III Marine Expeditionary Force
The mission of III Marine Expeditionary Force is to plan, direct, and coordinate Marine Air-Ground Task Forces for employment in support of contingency plans and operations in the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean.
The Third Marine Expeditionary Force is the only division-scale force stationed abroad. It has 17,000 officers and soldiers, accounting for 60 percent of all American servicemen stationed in Okinawa. It was mobilized during the Gulf War and in air-strikes against Iraq. The U.S. forces in Okinawa, deployed under the Japan-U.S. security alliance, keep an eye on the Far East as far as the Indian Ocean. Their presence in Okinawa is an indispensable element of the US global strategy, under which 100,000 troops are forward deployed in Asia.
The III Marine Expeditionary Force is a descendant of the I and III Marine Amphibious Corps activated on Oct. 1, 1942. On April 15, 1944, I MAC was redesigned to III MAC and was subsequently paired with the Navy's III Amphibious Force for joint operations. III MAC took part in some of the most significant battles in the war against Japan: the invasions of Saipan, Tinian, Iwo Jima and Okinawa.
Following the termination of hostilities, III MAC was dispatched to northern China in September, 1945, to accept the surrender of enemy units and to supervise the repatriation of Japanese military and civilians. The reduction of the American presence in China and post-war demobilization brought about the deactivation of the III Amphibious Corps in June 10, 1946.
The amphibious force was reactivated as the III Marine Expeditionary Force in the Republic of Vietnam on May 7, 1965, and consisted of the 3d Marine Division and the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing. III MEF was later redesignated as III Marine Amphibious Force. On March 15, 1966, Force Logistics Command was formed at Da Nang and joined the III MEF. Expansion of Marine Forces in Vietnam continued in 1966 with the arrival of the 1st Marine Division. By May 1967, the area under Marine control had expanded to more than 1,700 square miles, encompassing 183 villages, and increasing the number of civilians under RVN control by more than one million. In April, 1971, the headquarters of III MEF left Vietnam for Okinawa.
On April 12, 1975, the 31st Marine Amphibious Unit, a task group of III MEF, executed Operation Eagle Pull in which 287 U.S. and foreign nationals were evacuated from Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Weeks later, the 9th Marine Amphibious Brigade, a task force of the III MEF successfully extracted by helicopter more than 7,000 Americans and Vietnamese from Saigon, Vietnam, in Operation Frequent Wind. In conjunction with the later operation, Marine detachments from III MEF provided security of U.S. ships engaged in carrying Vietnamese refugees to Guam. Within days, Marines of III MEF were again called on to assist in the recovery of the USS Mayaguez from Cambodia. Elements of the 1st Battalion, 4th Marines, the 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines, and 9th Marines, were flown to an advanced staging of a joint U.S. Task Force. There, they conducted a helo assault on the Cambodian island of Koh Tang where the Mayaguez was being held. The crew and ship were recovered on May 15, and the III MEF units returned to Okinawa.
On Feb. 5, 1988, the III MEF was redesignated to III Marine Expeditionary Force. III MEF units have supported a host of contingency operations, and routinely participate in joint, combined and bilateral exercises with Asian and Pacific countries like Thailand, Korea, Australia, and the Philippines. Nearly 8,000 III MEF Marines deployed in support of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in Southwest Asia. III MEF units were instrumental in the success of Operation Sea Angel in Bangladesh, and during disaster relief operations in the Republic of the Philippines following the eruption of Mount Pinatubo. III MEF Marines provided disaster relief in the wake of the earthquake in Kobe, Japan, in 1995.
