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THE STATUS OF FORCES
Active duty: 194,461
Selected Marine Corps Reserve: 39,325
–Reservists on active duty: 2, 266
Marines around the world are conducting training, combat, and partnership operations from Alaska to Bulgaria this week. Here are some photo highlights of their work around the globe. Click on the map to see many more!
A CH-53E Sea Stallion deploys an improved ribbon bridge while Marines with Bridge Company, 7th Engineer Support Battalion, 1st Marine Logistics Group, conducted an IRB training exercise aboard Camp Pendleton, Calif., July 16, 2013. Five IRBs were transported and delivered by a CH-53E Sea Stallion and dropped into Oceanside harbor. Being one of only two bridge companies in the Marine Corps, it was the first time for the West Coast battalion to have the IRB deployed in this manner. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Timothy Childers/Released)
Marines with U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Special Operations Command freefall during a High Altitude Low Opening (HALO) training exercise at an airfield in North Carolina, July 8, 2013. The Marines conducted the HALO jump to reinforce the skills employed to safely complete the exercise. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Steven Fox/Released)
Lance Cpl. Manuel Carrion, a combat engineer attached to Company E., Battalion Landing Team 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, patrols with his squad during an aerial assault as a part of Talisman Saber 2013, here, July 21. The Marines and Sailors of the 31st MEU and Amphibious Squadron 11 are part of an integrated force of approximately 18,000 U.S. service members training alongside approximately 9,000 Australian service members in the fifth iteration of Talisman Saber 2013, a month-long biennial exercise designed to enhance multilateral collaboration in support of future combined operations, natural disaster, humanitarian and emergency response. The 31st MEU is the Marine Corps’ force in readiness for the Asia Pacific region and the only continuously forward-deployed MEU. (Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Codey Underwood)
A U.S. Marine playing the role of an aggressor looks throug his visor filled with residue from simulated oleoresin capsicum (OC) spray during an OC familiarization course aboard Mihail Kogalniceanu Military Base, Romania, June 13, 2013. BSRF-13 is slated to conduct military engagements operations with approximately 21 different nations during its six-month deployment while serving as a crisis contingency force for the Black Sea, Baltic, and Balkans region. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Staff Sgt. David Rakes,Sr./released)
