Marines with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit’s Maritime

Marines with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit’s Maritime Raid Force exit an MV-22B Osprey tiltrotor aircraft during a simulated raid at Camp Hansen, Okinawa, Japan, Feb. 25, 2019. The 31st MEU, in a groundbreaking command and control exercise, is completing split operations across a large swath of the Indo-Pacific region encompassing at least four geographic locations – Okinawa, Japan; aboard the dock landing ship USS Ashland (LSD 48) in the South China Sea; aboard the amphibious transport dock USS Green Bay (LPD 20) in the Gulf of Thailand; and other undisclosed locations. This is the first time any Marine expeditionary unit has completed this level of simultaneous operations – from rapid-response planning to mission completion – across such a large geographic region within the Indo-Pacific. The 31st MEU, the Marine Corps’ only continuously forward-deployed MEU partnering with the U.S. Navy’s Amphibious Squadron 11, 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 Lance Cpl. Kyle P. Bunyi/ Released)