31st MEU Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations

by Not A Charm: Iran

Iran couldn't locate a few Marines running fuel trucks out of dirt strips, and those same jets kept flying. That's the whole point. During the war, the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit put Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations into practice. Small mobile bases went up within range of Iranian missiles. F-35Bs, Army helicopters and drones got rearmed and refueled right on location. Remote radar posts tracked vessel movement through the strait. The idea was drawn up in 2020 for a potential China fight from tiny Pacific islands. This deployment logged 1,600 mishap-free flight hours, refueled over 300 aircraft, and boarded three ships during the blockade. Col. Chris Niedziocha on those boardings, with 30 Force Reconnaissance Marines fast-roping onto vessels at night: "At two in the morning, when 30 Force Reconnaissance Marines fast rope onto your vessel, [you are] just compliant with a capital C." The large fixed bases in the Gulf got destroyed and will need decades to rebuild. Spending billions on targets Iran already knows how to strike doesn't add up when the cheaper answer just passed its first real combat test. Beijing watched the whole thing like a rehearsal.