Why The U.S. Navy And Marines’ ARG/MEU Is America’s Premier Stand-In Force

 via 19fortyfive.com

In an era of great power competition, U.S. forward-deployed forces face a growing threat from potential adversaries’ long-range missiles and sophisticated air defenses. These forward-deployed forces have served the U.S. as a deterrent to aggression, crisis response capability, and, in the event of war, the first line of defense. But in an era marked by the proliferation of lethal, long-range weapons, the military services are looking for ways of ensuring that forces deployed within range of these new threats can operate effectively not only in peacetime but also in the event of a great power conflict. These so-called “stand-in” forces must not merely survive the attack but use their position to engage in decisive military actions from the outset of hostilities.

To meet this growing challenge, each of the U.S. military services, particularly the Marine Corps, is looking at a combination of changes to organizations, equipment, and operational concepts to allow them to deploy stand-in forces close to a prospective great power adversary, within range of its weapons. The Marine Corps is pursuing the most dramatic changes to prepare for high-end conflict, especially in the Indo-Pacific theater. As envisioned by the Marine Corps Commandant, General David Berger, by 2030 the new Marine Corps would be “a light, self-reliant, highly mobile naval expeditionary force postured forward in littoral areas within the adversary’s weapons engagement zone.”

A premier stand-in force already exists. This is the Navy/Marine Corps’ Amphibious Ready Group/Marine Expeditionary Unit (ARG/MEU). The ARG/MEU is unique as a U.S. military formation due to its ability to operate from international waters, the breadth of its capabilities, and its overall flexibility. One of the singular virtues of the ARG/MEU construct is that it can support the full range of peacetime military missions day-to-day, but transition to a wartime footing seamlessly and without delays. In wartime, the ARG/MEU is already standing in and present in theaters of interest. Particularly if supported by one or more air- and missile defense-capable ships, it can conduct surface and air amphibious assaults, launch precision airstrikes, engage in electronic warfare, and offer logistics support to units on land.

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