31st Marine Expeditionary Unit

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Marines

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

31st MEU conducts integrated training alongside Naval Special Warfare

OKINAWA, Japan (Jan. 31, 2022) – Sparks flew from the whetstone as the battle-ax that is the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) sharpened its lethal edge, conducting integrated training on the beachheads and jungle terrain of Okinawa in January. As the MEU’s forward reconnaissance platoon advanced on their objective during the exercise, the opposite blade of the same formidable weapon – a platoon of Navy SEALs assigned to Naval Special Warfare Group (NSWG) 1 – glinted in shafts of sunlight piercing through the canopy.

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U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Mathew Kearney (left), chief instructor at the Jungle Warfare Training Center (JWTC), 1st Lt. Sargon II Bebla (center), platoon commander, and Staff Sgt. Brian Giera (right), platoon sergeant, with Battalion Landing Team (BLT) 1/5, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), observe stalking lanes at the JWTC in Okinawa, Japan, Jan. 8, 2022. Scout snipers play an integral part in the Stand in Force Concept operating as the eyes and ears of the ground force commander, allowing for a more efficient decision making process. - U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Mathew Kearney (left), chief instructor at the Jungle Warfare Training Center (JWTC), 1st Lt. Sargon II Bebla (center), platoon commander, and Staff Sgt. Brian Giera (right), platoon sergeant, with Battalion Landing Team (BLT) 1/5, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), observe stalking lanes at the JWTC in Okinawa, Japan, Jan. 8, 2022. Scout snipers play an integral part in the Stand in Force Concept operating as the eyes and ears of the ground force commander, allowing for a more efficient decision making process. 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. Christopher W. England)

Breaking through the Canopy at JWTC

CAMP GONZALVES, Japan – U.S. Marines with Battalion Landing Team (BLT) 1/5, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), attended Okinawa’s JWTC for a 10-day course from Jan. 4-14, aiming to sharpen their mission capabilities in contested areas. This course is a small look into a larger initiative from the Marine Corps’ Stand-in Force (SIF) concept, which emphasizes lethality and survivability in austere environments.

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U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Kaleb Smith, an automotive maintenance technician with Combat Logistics Battalion 31, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), and a native of Knoxville, Tennessee, is awarded the 2020 Motor Transport Noncommissioned Officer of the Year at Camp Hansen, Okinawa, Japan, on May 28, 2021. - U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Kaleb Smith, an automotive maintenance technician with Combat Logistics Battalion 31, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), and a native of Knoxville, Tennessee, is awarded the 2020 Motor Transport Noncommissioned Officer of the Year at Camp Hansen, Okinawa, Japan, on May 28, 2021. On behalf of the commandant of the Marine Corps, Marines were recognized as the 2020 United States Marine Corps Motor Transport Awards Program recipients for their hard work and dedication to the Motor Transport community and mission. 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 Cpl. Karis Mattingly)