Northern Strike

Col. Andrew Shriver, Assistant Chief of Staff, G-8, discusses force design and establishing a crisis response force Dec. 14, 2021, at Marine Corps Support Facility New Orleans. II MEF and MARFORRES are the Marine Corps’ service-retained forces administratively and operationally controlled by the Marine Corps instead of a combatant command, such as most Marines stationed in California and Japan who are aligned to support U.S. Indo-Pacific Command. The planning team is designing an active and Reserve contingency response force that could go anywhere worldwide outside the Indo-Pacific Command area of responsibility at a moment’s notice during a crisis. MARFORRES and II MEF are the Marine Corps’ service-retained forces, which means they are administratively and operationally controlled by the Marine Corps. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Mitchell Collyer)