade in 2010

Command element (CE)

MEB command group

• MEB Staff
• Detachment, Communications Battalion
• Detachment, Intelligence Battalion
• Detachment, Law Enforcement Battalion
• Detachment, Radio Battalion
• Detachment, Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company
• Detachment, Force Reconnaissance Company

Ground combat element (GCE)

Regimental Landing Team (RLT) or Regimental Combat Team (RCT)

• Infantry Regiment (w/ 3 Infantry Battalions), Reinforced
• 48 Amphibious Assault Vehicles, AAV-7A1 and variants (1 Amphibious Assault Vehicle Company (Reinforced))
• 27 Light Armored Vehicles, LAV-25A1 and variants (1 Light Armored Reconnaissance Company (Reinforced))
• 14 Main Battle Tank, M1A1, Abrams (1 Tank Company (Reinforced))
• 2 Armored Recovery Vehicle, M88A2, Hercules (1 Tank Company (Reinforced))
• 2 Assault Breacher Vehicle, M1, Shredder (Combat Engineer Company)
• 24 Howitzer, 155 mm, M777A2 (1 Artillery Battalion w/4 firing batteries of 6 guns each)
• 24 Mortar, 81mm, M252 (4 tubes per section, 2 sections per platoon, of the Mortar Platoon, Weapons Company, Infantry Battalion × 3)
• 27 Lightweight Mortar, 60 mm, M224 LWCMS (3 tubes in the Mortar Section of the Weapons Platoon, Rifle company × 3, Infantry Battalion × 3)
• 24 Anti-Tank Missile Launcher, BGM-71, TOW (8 launchers in the TOW Section of the Anti-Tank (AT) Platoon, Weapons Company, Infantry Battalion × 3)
• 24 Anti-Tank Missile Launcher, FGM-148, Javelin (8 launchers in the AT Section of the Anti-Tank Platoon, Weapons Company, Infantry Battalion × 3)
• 18 Automatic Grenade Launcher, 40 mm, Mk 19 (6 guns per Heavy Machine Gun Platoon, Weapons Company, Infantry Battalion × 3)
• 18 Browning Machine Gun, Cal. .50, M2, HB, Flexible (6 guns per Heavy Machine Gun Platoon, Weapons Company, Infantry Battalion × 3)
• 54 Machine Gun, 7.62mm, M240 (6 guns in the Machine Gun Section, Weapons Platoon, Rifle Company × 3, Infantry Battalion × 3)
• 243 Light Machine Gun/Infantry Automatic Rifle, 5.56mm, M249 (9 guns per Rifle Platoon × 3, Rifle Company × 3, Infantry Battalion × 3)

Aviation combat element (ACE)

Composite Marine aircraft group

• Marine Aircraft Group (MAG)
• 45 AV-8B (3 VMA squadrons w/ 15 aircraft each)
• 24 F/A-18 (2 VMFA squadrons w/ 12 aircraft each)
• 5 EA-6B (1 VMAQ squadron w/ 5 aircraft each)
• 6 KC-130 (1 VMGR detachment)
• 32 CH-53E (2 HMH squadrons w/ 16 aircraft each)
• 48 CH-46E or MV-22B (4 HMM or VMM squadrons w/ 12 aircraft each)
• 18 AH-1Z (1 HMLA squadron, each HMLA squadron contains both AH-1 & UH-1 aircraft)
• 9 UH-1Y (1 HMLA squadron, each HMLA squadron contains both AH-1 & UH-1 aircraft)
• 45 Stinger missile teams (1 Low Altitude Air Defense firing battery w/ 3 platoons of 15 Stinger missile teams each)
• 1 Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron (MALS) (Provides Aircraft Intermediate Maintenance, Aviation Supply, and Aviation Ordnance support to aircraft squadrons)
• 1 Marine Wing Support Squadron (MWSS) (Provides Combat Service Support to enable the MAG to perform its aviation mission)
• Other aviation support squadron detachments as required (MACS, MASS, MTACS, MWCS)

Logistics combat element (LCE)

Combat logistics regiment (CLR) (w/ 1 to 3 combat logistics Battalions)

• 1 medium girder bridge
• 6 cranes:
  • 1 30-ton crane
  • 5 7.5-ton cranes
• 2 600k-gal fuel systems
• 44 100-kW generators
• 75 7-ton trucks
• 9 Water purifying units
• 116 forklifts
• 5 bulldozers
• 3 road graders

List of MEBs

• 1st Marine Expeditionary Brigade
• 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade
• 3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade
• 5th Marine Expeditionary Brigade
• 7th Marine Expeditionary Brigade

Historical MEBs

The following MEBs were deployed operationally:

• Task Force Tarawa for the Iraq War
• Task Force Leatherneck for the Afghanistan War
• 9th Marine Expeditionary Brigade for the Vietnam War – deployed March 8, 1965
• 4th Marine Expeditionary Brigade (Anti-Terrorism) for the War on Terror - activated in 29 October 2001 and deactivated in February 2006

Notes

1. Trickey, Wendy R., Robert C. Benbow and David G. Taylor. MEB Capabilities Study (Final Report), (Alexandria, Virginia: Center for Naval Analyses, February 2010), 7.
2. MEB troops to get prestigious valor award, Marine Corps Times, Dan Lamothe, Jun 21, 2012 Archived 2012-06-28 at the Wayback Machine

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