Despite the MEU’s proven value in warfighting and deterrence—and its growing combat power under our Force Design initiative—our nation’s maritime expeditionary capability has steadily eroded. Today, we sit at 32 amphibious ships, barely meeting the congressionally mandated floor. With amphibious-ship readiness below 50 percent, we are well short of what’s needed to support three consistently forward-deployed ARG/MEUs. The Marine Corps has identified this gap for years, and leaders within the Department of the Navy are now moving with urgency to stabilize the fleet and drive investment in the industrial base for military shipbuilding.
As Commandant, I am addressing this amphibious capability shortfall through two initiatives outlined in my Planning Guidance. First, we must restore our amphibious capacity through a return to a 3.0 ARG/MEU presence: three forward-postured MEUs, each with three amphibious warships, persistently positioned around the globe. This has long been the standard, and it remains the Marine Corps’ North Star. Our combatant commanders, the Joint Force, and our civilian leaders rely on these formations to campaign, deter, and respond without delay and without any permission needed from a third party for access, basing or overflight.
Second, we are modernizing the MEU through Force Design, ensuring it evolves in stride with the changing character of war. Just as our Marine Littoral Regiments are receiving long-range fires, resilient command and control, unmanned systems, and advanced sensing networks, those same capabilities are being fielded across the MEUs, advancing their role as a flexible, multi-domain force from the sea.
A needed force for a maritime nation
For 250 years, Marines have been first to fight—closing with the enemy, defending our nation, always forward, always ready, and often from the sea. Our enduring warrior ethos reflects the fundamental truth that the nature of war does not change—but the character of war does—and so must the way we fight.
After the Second World War, as a new era of global tension took shape, the nation needed a force that could respond rapidly and operate forward without waiting on ports, bases, or permission. That requirement came into sharp focus in the early years of the Cold War, when the Navy and Marine Corps were asked to counter nuclear-armed adversaries, dispersed flashpoints, and threats with no notice. The logic behind the MEU’s design was operational from the start: built to be ready now, to maneuver from the sea, to project power inland, and to shape the fight before it began.
The advent of nuclear weapons reshaped our approach to amphibious operations. What worked at Okinawa or Inchon required rethinking in the face of a threat that punished mass and predictability. The Corps responded by developing new ways to come from the sea without confining the assault to a narrow beachhead. Vertical envelopment was added to the beach assault, expanding the maneuver space and giving commanders more options.
To support this new approach, the Marine Corps restructured its forward-deployed forces. Rotary-wing lift, aviation-delivered fire support, and integrated logistics gave rise to the Marine Air-Ground Task Force concept: an integrated formation that could launch from sea, land inland, and fight immediately. By the late 1980s, the MAGTF formations called MEUs were operating routinely from the Mediterranean to the Western Pacific. They weren’t held in reserve. They were deployed forward.
During the Cold War, the MEU’s value was recognized in operational war plans. One of the clearest examples was in the High North. If Soviet forces pushed into Norway, a MEU embarked aboard amphibious shipping would land in the fjords to reinforce Norwegian defenders and counter Soviet naval infantry along the flanks. That wasn’t a theory, it was backed up by prepositioned equipment, rehearsed in exercises like Teamwork and Northern Wedding, and respected by Soviet planners who were forced to hedge against it.
The operational rationale that validated the MEU in the past remains just as relevant today. It creates problems adversaries cannot ignore at a cost the Nation can sustain—turning shorelines into entry points, projecting power inland, and transforming maritime access into combat power for the Joint Force. Forward-deployed at sea, the ARG/MEU deters by denying the adversary decision space, shaping the environment in our favor, and introducing risk before conflict begins. Its maneuverable posture gives it both survivability and combat credibility. And it remains able to operate independently, integrate with the fleet, or reinforce allies—preventing escalation and–if required—moving rapidly to combat.
Toward a modern MEU
As the character of warfare continues to evolve—driven by a connected world and rapid advances in technology, tomorrow’s fight will be more connected and lethal. Success will depend on speed, precision, and adaptability in a battlespace that is sensor-rich and contested across all domains.
Force Design, launched in 2019, remains the Marine Corps’ framework for adapting to the changing character of war across our MEUs, Marine Expeditionary Brigades, Marine Expeditionary Forces, and Marine Littoral Regiments. It is guided by a campaign of learning that refines how we man, train, and equip the force to deter aggression and close gaps in a contested, multi-domain fight. That learning is what drives Force Design’s modernization initiatives. The technology fielding that began with the Marine Littoral Regiments is now advancing through the MEUs and across the Corps—shaped by experimentation, real-world operations, and the integration of long-range fires, resilient C2, and unmanned systems. These advances enable MEUs to operate as agile, sea-based maneuver elements—able to sense, shoot, and support the Joint Force from sea to shore.
The MEU remains a forward-deployed, combined arms team: light enough to deploy quickly, but potent enough to punch above its weight. Its combat power is built around three core advantages: precision fires, adaptable command and control, and enhanced survivability. When armed with HIMARS, NMESIS, loitering munitions, and supported by fifth-generation F-35B sensor fusion, the MEU will deliver effects into areas other formations cannot reach. Its command element is already optimized to serve as an agile hub for multi-domain operations by integrating kinetic and non-kinetic effects, sensors, and decision-makers across the battlespace. Future dispersed C2 nodes, unmanned platforms, and advanced manufacturing capabilities will strengthen its ability to maneuver, sustain, and adapt under pressure.
Getting to a 3.0 ARG/MEU
Modernization isn’t enough. Advanced capabilities only matter if we can get them forward, on time, and where the fight is. The MEU is evolving to meet tomorrow’s demands, but realizing its full potential depends on having a fleet that can support it. That’s one of the biggest challenges we face today.
The problem is capacity. In 1991, the fleet had more than 60 amphibious warships—enough to sustain global presence and reinforce war plans across multiple theaters. But as the nation focused on extended land campaigns in the Middle East, the amphibious fleet was deprioritized. By 1997, that number had dropped to 40, and by 2016 it stood at just 31. Today the amphibious fleet has 32 ships whose average readiness hovers around 45 percent. Shipyards are strained, timelines are slipping, and hulls are aging faster than we can replace them.
Sustaining a 3.0 ARG/MEU presence will require 31 amphibious ships at 80 percent readiness. The recent LHA/LPD block buy was a step in the right direction, but we must continue to build on this momentum. The Marine Corps is working closely within the broader defense establishment to maintain the fleet, improve readiness, and set conditions for a stronger future. The effort will take broad cooperation, sustained investment, and shared urgency across the U.S. government, industry, and the Department of War.
Conclusion
The Corps’ North Star must remain a steady 3.0 ARG/MEU presence: three continuous, three-amphibious warship formations forward deployed—one from the East Coast, one from the West, and one patrolling from Okinawa, Japan. (If you ask our combatant commanders what they need, the answer isn’t a total of three ARG/MEUs; it’s closer to five or six.) 3.0 is the minimum required to provide our nation and the Joint Force with a capability that can serve as both a warfighting formation and a cross-service integrator. It’s what keeps pressure on our adversaries, supports the maritime fight, and gives combatant commanders and national decision makers scalable options they can employ without delay to buy time, create decision-space, and if required to do so, be first to fight.
Right now, we’re falling short. Every day below that mark costs time, space, and initiative. The ARG/MEU is more than just a crisis-response formation, it is how a maritime nation extends influence, demonstrates resolve, and turns naval capability into action. It reflects who we are as a service: forward, agile, and ready to fight. The world and our adversaries are moving fast, and so must we. In a battlespace defined by access, timing, capability, and tempo, the ARG/MEU stands out: a formation that reaches the fight without relying on basing or buildup and bringing with it a MAGTF that delivers immediate combat power and multi-domain effects.
Its capabilities continue to evolve. Its demand by combatant commanders continues to grow. But one thing hasn’t changed: Marines. Their cohesion and resolve turn emerging technologies into battlefield advantage. When they come from the sea, they bring C2, fires, logistics, aviation, and a reinforced infantry battalion—ready to act forcibly before anyone else can.
The MEU remains the connective tissue between sea and land, deterrence and decision, day-to-day campaigning and high-end warfighting. What began as a Cold War solution has since matured into forward-deployed expression of American resolve.
For 250 years, Marines have fought forward—ready at a moment’s notice, often from the sea. That legacy endures in the ARG/MEU: first to the fight, lethal on arrival, and ready for anything. This unique capability remains a cornerstone of American strength that secures peace. It must be sustained.
Gen. Eric Smith is the 39th Commandant of the United States Marine Corps.
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