Marine expeditionary brigade

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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. [1] 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.

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Notional Marine expeditionary brigade in 2010

Command element (CE)

MEB command group

Ground combat element (GCE)

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

Aviation combat element (ACE)

Composite Marine aircraft group

Logistics combat element (LCE)

Combat logistics regiment (CLR) (w/ 1 to 3 combat logistics Battalions) [notional equipment shown below]

List of MEBs

Historical MEBs

The following MEBs were deployed operationally:

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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