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U.S. Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command
Active	February 24, 2006-
Country	United States
Allegiance	USMC
Type	Special Forces
Size	2,500 men
Part of	United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM)
Garrison/HQ	Stone Bay, Camp Lejeune, NC
Commanders
Current commander	Major General Dennis Hejlik

United States Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command (MARSOC) is a component command of the U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) that comprises the Marine Corps' contribution to SOCOM. Its core capabilities are direct action, special reconnaissance, foreign internal defense, counterterrorism, information operations, and unconventional warfare.^[1] Its creation was announced on 1 November 2005 by US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, following a meeting between him, the USSOCOM commander General Bryan D. Brown, and the Marine Corps Commandant General Michael Hagee on 28 October 2005. MARSOC was officially activated on February 24, 2006 with ceremonies at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

MARSOC comprises roughly 2,500 Marines and supporting sailors, and is currently commanded by Major General Dennis Hejlik, formerly the deputy commander of I Marine Expeditionary Force. It is based at Camp Lejeune and will be split into five subordinate commands:

• The Marine Special Operations Advisor Group (MSOAG), based at Camp Lejeune, contains about 400 personnel and will train foreign military forces in an effort to ease the workload for Army Special Forces. (Formerly the Foreign Military Training Unit)

• Two Marine Special Operations Battalions (MSOBs), one on each coast (one at Camp Lejeune, the other at Camp Pendleton, California). Their mission is to conduct expeditionary special operations mission to include special reconnaissance, direct action, and foreign internal defense. Eventually information operations, counter terrorism and unconventional warfare will be added to the core tasks of an MSOB. Each MSOB consists of four or five Marine Special Operations Companies (MSOCs), each commanded by a Major (O-4). The MSOC's are still tied with the Marine Expeditionary Units on each coast, "separable but not separate" from the MEUs. The core personnel strength of the MSOBs was initially drafted from Force Reconnaissance Marines.
• The Marine Special Operations Support Group (MSOSG) at Camp Lejeune, which also comprises 400 personnel, contains the Command's administrative, intelligence, and support assets.
• The Marine Special Operations School (MSOS) at Camp Lejeune conducts screening, recruiting, training, selection, assessment, and development functions for MARSOC.

The potential participation of the Marine Corps in SOCOM has been controversial since SOCOM was first formed in 1986. At the time, Marine Corps leaders felt that their Force Reconnaissance units were best kept in the Marine Corps' MAGTF command structure, and that the detachment of an "elite" Marine Special Operations unit from the Marine Corps would be to the detriment of the Marine Corps as a whole. A reevaluation following the September 11th attacks and the global war on terror, along with new policy established by Secretary Rumsfeld at the Pentagon, caused the Marine Corps to work towards integration with SOCOM. The establishment of MARSOC represents the most significant step towards this goal, and follows the establishment of MCSOCOM Detachment One (DET1), a small Marine Corps detachment formed as a pilot program to test Marine Corps integration into SOCOM and that served under Naval Special Warfare Squadron One. DET1 was disbanded in 2006.

A Marine glides towards his target on a parasail during military freefall operations at Camp Lejeune

MARSOC has started a reorganization. The primary purpose is to better balance the capabilities of MARSOF and better balance the operator/support ratio within MARSOC to execute direct and indirect missions. The reorganization enables a long term relevant special operations force with greater self sufficiency.

Based on requirements from USSOCOM and Theater Special Operations Commands, MARSOC identified the need to have greater capacity in FID. The reorganization provides more capacity by reducing capacity in other areas.

After action reports from deployments identified a significant shortfall in the ability of an MSOC to be user-friendly and plug into a JSOTF with minimal impact. The reorganization addresses that shortfall by increasing the Combat Service Support in an MSOC. In the reorganization, MARSOC will adopt a uniform naming convention. The base unit of MARSOC will be the 14-man Marine Special Operations Team (MSOT), commanded by a Captain. All MSOTs will have the same organization.

MSOTs will be part of a Marine Special Operations Company, commanded by a Major. Each MSOC headquarters will have the same structure. All MSOCs will be elements of an MSOB, commanded by a LtCol. The uniform naming convention gives MARSOC consistent, clearly understood force modules which enable effective resourcing and joint employment.

The restructured MARSOC will be more agile, user-friendly, and relevant for the long term. It will provide operational commanders with well trained Marine Special Operations Forces that are prepared to execute the assigned missions.

United States Marine Corps Portal

• Organization of the United States Marine Corps
• Special forces

• U.S. Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command official website
• ShadowSpear Special Operations Community Website - MARSOC

This article incorporates text in the public domain from the United States Marine Corps.

Notes

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