Pacific Perspective - Combat Power:Marine Rotational Force - Darwin Deploys to Northern Territory

According to MRF - D,a new group of about 2,000 U.S. Marines and Sailors in the form of a Marine Air - Ground Task Force has arrived in Australia's Northern Territory for the 13th iteration of the deployment.The arrangement was signed by Former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Former U.S. President Barack Obama in 2011.It has another 12 years remaining.Each year,the deployment has grown in scale and complexity,enhancing our Alliance's capability and ability to work together and improving our combined capacity to respond to crises and contingencies in the Indo-Pacific Region.MRF - D remains an important touchpoint of the Australian/U.S. security Alliance,said MRF - D.*Said U.S. Marine Corps COL Brian T. Mulvihill,commanding officer of MRF - D 24.3:Our strong Alliance contributes to stability in the region and enables the readiness of our forces to respond to any crisis or contingency that arises.*Participants will conduct operations across a full spectrum of missions,including expeditionary operations;geographically distributed communications;non-combatant evacuation operations;embassy reinforcements;humaitarian assistance and disaster relief;and rapid projection of combat power.So the Alliance intends to deter our adversaries,and,if necessary,defend the rules-based international order.*The Marines are based at RAAF Darwin and,in concert with the Australian Defence Force,will carry out training throughout the region unitil the end of MRF - D 24.3's deployment in October.*MRF - D is a unit of I Marine Expeditionary Force.The motto of I MEF is "Ready.Engaged.Faithful".I MEF provides the Marine Corps with a globally responsive,expeditionary,and fully scalable Marine Air - Ground Task Force (MAGTF,pronounced MAGTAF),capable of generating,deploying,and employing ready forces and formations for crisis response;forward presence;major combat operations;and campaigns.*Leadership:I MEF is led by LTG Michael S. Cederholm,Commanding General,and MG Robert C. Fulford,Deputy Commanding General.A graduate of Weslyan University,LTG Cederholm,a Marine Corps Aviator,is a veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan) and Operation Iraqi Freedom.He is a graduate of the Navy Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN);the National War College (MS in National Security Strategy);and is a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Seminar XXI Fellow.*MG Fulford was commissioned in 1992 after graduating from the United States Naval Academy.He is a career infantry officer and veteran of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM 1.MG Fulford is a graduate of the U.S. Army Infantry Officer Advanced Course;the Marine Corps Command and Staff College;and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces.*A Marine Air - Ground Task Force is the principal organisation for all missions across the range of military operations.MAGTF's are a balanced,air-ground,combined arms task organisation of Marine Corps forces under a single commander that is structured to accomplish a specific mission.The four elements of a MAGTF are:1.Command Element (CE);2.Ground Combat Element (GCE);3.Air Combat Element (ACE);and 4.Logistics Combat Element (LCE).*The MAGTF was formalised by the publication of Marine Corps Order 3120.3,"The Marine Corps in the National Defense,MCDP 1-0".