Marine Expeditionary Brigade

A Marine Expeditionary Brigade (MEB) is a formation of the United States Marine Corps, a Marine Air–Ground Task Force of approximately 14,500 Marines and sailors constructed around a reinforced infantry regiment, a composite Marine aircraft group, a combat logistics regiment and a MEB command group. The MEB, commanded by a general officer (usually a brigadier general), is task-organized to meet the requirements of a specific situation. It can function as part of a joint task force, as the lead echelon of the Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF), or alone. It varies in size and composition, and is larger than a Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) but smaller than a MEF. The MEB is capable of conducting missions across the full range of military operations.

Notional Marine expeditionary brigade in 2010

Command element (CE)

MEB command group

MEB Staff

Detachment, Communications Battalion

Detachment, Intelligence Battalion

Detachment, Law Enforcement Battalion

Detachment, Radio Battalion

Detachment, Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company

Detachment, Force Reconnaissance Company

Ground combat element (GCE)

Regimental Landing Team (RLT) or Regimental Combat Team (RCT)

Infantry Regiment (w/ 3 Infantry Battalions), Reinforced

48 Amphibious Assault Vehicles, AAV-7A1 and variants (1 Amphibious Assault Vehicle Company (Reinforced))

27 Light Armored Vehicles, LAV-25A1 and variants (1 Light Armored Reconnaissance Company (Reinforced))

14 Main Battle Tank, M1A1, Abrams (1 Tank Company (Reinforced))

2 Armored Recovery Vehicle, M88A2, Hercules (1 Tank Company (Reinforced))

2 Assault Breacher Vehicle, M1, Shredder (Combat Engineer Company)

24 Howitzer, 155 mm, M777A2 (1 Artillery Battalion w/4 firing batteries of 6 guns each)

24 Mortar, 81mm, M252 (4 tubes per section, 2 sections per platoon, of the Mortar Platoon, Weapons Company, Infantry Battalion × 3)

27 Lightweight Mortar, 60 mm, M224 LWCMS (3 tubes in the Mortar Section of the Weapons Platoon, Rifle company × 3, Infantry Battalion × 3)

24 Anti-Tank Missile Launcher, BGM-71, TOW (8 launchers in the TOW Section of the Anti-Tank (AT) Platoon, Weapons Company, Infantry Battalion × 3)

24 Anti-Tank Missile Launcher, FGM-148, Javelin (8 launchers in the AT Section of the Anti-Tank Platoon, Weapons Company, Infantry Battalion × 3)

18 Automatic Grenade Launcher, 40 mm, Mk 19 (6 guns per Heavy Machine Gun Platoon, Weapons Company, Infantry Battalion × 3)

18 Browning Machine Gun, Cal.