United States Marine Corps Forces Pacific

Infobox Military Unit
unit_name=Marine Forces Pacific


caption=MARFORPAC insignia
dates=
country=United States
allegiance=
branch=USMC
type=
role=
size= 84,000 Marines and sailors
command_structure= United States Pacific Command
current_commander= Keith J. Stalder
garrison=Camp H. M. Smith
ceremonial_chief=
colonel_of_the_regiment=
nickname=
patron=
motto= Forward...from the sea
colors=Marine Corps Colors
march=
mascot=
battles=
notable_commanders=
anniversaries=

Marine Forces Pacific (MarForPac) are the forces from the United States Marine Corps that fall under the United States Pacific Command. It is the largest field command in the Marine Corps. Headquartered at Camp H. M. Smith in Hawaii, it commands all Marine Corps bases and stations in the Pacific and on the West Coast of the United States.

Organization

MarForPac is composed of two Marine Air-Ground Task Forces: the I Marine Expeditionary Force (I MEF) and the III Marine Expeditionary Force (III MEF). Each Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF) is composed of a command element, a ground combat element (GCE) an aviation combat element (ACE) and a logistics combat element (LCE).

Marine Forces Pacfic is composed of Fleet Marine Force units and security and support units. Security units are assigned to the Marine Forces Pacific for ship security, embassy security and Military Police. Support units include establishments, depots, recruiting stations, logistics and other units

Mission

Marine Forces Pacific is responsible for amphibious actions and typical Marine missions in the Pacific Theatre (Indian Ocean, Pacific Ocean, China, Vietnam, Australia...).Marine forces can work in coordination with the other componants of the United States Pacific Command, such as the U.S. Army, Pacific, the U.S. Pacific Fleet, the Pacific Air Forces, Special Operations Commands in the area. Marine Forces Pacific area of operations also covers the Middle East.

Longstanding missions for MarForPac include the defense of South Korea and Japan and also the U.S. West Coast and Alaska. Marine Forces Pacific also provides combat units to support Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. They also have Marine Expeditionary Units embarked to counter threats to the interests of the United States of America.

See also

*United States Pacific Command
*U.S. Marine Forces Central Command

Notes

References

*cite web|url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/usmc/marforpac.htm |accessdate=2007-03-15
title=Marine Forces Pacific (MarForPac)
publisher=GlobalSecurity.org

*cite news|accessdate-2008-08-23
url=http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2008/08/gns_newcommander_082308/
date=August 23, 2008
author=Cole, William
title=New commander for Marine Forces Pacific
work=The Honolulu Advertiser
publisher=MarineCorpsTimes.com

External links

*cite web|url=http://www.mfp.usmc.mil/ |accessdate=2007-03-14
title=Marine Forces Pacific website