31st Marine Expeditionary Unit

A reconnaissance Marine with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit's Force Reconnaissance Platoon uses an exothermic torch to cut through a steel obstacle during a combined sea and airborne Visit, Board, Search and Seizure exercise as part of Realistic Urban Training Exercise, off the coast of Okinawa, Japan, July 26, 2017. Reconnaissance Marines with FPR boarded the landing craft from hovering aircraft while other teams raided the target vessel from small, inflatable rubber boats, known as Combat Rubber Raiding Craft. The 31st MEU, the Marine Corps’ only continuously forward-deployed MEU, provides a flexible force ready to perform a wide-range of military operations across the Indo-Pacific region. The 31st MEU, the Marine Corps’ only continuously forward-deployed MEU, provides a flexible force ready to perform a wide-range of military operations across the Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Gunnery Sgt. T. T. Parish/Released)

A reconnaissance Marine with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit's Force Reconnaissance Platoon detains and questions a possible high-value individual aboard a U.S. Army landing craft during a combined sea and airborne Visit, Board, Search and Seizure exercise as part of Realistic Urban Training Exercise, off the coast of Okinawa, Japan, July 26, 2017. Reconnaissance Marines with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit’s Force Reconnaissance Platoon boarded the landing craft from hovering aircraft while other teams raided the target vessel from small, inflatable rubber boats, known as Combat Rubber Raiding Craft. The 31st MEU, the Marine Corps’ only continuously forward-deployed MEU, provides a flexible force ready to perform a wide-range of military operations across the Indo-Pacific region. The 31st MEU, the Marine Corps’ only continuously forward-deployed MEU, provides a flexible force ready to perform a wide-range of military operations across the Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Gunnery Sgt. T. T. Parish/Released)

A Marine with Echo Company, Battalion Landing Team, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines, climbs across a cable during an endurance course at Jungle Warfare Training Center, Camp Gonsalves, Okinawa, Japan, July 30, 2018. The Marines trained at JWTC to prepare for an upcoming patrol of the Indo-Pacific region as the Ground Combat Element for the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit. The 31st MEU, the Marine Corps’ only continuously forward-deployed MEU, provides a flexible force ready to perform a wide-range of military operations. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Matt Navarra/Released)

Lance Cpl. Andrew J. Thompson, a crypto linguist with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, gets a haircut at the barbershop aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1) at White Beach Naval Facility, Okinawa, Japan, Aug. 17, 2018. Thompson, a native of Pearland, Texas, graduated Pearland High School in June 2014 before enlisting in the Marine Corps in March 2015. 31st MEU Marines and Sailors get hair cuts at the barbershop while on ship to keep up with uniform regulations at all times. The 31st MEU, the Marine Corps’ only continuously forward-deployed MEU, provides a flexible force ready to perform a wide-range of military operations in the Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Hannah Hall/Released)

A Marine with Company F, Battalion Landing Team, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines, waits for transportation at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma after a simulated helicopter raid, Okinawa, Japan, Aug. 20, 2018. The 31st MEU, the Marine Corps' only continuously forward-deployed MEU, provides a flexible force ready to perform a wide-range of military operations. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Kealii De Los Santos/Released)

Marines with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit's Amphibious Reconnaissance Platoon ride a Combat Rubber Raiding Craft during a reconnaissance and surveillance training mission off the coast of Okinawa, Japan, Aug. 22, 2018. A hydrographic survey provides the 31st MEU with information about beaches' ocean floor and any possible threats placed there. The 31st MEU, the Marine Corps' only continuously forward-deployed MEU, provides a flexible force ready to perform a wide-range of military operations. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Kealii De Los Santos/Released)

A reconnaissance Marine with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit’s Amphibious Reconnaissance Platoon exits the Designated Impact Point during free-fall parachute training at Ie Shima Training Facility, Okinawa, Japan, Aug. 29, 2018. The ARP Marines flew to a spot above a landing zone on Ie Shima Training Facility, off Okinawa’s northwest coast, before exiting a cruising MV-22B Osprey tiltrotor aircraft – from there, the Marines fell for approximately 50 seconds before deploying parachutes to land safely. The 31st MEU, the Marine Corps’ only continuously forward-deployed MEU, provides a flexible force ready to perform a wide-range of military operations. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Alexis B. Betances/Released)

Marines and Sailors of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit and Sailors with the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1) take off aboard an MV-22B Osprey to conduct surveys on the islands of Guam and Saipan as part of the Humanitarian Assistance Survey Team, off the coast of Guam, Sep. 9, 2018. The 31st MEU and the ships of the Wasp Expeditionary Strike Group are assisting local government and the Federal Emergency Management Agency with distributing emergency relief supplies after the island was struck by Typhoon Mangkhut, September 10. The 31st MEU, the Marine Corps’ only continuously forward-deployed MEU, provides a flexible force ready to perform a wide-range of military operations. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Alexis B. Betances/Released)

Marines and Sailors from Battalion Landing Team, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines, and Combat Logistics Battalion 31, clean up debris after Typhoon Mangkhut as part of typhoon relief efforts in Rota, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Sept. 13, 2018. Service members from the Indo-Pacific Command are providing Department of Defense support to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and working with Guam and Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana civil and local officials for Typhoon Mangkhut recovery efforts. The 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, the Marine Corps’ only continuously forward-deployed MEU, provides a flexible force ready to perform a wide-range of military operations. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Bernadette Plouffe/Released)

A Marine from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit cleans up debris after Typhoon Mangkhut during typhoon relief efforts in Rota, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Sept. 13, 2018. Service members from the Indo-Pacific Command are providing Department of Defense support to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and working with Guam and Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana civil and local officials for Typhoon Mangkhut recovery efforts. The 31st MEU, the Marine Corps’ only continuously forward-deployed MEU, provides a flexible force ready to perform a wide-range of military operations. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Bernadette Plouffe/Released)

Col. Scott Fosdal, Expeditionary Operations Training Group senior evaluator, shakes hands with Marines and Sailors during a celebration honoring his retirement aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1), off the coast of Okinawa, Japan, Sep. 3, 2018. Fosdal, a native of Rockdale, Wisconsin, graduated Texas A&M University December 1988; he commissioned that same month. He lived, experienced and participated in the the most recent consequential decades of the Corps’ storied history; Desert Storm, Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom – Fosdal has had a front row view of America’s wars during three decades as a Reconnaissance Marine. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Hannah Hall/Released)

An MV-22B Osprey tiltrotor aircraft belonging to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 262 (Reinforced) idles atop the fight deck after landing aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1), off the coast of Okinawa, Japan, Aug. 29, 2018. VMM-262 (Rein.) is the Aviation Combat Element for the 31st MEU. The 31st MEU, the Marine Corps’ only continuously forward-deployed MEU, provides a flexible force ready to perform a wide-range of military operations across the Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Gunnery Sgt. T. T. Parish/Released)

Lance Cpl. Wyatt McDonald, a flightline mechanic with Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 262 (Reinforced), secures the rotor blades of a CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter atop the flight deck of the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1), off the coast of Okinawa, Japan, Aug. 25, 2018. McDonald, a native of Bakersfield, California, graduated from Centennial High School in spring 2016 before enlisting in the Marine Corps in November 2016. VMM-262 (Rein.) is the Aviation Combat Element for the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit. Marines and Sailors with the 31st MEU, comprised of a Command Element, a Ground Combat Element, an Aviation Combat Element and a Logistics Combat Element, embarked aboard the U.S. Navy vessels of the Wasp Amphibious Ready Group and are currently underway. The 31st MEU, the Marine Corps’ only continuously forward-deployed MEU, provides a flexible force ready to perform a wide-range of military operations across the Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Gunnery Sgt. T. T. Parish/Released)

Lt. Gen. Eric Smith, III Marine Expeditionary Force commanding general, boards the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1), while underway off the coast of Okinawa, Japan, Aug. 27, 2018. Smith visited the Wasp to meet Marines and Sailors with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit during a regularly scheduled patrol of the Indo-Pacific region. The 31st MEU, the Marine Corps’ only continuously forward-deployed MEU, provides a flexible force ready to perform a wide-range of military operations across the Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Hannah Hall/Released)

Marines with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit fill five gallon water jugs aboard the dock landing ship USS Ashland (LSD 48), underway in the Pacific Ocean, Sept. 11, 2018. Marines and Sailors with Combat Logistics Battalion 31 and Company E, Battalion Landing Team, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines, currently underway aboard the Ashland, are preparing with the 31st MEU and Wasp Amphibious Ready Group to assist local agencies and the Federal Emergency Management Agency with distributing emergency relief supplies to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands after it was struck by Typhoon Mangkhut, Sept. 10-11. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Matt Navarra/Released)

A Sailor with Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 25 sits inside a U.S. Navy MH-60S Seahawk helicopter atop the flight deck of the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1) as the sun sets off the coast of Okinawa, Japan, Aug. 25, 2018. HSC-25 performs critical support for Marine Corps and Navy amphibious operations while underway as part of the Wasp Amphibious Ready Group. Marines and Sailors with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, comprised of a Command Element, a Ground Combat Element, an Aviation Combat Element and a Logistics Combat Element, embarked aboard the U.S. Navy vessels of the Wasp ARG and are currently underway. The 31st MEU, the Marine Corps’ only continuously forward-deployed MEU, provides a flexible force ready to perform a wide-range of military operations across the Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Gunnery Sgt. T. T. Parish/Released)

Marines with Combat Logistics Battalion 31 carry supplies from a CH-53E Super Stallion with Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 262 (Rein.) during typhoon relief efforts in Rota, Northern Mariana Islands, Sept. 11, 2018. Service members from the Indo-Pacific Command are providing Department of Defense support to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and working with Guam and Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas civil and local officials for Typhoon Mangkhut recovery efforts. The 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, the Marine Corps’ only continuously forward-deployed MEU, provides a flexible force ready to perform a wide-range of military operations. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Bernadette Plouffe/Released)

A Landing Craft, Air Cushion hovercraft approaches the well deck of the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1) while underway in the Pacific Ocean, Aug. 24, 2018. Marines with CLB-31, the Logistics Combat Element permanently assigned to the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, facilitated LCAC operations to transport gear and supplies. The 31st MEU, the Marine Corps’ only continuously forward-deployed MEU, provides a flexible force ready to perform a wide-range of military operations. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Hannah Hall/Released)