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Other Marine units · from 1957

United States Marine Corps Force Reconnaissance

USMC deep reconnaissance unit.

History

Force Reconnaissance (FORECON) are United States Marine Corps reconnaissance units that provide deep ground and amphibious reconnaissance, surveillance, and limited-scale raids. They primarily support the Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF) and other Marine Air-Ground Task Forces (MAGTF). Although FORECON companies are conventional forces they share many of the same tactics, techniques, procedures and equipment of special operations forces. Though commonly misunderstood to refer to reconnaissance-in-force, the name "Force Recon" actually refers to the unit's relationship with the Marine Expeditionary Force or Marine Air-Ground Task Force. Since the mid-1980s, a force recon detachment has formed part of a specialized sub-unit of Marine Expeditionary Units known as the Maritime Special Purpose Force (MSPF) or Maritime Raid Force (MRF).

Text from Wikipedia: United States Marine Corps Force Reconnaissance, CC BY-SA 4.0, lightly trimmed.

Key dates

  1. 1967
    Having been brought up to strength and operational readiness, the company was reunited on April 27, 1967, just in time for the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) offensive to seize Quảng Trị Province.
  2. 2006
    The creation of Marine Special Operations Command (MARSOC) on February 24, 2006, marked the United States Marine Corps' first commitment to the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM).
  3. 2008
    In December 2008, 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion activated its Force Reconnaissance Company.
  4. 2010
    On September 9, 2010, the Force Reconnaissance platoon assigned to the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (special operations capable) (MEU(SOC)) on the USS Dubuque (LPD-8) conducting the USMC's first opposed Visit, Board, Search, and Seizure (VBSS) recapturing the MV Magellan Star from Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden.
  5. 2010
    In 2010, a Force Reconnaissance team from the 24th MEU won the 2010 2nd Annual Warrior Competition against tactical units from all over the world.

Dates and events quoted from the same Wikipedia article (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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