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Marines

31st Marine Expeditionary Unit
31st MEU Logo
31st Marine Expeditionary Unit

Ready • Partnered • Lethal

Based out of Okinawa, Japan, the 31st MEU is positioned to respond to crisis anywhere in the world. Read about our history here

Commanding Officer: Col. MATTHEW C. DANNER

OKINAWA, JAPAN (Mar. 12, 2023) Marines assigned to the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, Sailors assigned the forward deployed amphibious assault carrier USS America (LHA 6), and members of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and Japan Ground Self-Defense Force pose for a photo during the closing ceremony for Exercise Iron Fist aboard the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force landing ship tank JS Osumi (LST-4001) while moored in Okinawa, Japan, Mar. 12. Iron Fist is an annual bilateral exercise designed to increase interoperability and strength the relationships between the U.S. Marine Corps, the U.S. Navy, the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force. America, lead ship of the America Amphibious Ready Group, is operating in the 7th Fleet area of operations. 7th Fleet is the U.S. Navy’s largest forward-deployed numbered fleet, and routinely interacts and operates with Allies and partners in preserving a free and open Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Shelby M. Tucker) - OKINAWA, JAPAN (Mar. 12, 2023) Marines assigned to the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, Sailors assigned the forward deployed amphibious assault carrier USS America (LHA 6), and members of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and Japan Ground Self-Defense Force pose for a photo during the closing ceremony for Exercise Iron Fist aboard the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force landing ship tank JS Osumi (LST-4001) while moored in Okinawa, Japan, Mar. 12. Iron Fist is an annual bilateral exercise designed to increase interoperability and strength the relationships between the U.S. Marine Corps, the U.S. Navy, the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force. America, lead ship of the America Amphibious Ready Group, is operating in the 7th Fleet area of operations. 7th Fleet is the U.S. Navy’s largest forward-deployed numbered fleet, and routinely interacts and operates with Allies and partners in preserving a free and open Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Shelby M. Tucker)


US Marines, Japanese forces conclude first Japan-based Iron Fist Exercise

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US Marines, Japanese forces conduct first Japan-based Exercise Iron Fist

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A U.S. Marine Corps MV-22B Osprey with Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 265 (Reinforced), 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, and a Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force V-22 Osprey with the 107th Aviation Unit conduct a bilateral formation flight over Mount Fuji, Japan, Mar. 17, 2022. Bilateral flights build familiarity and interoperability between U.S. and Japanese aviation units. - A U.S. Marine Corps MV-22B Osprey with Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 265 (Reinforced), 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, and a Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force V-22 Osprey with the 107th Aviation Unit conduct a bilateral formation flight over Mount Fuji, Japan, Mar. 17, 2022. Bilateral flights build familiarity and interoperability between U.S. and Japanese aviation units. Maritime Defense Exercise Amphibious Ready Deployment Brigade is a bilateral exercise meant to increase interoperability and strengthen ties between U.S. and Japanese forces for the defense of Japan. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Cesar Ronaldo Alarcon)


MDX-ARDB: Stronger Together

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Top Photos

U.S. Marines with Kilo Battery, Battalion Landing Team 1/5 (BLT 1/5), 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, conduct a simulated gun drill during a direct fire range at Combined Arms Training Center Camp Fuji, Japan, March 14, 2022. BLT 1/5 routinely conducts live-fire operations to maintain proficiency and combat readiness. Maritime Defense Exercise Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade is a bilateral exercise meant to increase interoperability and strengthen ties between U.S. and Japanese forces for the defense of Japan.

Here Comes The Boom

U.S. Marines with Combat Logistics Battalion 31 (CLB), 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, and Japanese soldiers with the 1st Amphibious Rapid Deployment Regiment conduct a convoy with a Marine Corps joint light tactical vehicle and two medium tactical vehicle replacement trucks, and a Japanese Toyota Type 73 medium truck and two Type 73 Kogata light utility vehicles for a company-level training exercise on Combined Arms Training Center Camp Fuji, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, Mar. 17, 2022.

Convoys on the Mountain

U.S. Navy corpsman with Combat Logistics Battalion 31, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) compete against Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) medics with the Amphibious Ready Deployment Brigade to place a tourniquet on a casualty on Combined Arms Training Center Camp Fuji, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, Mar. 21, 2022. The corpsmen and medics worked together to set up a shock trauma platoon, which enables the quick stabilization of casualties in a field environment.

Shock and Awe

A U.S. Marine Corps MV-22B Osprey with Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 265 (Reinforced), 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, and a Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force V-22 Osprey with the 107th Aviation Unit conduct a bilateral formation flight over Mount Fuji, Japan, Mar. 17, 2022. Bilateral flights build familiarity and interoperability between U.S. and Japanese aviation units.

Above The Clouds

Marines with the 31st MEU demonstrated quick response air delivery capabilities to integrate Japanese forces in training.

31st MEU Air Delivery

U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Col. Stanley Calixte, commanding officer of Combat Logistics Battalion 31 (CLB), 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, briefs Japanese soldiers with the 1st Amphibious Rapid Deployment Regiment before a convoy for a company-level training exercise on Combined Arms Training Center Camp Fuji, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, Mar. 17, 2022.

Integrated Convoy Rides

U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Chris Meinershagen, a mortar Marine with Battalion Landing Team 1/5, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), holds security during room clearing drills at Barrigada, Guam, Mar. 21, 2022. Exercise Noble Arashi is part of 31st MEU's Noble Series of exercises which are used to validate or invalidate the Family of Naval Concepts, develop techniques and procedures for the employment of MEU assets in support of sea denial and fleet maneuver, and inform future force design and experimentation efforts.

BLT 1/5 Trains at Barrigada

A British Royal Marine Commando with 40 Commando Royal Marines, sets security during an experimental jungle training exercise, Naval Base Guam, Guam, Mar. 22, 2022. Exercise Noble Arashi is part of 31st MEU’s Noble Series of exercises which are used to validate or invalidate the Family of Naval Concepts, develop techniques and procedures for the employment of MEU assets in support of sea denial and fleet maneuver, and inform future force design and experimentation efforts.

Jungle Survival

U.S. Marines with Combat Logistics Battalion 31, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) observe a Marine CH-53E Super Stallion aircraft assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 262 (Reinforced), 31st MEU, carrying a Joint Light Tactical Vehicle Heavy Guns Carrier during a Helicopter Support Team (HST) training exercise as part of MEU Exercise at Kin Blue, Okinawa, Japan on Dec. 17, 2020. HST training is conducted to increase proficiency in logistics tasks and enhance the ability to execute potential contingency missions carried out by the 31st MEU. The 31st MEU, the Marine Corps only continuously forward-deployed MEU, provides a flexible and lethal force ready to perform a wide range of military operations as the premiere crisis response force in the Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Colton Nicks)

CH-53 lifts a JLTV

Marines with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit drive a Polaris MRZR light tactical all-terrain vehicles onto an MV-22B Osprey with Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 262 (Reinforced), 31st MEU, at Camp Hansen, Okinawa, Japan, Dec. 8, 2020. The Marines conducted the training in order to demonstrate and enhance insertion and extraction capabilities. The 31st MEU, the Marine Corps’ only continuously forward-deployed MEU, provides a flexible and lethal force ready to perform a wide range of military operations as the premier crisis response force in the Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Brienna Tuck)

Loading MRZRs on Ospreys

SOUTH CHINA SEA (Sep. 6, 2020) An MV-22B Osprey with Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 262 (Reinforced), 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), flies past amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6) during a communication exercise.

31st MEU tests air to ground communications aboard USS America

  

31st Marine Expeditionary Unit