Chapter 1

The Marine Corps

1001. Introduction Reserve; the supporting establishment; and

Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps.
The Marine Corps, within the Department of the
Navy, is organized as a general purpose “force in
readiness” to support national needs. Deploying for 1003. Marine Corps Operating Forces
combat as combined-arms Marine air-ground task
forces (MAGTFs), the Marine Corps provides the The Marine Corps’ operating forces consist of:
National Command Authorities (NCA) with a
responsive force that can conduct operations across w Marine Corps forces (MARFOR)
the spectrum of conflict. Recent events continue to
highlight the Navy-Marine Corps team’s key national w Marine Corps security forces (MCSF) at
security role. Seabased, combat ready, forward naval installations
deployed naval forces have been involved in more w Marine security guard detachments at
than 28 major military operations since 1995.
Whether responding to natural disasters or to the embassies and consulates around the globe.
specter of regional aggression, Navy and Marine
forces provide self-contained and self-sustained air, The “Forces for Unified Commands” memorandum
land, and sea strike forces, operating from a assigns Marine Corps operating forces to each of the
protected sea base, that can be tailored to meet any combatant commands. A force assigned or attached
contingency. to a combatant command may be transferred from
that command only as directed by the Secretary of
1002. Organization and Chain of Com- Defense and under procedures prescribed by the
mand Secretary of Defense and approved by the President.
The Marine Corps has established multiple Marine
Corps component headquarters to support the
Two parallel chains of command—Service and unified commands.
operational—exist within the Marine Corps. The
Service chain begins with the President, through the a. Marine Corps forces are organized as MAGTFs
Secretary of Defense, and continues through the and are either employed as part of naval expedition-
Secretary of the Navy and the Commandant of the ary forces or separately as part of larger joint or
Marine Corps. The operational chain runs from the combined forces.
President, through the Secretary of Defense, directly
to commanders of combatant commands for missions The commanders of MARFOR Atlantic and Pacific
and forces assigned to their commands. Marine serve as Marine Corps component commanders to
Corps component commanders provide operational their respective combatant commanders and may
forces to commanders of combatant commands and also serve as commanding generals of Fleet Marine
other operational commanders as required. Forces (FMFs) Atlantic, Pacific, and Europe. As
commanding generals, with the status of a naval type
The Marine Corps is divided into four broad commander, they provide forces for service with
categories: operating forces; the Marine Corps Commander US Atlantic Fleet, Commander US
1-2 MCRP 5-12D

Pacific Fleet, and Commander US Naval Forces w Developing program and budget requests
Europe, respectively. (See figure 1-1.) that comply with combatant commander
guidance on warfighting requirements and
The Marine Corps component commander deals
priorities.
directly with the joint force commander (JFC) in
matters affecting assigned MARFOR. He w Informing the combatant commander (and
commands, trains, equips, and sustains MARFOR. any intermediate JFCs) of program and
As such, he is responsible for: budget decisions that may affect joint opera-
tion planning.
w Making recommendations to the JFC on the
w Providing supporting operation and exercise
proper employment of Marine forces.
plans to support assigned missions.
w Accomplishing such operational missions as
may be assigned. Although there are five Marine Corps components,
w Selecting and nominating specific Marine there are only two Marine Corps component
units or forces for assignment to other subor- commands. The Marine Corps has established two
dinate forces of the combatant command. combatant command-level Service component
w Conducting joint training, including the train- commands: Marine Corps Forces, Atlantic, and
ing, as directed, of components of other Marine Corps Forces, Pacific. The II Marine
Services in joint operations for which the Expeditionary Force is provided by Commander,
Service component commander has or may Marine Corps Forces, Atlantic, to the Commander in
be assigned primary responsibility or for Chief, U.S. Atlantic Command, and the I and III
which the Service component facilities and Marine Expeditionary Forces are provided by
capabilities are suitable. Commander, Marine Corps Forces, Pacific, to the
Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Command. This
w Informing the JFC (and the combatant
assignment reflects the peacetime disposition of
commander, if affected) of planning for Marine Corps forces. Marine expeditionary forces
changes in logistic support that would signifi- are apportioned to the remaining geographic combat-
cantly affect operational capability or sustain- ant commands for contingency planning and are
ability sufficiently early in the planning provided to the combatant commands when directed
process for the JFC to evaluate the propos- by the Secretary of Defense.
als before final decision or implementation. If
the combatant commander does not approve The Commander, Marine Corps Forces, Atlantic, is
the proposal and discrepancies cannot be assigned to the Commander in Chief, U.S. Atlantic
resolved between the combatant commander Command, and the Commander, Marine Corps
and the Service component commander, the Forces, Pacific, is assigned to the Commander in
combatant commander will forward the issue Chief, U.S. Pacific Command. In order to provide
through the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of three-star, general officer representation to the
Staff (JCS) to the Secretary of Defense for remaining three geographic combatant commands,
Commander, Marine Corps Forces, Atlantic
resolution. Under crisis action or wartime
(COMMARFORLANT), is designated as the
conditions, and where critical situations make Marine Corps component commander to both
diversion of the normal logistic process Commander in Chief, U.S. European Command
necessary, Service component commanders (CINCUSEUCOM), and Commander in Chief,
will implement directives issued by the U.S. Southern Command (CINCUSSOCOM). The
combatant commander. Commander, Marine Corps Forces, Pacific, is desig-
nated as the Marine Corps component commander
Organization of Marine Corps Forces 1-3

Unified
Command 1

Marine
Joint Special
Army Navy Air Force Component 1 /
Component 1 Component 1 Operations
Component 1 Commanding
Task Force
General FMF1

Naval
Commanding
Air Force MARFORs
1
Fleet General FMF1

Surface Force
1
Fleet
2 3
(COMSURF )

Submarine Force
1
Fleet
(COMSUB 2 )3

Notes
1 Area Name (e.g., Atlantic, Pacific, etc.)
Training Command
1 2 Area Abbreviation (e.g., LANT, PAC,
Fleet
(COMTRA 2 )3 3 etc.)
Type Commanders

Figure 1-1. Command Relationships.

to the Commander in Chief, U.S. Central Command b. The MCSF include approximately 3,400 Marines
(CINCUSCENTCOM). who protect key naval installations and facilities
worldwide. Although not assigned to combatant
Headquarters, Marine Corps Forces, Europe, has commands, they are part of the operating forces of
been established in the European Command the Marine Corps. These security forces include
(EUCOM) and a planning liaison element has been Marine barracks and Marine security force compa-
established with both Central Command and South- nies in the continental United States (CONUS) and
ern Command to support their respective designated abroad, as well as Marine detachments afloat.
Marine Corps component commander. During
peacetime, the designated Marine Corps component c. The Marine security guard battalion provides
commander provides operation and contingency forces to the Department of State for embassy
planning support and advice to his respective security. These Marines are currently assigned to
combatant commanders on Marine Corps-specific 121 diplomatic posts in 115 countries throughout the
matters. When directed, the Marine Corps compo- world. (See figures 1-2 and 1-3.)
nent commander exercises operational control
(OPCON) of forces assigned or attached to the 1004. Marine Corps Forces Reserve
combatant commander.
(MARFORRES)
Additionally, Commander, Marine Corps Forces,
Pacific (COMMARFORPAC), possesses the a. The MARFORRES is a vital element of the
capability to deploy a combatant command-level Marine Corps total force and is organized under the
Marine Corps component headquarters. This Commander, Marine Corps Forces Reserve
capability is required due to the unique nature of the (COMMARFORRES). (See figure 1-4.) It can
supported combatant commands. augment and reinforce any operations in which
MARFOR participate and contains some capabilities
1-4 MCRP 5-12D

Commander,
MARFORLANT/FMF Atlantic/
Marine Corps Bases Atlantic

Commander, Marine Corps

II MEF MCSF U.S. Marine Base
Forces Europe Camp LeJeune

Marine Corps Commander, Marine Corps

Ground U.S. Marine Air Stations
Defense Force Forces South Cherry Point,
2d Marine
2d MAW 2d FSSG Beaufort, and
Division
New River
Commander,
Marine Striking
Force Atlantic
(Designate)
22d, 24th,
and 26th
MEUs (SOC)

Figure 1-2. MARFORLANT.

Commander,1
MARFORPAC/FMF Pacific/
Marine Corps Bases Pacific

Marine
I MEF III MEF
Barracks
Japan

Marine Corps
Base
Camp Pendleton
1st Marine 3d Marine 1st MAW
3d MAW 1st FSSG 3d FSSG
Division Division
Marine Corps
Base
Camp Butler
11th, 13th,
and 15th 31st MEU (SOC)
MEUs (SOC)
Marine Corps
Base
Hawaii

Marine Corps
Air Stations
Iwakuni, El Toro,
Note
Tustin, Miramar,
1 Commander U.S. Marine Forces Korea (Designate); Commander U.S. Marines Yuma, and
Central Command (Designate); Commander Combined Marine Forces Command (Designate) Camp Pendleton

Figure 1-3. MARFORPAC.

Organization of Marine Corps Forces 1-5

that are not resident in the active forces, such as civil
affairs (CA) and graves registration. The Marine
Corps total force consists of the active component,
the Reserve component, and retired personnel.
Force expansion is made possible by the activation
of the MARFORRES, which, like the active forces,
consists of a combined-arms force with ground,
aviation, and CSS units. The Marine Corps Mobili-
zation Management Plan (MPLAN), dated 7
November 1997, provides detailed guidance and
procedures for mobilizing/recalling members of the
Reserve. Graduated Mobilization Response (GMR)
is the ongoing process of providing a viable deterrent
capability to meet a crisis/contingency at the lowest
possible level and sequentially build a response force
that is appropriate to the threat. The President may
authorize recall of up to 200,000 Selected Reservists
(including individual mobilization augmentees
(IMAs)) to active duty for a period of 270 days.
Under this authority, Selected Marine Corps Reserve
(SMCR) units organized to serve as units must be
activated as units.
b. Organized under COMMARFORRES, the
MARFORRES includes the 4th Marine Division, the (b) IRR. The IRR generally consists of Marines
4th Marine Air Wing (MAW), and the 4th Force who have recently served in the active forces or
Service Support Group (FSSG). The subordinate
units of these commands are located at 191 training
centers in 46 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of
Columbia. COMMARFORRES provides SMCR
units and individual augmentees to the active duty
MARFOR when directed by the NCA through the
commandant of the Marine Corps.
c. The MARFORRES is composed of the:
(1) Ready Reserve
The Ready Reserve consists of those units and
members of a Reserve component who are liable for
active duty in time of war or national emergency as
proclaimed by the President or declared by
Congress or when otherwise authorized by law.
Included in the Ready Reserve are the SMCR and
the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR).
(a) SMCR. The SMCR includes units and individ-
ual members who participate in scheduled drills and a
two-week annual active duty period for training
purposes (annual training duty).

Commander,
MARFORRES

MEF Six Marine Corps

Augmentation Reserve 4th MAW
CE Pacific 1 Districts

MEF
4th FSSG
Augmentation
CE Atlantic1

4th Marine
Note Division
1 Administrative Control

Marine Corps
Reserve Support
Command

Figure 1-4. Marine Corps Reserve.

1-6 MCRP 5-12D

SMCR and have a period of obligated service
remaining on their contract. The majority of IRR
members do not participate in Reserve training and
are not members of the SMCR. Members of the
Delayed Entry Program also belong to the IRR.
(2) Standby Reserve
The Standby Reserve is composed of Marines not in
the Ready or Retired Reserve who are subject to
recall to active duty in time of war or a national
emergency as declared by Congress.
(3) Retired Reserve
supporting establishment also includes the Marine
Corps Recruiting Command, the Marine Corps
Combat Development Command and the Marine
Corps Systems Command, as well as all training
activities and formal schools. Additionally, the
supporting establishment includes those civilian activi-
ties and agencies that provide support to MARFOR.
In keeping with our expeditionary nature, these
installations that support the MEFs are strategically
located near air and sea ports of embarkation and
are serviced by major truck routes and rail heads to
allow for the rapid and efficient movement of
Marines and equipment.

The Retired Reserve includes reservists who are 1006. Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps
retired under various laws and regulations. Retired
Reserves may be mobilized under conditions similar Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps, consists of the
to those for Standby Reserve mobilization. Commandant of the Marine Corps and those staff
agencies that advise and assist the Commandant in
d. Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF) discharging those responsibilities prescribed by law
Augmentation Command Element (CE) and higher authority. The internal organization of
Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps is described in the
(MACE)
Headquarters Marine Corps Organization
Manual.
Organized to support the MEF CE, a MACE
includes approximately 166 Reserve Marines who The Commandant of the Marine Corps is directly
are activated during a major theater war or any responsible to the Secretary of the Navy for the
contingency that may require additional support. administration, discipline, internal organization, train-
Both I MEF and II MEF have an assigned MACE. ing, requirements, efficiency, and readiness of the
The MACE provides additional personnel to all staff Marine Corps; the operation of the Marine Corps
sections, provides additional liaison officers, and materiel support system; and the total performance of
conducts command and control in rear area opera- the Marine Corps.
tions.

1005. Supporting Establishment

The Marine Corps supporting establishment consists

of those personnel, bases, and activities that support
the Marine Corps operating forces. This infrastruc-
ture consists primarily of 16 major bases and stations
in the United States and Japan and all the personnel,
equipment, and facilities required to operate them.
This equates to approximately 30,000 Marines. The