6 Platforms for Marine Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations Logistics

The Marine Corps’ new operational concept, Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations (EABO), has largely been well received by the defense community. Devised with China in mind, EABO is designed to significantly enhance the Marine Corps’ ability to contribute to the U.S. Navy’s sea-control/sea-denial capabilities in the Western Pacific. These operations, intended to be carried out by the Marine Corps’ newly formed Marine Littoral Regiments, seek to “further distribute lethality by providing land-based options for increasing the number of sensors and shooters beyond the upper limit imposed by the quantity of seagoing platforms available” by “employing mobile, relatively low-cost capabilities in austere, temporary locations forward as integral elements of fleet/FMCC [Force Movement Control Center] operations.” A recent Congressional Research Service (CRS) report depicts EABO as “having reinforced-platoon-sized Marine Corps units maneuver around the theater, moving from island to island, to fire anti-ship cruise missiles (ASCMs) and perform other missions so as to contribute…to U.S. operations to counter and deny sea control to Chinese forces.”