Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command hosted personnel from Headquarters, Marine Corps (HQMC), Office of the Deputy for Information (DC-1), Meteorology and Oceanography (METOC), Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF), and Marine Forces Special Operations Command (MARSOC) for a familiarization of operational capabilities within Naval Oceanography commands, September 21-22, 2022.
 
Naval Oceanography and United States Marine Corps (USMC) collaboration supports a relationship between our two branches of service that has provided expeditionary capabilities to U.S. defense for over 200 years. Marines learning hydrography and application thereof presents an opportunity of better understanding and success within future USMC amphibious operations.
 
Recently while visiting forward deployed Marines, U.S. Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) Carlos Del Toro said, “We have a solemn responsibility to be prepared to fight and win wars, and it is the innovation and the courage of our Marines and Sailors that protect the world.”
 
Representatives from USMC included: MGySgt Ryan S. Miller, Occupation Field Specialist, METOC; MGySgt Eric B. Villanueva, Occupational Field Specialist, METOC; MGySgt Scott Stubbs, SNCOIC, MOAF; MGySgt Willy Pascua, USSOCOM MARSOC; MSgt Joshua Kilgore, MARSOC GEOINT; MSgt Michael Oddo, 2^nd Intel Bn METOC; MSgt David Randolph, MACS-2 METOC; MSgt Joseph Thompson, 1^st Intel Bn METOC; MSgt Jacob Urban, III MEF METOC; and MSgt Chris Butler, RMC-W METOC.
 
During the visit USMC and CNMOC representatives discussed various Naval Oceanography capabilities and covered topics such as Electro Magnetic Maneuver Warfare (EMW) and Surf Eagle (SE).
 
The Marine Corps and the Navy trace their origins to the same moment in U.S. History—following the founding of the Navy in October 1775, the second Continental Congress of November passed a resolution stating that two battalions of “American Marines” be raised for service as landing forces with the fleet. Like their British counterparts, American Marines operated on and near the shore, the perilous space between sea and field where the exigencies of coastal warfare created the need for a specialized force.
 
From engaging enemy decks by hanging from rigging in the War of 1812 to storming Japanese strongholds in the Pacific during World War II, Marines have fought alongside and as complement to Navy personnel — a symbiotic relationship that has remade amphibious warfare and lent decisive advantage to U.S. forces overseas.
 
While speaking on the importance of Naval-Marine Corps integration, Commandant of the Marine Corps (CMC) General David H. Berger stated, “We share a common understanding of the National Defense Strategy, the pacing threat, the future operating environment, and of those capabilities that provide the greatest overmatch for our Navy—we must strive to create capabilities that support fleet operations and naval campaigns.”
 
U.S. Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command directs and oversees more than 2,500 globally-distributed military and civilian personnel who collect, process and exploit environmental information to assist Fleet and Joint Commanders in all warfare areas to make better decisions, based on assured environmental information, faster than the adversary.