Fleet Marine Force, Pacific
Template:Short description Script error: No such module "Distinguish". Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote". Template:Use mdy dates Script error: No such module "Infobox".Template:Template otherScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".Template:Short description The Fleet Marine Force, Pacific (FMFPAC) is the largest maritime landing force in the world. Its units are spread across the Pacific Ocean and reports to the United States Pacific Command. It is headquartered at MCB Camp H. M. Smith, HI and directs and commands all the subordinate elements of the Navy Expeditionary Strike Force and Marine Air-Ground Task Force components that follow under the 3rd, 5th, and 7th Fleet and the Marine Corps Forces, Pacific (MARFORPAC). The Commanding General of Marine Corps Forces, Pacific is dual-posted as the Commanding General of Fleet Marine Force, Pacific. FMFPAC is under operational control of the Commander, United States Pacific Fleet (COMPACFLT), when deployed.
FMFPAC was established by General 'Howling Mad' Smith in 1944 to assume command of very large Marine forces in the Pacific theatre of World War II, of the order of 500,000. Since then, the forces commanded by FMFPAC have been the largest field command in the Marine Corps, representing two-thirds of its combat strength.
History
The provisional administrative headquarters of Fleet Marine Force, Pacific, was established on 12 June 1944 as the reformation of the V Amphibious Corps, and it formally was designated as Headquarters Fleet Marine Force, Pacific, on 17 September 1944. On 12 July of the same year, Holland Smith became Commanding General, Fleet Marine Force, Pacific, after being appointed by Admiral Chester Nimitz, the commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet.[1] The force grew to a strength of six divisions and five aircraft wings by the end of the war.[2]
The preceding units of the Fleet Marine Force, Pacific, were mainly from the original Fleet Marine Force, established on 7 December 1933 by the Secretary of the Navy, Claude A. Swanson.[3] It consisted of two brigades, one on the East Coast in Quantico, Virginia, and one on the West Coast in San Diego, California.[4] In 1941 the Fleet Marine Force was reduced to a training command in the continental United States during the war, while two amphibious forces, one in the Atlantic and one in the Pacific, were created as field commands. In 1943 the Amphibious Corps, Pacific Fleet, became V Amphibious Corps. In the spring of 1944, the commander of V Amphibious Corps had his role expanded to cover the III Amphibious Corps as well, and this position developed into the Headquarters, Fleet Marine Force, Pacific, in September 1944. FMFPAC was created as a U.S. Navy type command responsible for organizing, training, and supporting Marine forces in the Pacific Fleet, as well as advising the Commander of the Pacific Fleet on all matters related to the Marine Corps.[5] In December 1946, the Fleet Marine Force, Atlantic (FMFLANT) was created as the East Coast counterpart to FMFPAC.[6]
In July 1992, the Marine Corps established two service component commands to geographic unified combatant commands, including the U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Pacific (MARFORPAC). Since then, the Commander, MARFORPAC, has been dual-hatted as the Commanding General, FMFPAC.[1]
Marine units from FMFPAC were deployed to China during the Chinese Civil War, and participated in the Korean War and the Vietnam War. It also sent units to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan,[1] because before 2005 the area covered by the U.S. Central Command was in the jurisdiction of FMFPAC. The head of MARFORPAC and FMFPAC was also nominally the Commander, U.S. Marine Corps Forces Central Command (MARCENT), from 1992 until 2005, when that role was given to the commanding general, II Marine Expeditionary Force.[7]
Organization
Reporting directly to the Commanding General, Fleet Marine Force, Pacific (CG FMFPAC) are the Commanding Generals of two Marine Expeditionary Forces (I MEF and III MEF), the Commanding Generals of two Marine Expeditionary Brigades (1st MEB and 3rd MEB), and the Commanding Officers of four Marine Expeditionary Units (11th, 13th, 15th, and 31st MEUs).
The Commanding General, I MEF, exercises operational control over the 1st Marine Division, the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, and the 1st Marine Logistics Group, while the Commanding General, III MEF, exercises operational control over the 3d Marine Division, the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, and the 3rd Marine Logistics Group.
Hierarchy of Fleet Marine Force units
Commander, United States Pacific Fleet (COMPACFLT)
Marine Forces, Pacific (MARFORPAC)
| Landing Force, Third Fleet (LF3F) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Task Force 36 | File:United States Third Fleet insignia 2014.png | Naval Base Point Loma San Diego, CA |
| Task Force 39 | ||
| I Marine Expeditionary Force | File:IMEFlogo.jpg | MCB Camp Pendleton California, United States |
| III Marine Expeditionary Force | File:IIIMEFLogo.jpg | Camp Courtney Okinawa, Japan |
Marine Forces, Central (MARCENT)
| Landing Force, Fifth Fleet (LF5F) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Task Force 56 | File:United States Fifth Fleet insignia 2006.png | Naval Support Activity Bahrain Kingdom of Bahrain |
| Task Force 59 | ||
| I Marine Expeditionary Force | File:IMEFlogo.jpg | MCB Camp Pendleton California, United States |
Marine Forces, Korea (MARFORK)
List of commanders
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portrait | Name | Took office | Left office | Term length | ||
| Commanding General FMFPAC | ||||||
| Commanding General FMFPAC / Commander MARFORPAC / Commander MARCENT | ||||||
| Commanding General FMFPAC / Commander MARFORPAC | ||||||
See also
- Advanced Base Force
- Fleet Marine Force, Atlantic (FMFLANT)
- Marine Corps Forces, Pacific (MARFORPAC)
- Marine Corps Forces, Command (MARFORCOM) [formerly Marine Corps Forces, Atlantic (MARFORLANT)]
References
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- ↑ a b c MARINE CORPS FORCES PACIFIC. Marine Corps University. Published 15 September 2006. Retrieved 28 September 2023.
- ↑ FMFPac celebrates 40th anniversary. Hawaii Marine, Vol. 13, No. 37. Published 13 September 1984. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
- ↑ Swanson, Claude A. (7 December 1933). The Fleet Marine Force. Marine Corps University. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
- ↑ Heinl, R.D., Jr. (November 1947). The U. S. Marine Corps: Author of Modern Amphibious War. Proceedings of the United States Naval Institute, Vol. 73/11/537.
- ↑ Garand, George W.; Strobridge, Truman R. (1971). Western Pacific Operations: History of U.S. Marine Corps Operations in World War II (Volume IV). Marine Corps History Division. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
- ↑ MARINE CORPS FORCES COMMAND. Marine Corps University. Published 6 June 2016. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
- ↑ Dawson, David A. (12 May 2010). The Evolution of U.S. Central Command from Operational to Strategic Headquarters. U.S. Army War College – p. 28. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
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External links
- http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1989/SJH.htm
- http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1995/MJS.htm
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