Pacific Marines Stories

U.S. Marine Corps Col. Chris Niedziocha, the commanding officer of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, and 31st MEU staff embark the light amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli (LHA 7) at White Beach Naval Facility, Okinawa, Japan, Oct. 26, 2025. The embarkation was an opportunity for the 31st MEU to integrate with their U.S. Navy counterparts aboard the USS Tripoli. 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. Trevor BishopWilliams) - U.S. Marine Corps Col. Chris Niedziocha, the commanding officer of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, and 31st MEU staff embark the light amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli (LHA 7) at White Beach Naval Facility, Okinawa, Japan, Oct. 26, 2025. The embarkation was an opportunity for the 31st MEU to integrate with their U.S. Navy counterparts aboard the USS Tripoli. 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. Trevor BishopWilliams)

31st MEU | Integration with USS Tripoli for the First Time

Camp Hansen, Okinawa, Japan – In October 2025, for the first time since the USS Tripoli (LHA 7) sailed to the Indo-Pacific, the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) Command Element embarked the USS Tripoli, marking a pivotal shift in the unit’s operational posture and amphibious capabilities. This integration signals the beginning of a new chapter for the 31st MEU as it begins long-term operations with the Tripoli, marking the transition from USS America (LHA 6), which served as the MEU’s primary aviation platform in the Indo-Pacific for the past six years. The staff's arrival aboard Tripoli establishes the relationships needed to execute a forward, sea-based command and control node capable of directing complex expeditionary military operations across the Indo-Pacific. This integration allows the 31st MEU to have long-distance force projection from a mobile, self-sustained platform and rapidly respond to contingencies throughout the region.

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U.S. Marines with Charlie Company, Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, exit from a U.S. Marine Corps Amphibious Combat Vehicle assigned to Charlie Company, BLT 1/7, 31st MEU, during a simulated force-on-force mechanized raid at Combat Town, Camp Hansen, Okinawa, Japan, April 24, 2025. The purpose of the exercise was to create a challenging, realistic training environment with the integration of the newly fielded ACV that produces combat-ready forces in urban terrain. 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 Cpl. Angel Diaz Montes De Oca) - U.S. Marines with Charlie Company, Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, exit from a U.S. Marine Corps Amphibious Combat Vehicle assigned to Charlie Company, BLT 1/7, 31st MEU, during a simulated force-on-force mechanized raid at Combat Town, Camp Hansen, Okinawa, Japan, April 24, 2025. The purpose of the exercise was to create a challenging, realistic training environment with the integration of the newly fielded ACV that produces combat-ready forces in urban terrain. 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 Cpl. Angel Diaz Montes De Oca)

Ready, Partnered, Lethal: 31st MEU completes MEUEX

The 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) conducted training to prepare the unit for future warfighting capabilities. Immersive, scenario-based evolutions focused on lethality, readiness, and interoperability for an upcoming deployment in the Indo-Pacific Region during a MEU Exercise (MEUEX) in Okinawa, from Apr. 28 to May 9, 2025. Over two weeks of training, MEUEX prepared approximately 2,400 Marines and sailors in strategies and procedures, as well as lethal and nonlethal operations by simulating a wide range of contingencies.

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U.S. Marines with Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 314, Marine Aircraft Group 11, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, work together with Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) aviators with RAAF No. 3 Squadron, at RAAF Base Williamtown, New South Wales, Australia, June-July, 2023. This is part of unit-level and bilateral training events designed to enhance U.S.-Australian relationships and further develop and sustain capabilities in the Indo-Pacific Region. - U.S. Marines with Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 314, Marine Aircraft Group 11, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, work together with Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) aviators with RAAF No. 3 Squadron, at RAAF Base Williamtown, New South Wales, Australia, June-July, 2023. This is part of unit-level and bilateral training events designed to enhance U.S.-Australian relationships and further develop and sustain capabilities in the Indo-Pacific Region.

Unprecedented Interchangeability: U.S. Marines and Aussie Aviators Fly, Maintain and Operate Joint Strike Fighters Together

U.S. Marines and Marine Corps F-35C Lightning II aircraft from Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 314, Marine Aircraft Group 11, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, have been training with Allies at Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Base Williamtown, New South Wales, Australia for three weeks. Upon arrival following their trans-Pacific flights, and after a year in the making, these Marines, also known as the “Black Knights,” and RAAF aviators with RAAF No. 3 Squadron (3SQN) began a series of unit-level and bilateral training events designed to sustain and enhance aviation capabilities in the Indo-Pacific Region.

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U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Ethan Jara, a native of East Bethel, Minnesota and an ammunition technician with III Marine Expeditionary Force Support Battalion, III Marine Expeditionary Force Information Group, maneuvers his fire team on an Infantry Battle Platoon Course during a live fire range on U.S. Army Garrison Casey, Gyeonggi, South Korea, Feb. 10, 2023. III MSB is conducting Bushido Strike 23, which comprises training events including a Marine Corps Combat Readiness Evaluation in South Korea to validate its mission essential tasks of providing combat service, security and administrative services to III Marine Expeditionary Force. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Staff Sgt. Manuel A. Serrano) - U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Ethan Jara, a native of East Bethel, Minnesota and an ammunition technician with III Marine Expeditionary Force Support Battalion, III Marine Expeditionary Force Information Group, maneuvers his fire team on an Infantry Battle Platoon Course during a live fire range on U.S. Army Garrison Casey, Gyeonggi, South Korea, Feb. 10, 2023. III MSB is conducting Bushido Strike 23, which comprises training events including a Marine Corps Combat Readiness Evaluation in South Korea to validate its mission essential tasks of providing combat service, security and administrative services to III Marine Expeditionary Force. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Staff Sgt. Manuel A. Serrano)

Bushido Strike 23 Culminates, III MSB Shifts to Supporting Operations in the Indo-Pacific 

U.S. ARMY GARRISON CASEY, South Korea – The Marine Corps is returning to its nature as a naval expeditionary force-in-readiness. Training in different environments, from tropical jungle climates to snow-covered mountains to the high seas, the Marine Corps prepares today’s warfighter for tomorrow’s demands.

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