Multipurpose Black Hawk Utility Helicopter: Rotary-wing Versatility Required for U.S. Marine Corps Enhanced Company Operations

摘要

The Marine Corps is known for its employment of combined-arms warfighting and task-organizes its forces as a Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF). The MAGTF concept includes, just as the name implies, a balance of air and ground forces organized under one commander, tailored in size and capabilities based on a specific mission. The MAGTF is designed to rapidly deploy by air, land, or sea and provides forces to naval, joint, and multinational commanders that are ready to fight, prevent conflicts, or control crises. Each MAGTF has four elements: the Command Element (CE), the Ground Combat Element (GCE), the Aviation Combat Element (ACE), and the Logistics Combat Element (LCE). The most robust MAGTF is the Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF), based around the infantry division and air wing, and serves as the Marine Corps principal warfighting organization. The Marine Expeditionary Brigade (MEB) is centered on the infantry regiment and air group. The most commonly utilized and smallest standing MAGTF is the Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), tailored around the infantry battalion and a reinforced squadron, and is continuously forward-deployed to provide immediate crisis response and power projection. The fourth type of MAGTF is the Special Purpose MAGTF (SPMAGTF). A SPMAGTF is a non-standing MAGTF temporarily formed to accomplish a specific mission when either a standing MAGTF unit is not suitable on a standing MAGTF is not available. A SPMAGTF can come in any size but is generally smaller than a MEU and can be task-organized from deployed or non-deployed forces.