The Marine Corps stood up its newest unit, the Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF) Crisis Response – Central Command, on Tuesday to address theater security cooperation and emergency response needs in the CENTCOM area of responsibility.

The Marine Corps has been making arrangements for this SP MAGTF CR – CENTCOM for about 18 months now, Marine Corps Forces Central Command spokesman Lt. Col. Joseph Kloppel told Defense Daily, and its deployment is not related to any particular threat in the area. It could, however, be deployed in support of the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria if U.S. Central Command Commander Gen. Lloyd Austin decided to use them in that manner.

U.S. Central Command commander Gen. Lloyd Austin
U.S. Central Command commander Gen. Lloyd Austin

The unit pulls infantrymen from the 2nd Battalion 7th Marines, Ospreys and their crew from the Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 363, a logistics element from the 5th Combat Logistics Battalion, and more. The unit will have three KC-130 tankers and will take control of a Marine Corps tactical air support squadron that has already been operating in CENTCOM for several years, Kloppel said. In total, about 2,300 Marines comprise the MAGTF.

The crisis response unit will be dispersed throughout several countries in the Middle East, he said, to allow the greatest flexibility for the combatant commander. The Marine Corps will not name the host countries unless those countries publicly discuss the Marine Corps presence on their bases, he added.