31st MEU, ships and aircraft en route to Japan
Three Navy amphibious ships carrying more than 2,200 Marines with Japan-based 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit should reach the earthquake and tsunami-devastated northeast coast Wednesday, military officials said.
The 31st MEU is embarked on amphibious assault ship Essex and dock landing ships Harpers Ferry and Germantown along with Amphibious Squadron 11. “We are repositioning to be ready to support our Japanese partners,” Col. Andrew MacMannis, the 31st MEU commander, said in a statement. “Our support will be to complement the services that the government of Japan is already providing. We stand ready to help our partners in need as they work tirelessly to respond to this evolving crisis.”
The MEU includes Battalion Landing Team 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines, which is on a planned deployment from Camp Pendleton, Calif.; Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 262 (Reinforced); and Combat Logistics Battalion 31.
“The military’s logistics capabilities — the ability to move supplies and people by air, ground and sea — makes us an ideal response team to support those logistics,” Lt. Col. William Arick, CLB-31’s commander, said in a statement.