Marine Rotational Force-Darwin is a

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through ...

Marine Air-Ground Task Force Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF, pronounced MAG-TAF) is a term used by the United States Marine Corps to describe the principal organization for all missions across the range of military operations. MAGTFs are a balanced air-ground, combined ar ...

based at Matilda Lines at

Robertson Barracks Robertson Barracks is a major Australian Army base located in the Northern Territory of Australia within the suburb of Holtze in the Municipality of Litchfield about east of the Darwin city centre. The barracks were built during the 1990s. ...

and at

RAAF Base Darwin RAAF Base Darwin is a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) military air base located in the city of Darwin, in the Northern Territory, Australia. The base shares its runway with Darwin International Airport, for civil aviation purposes. The herita ...

. On 16 November 2011,

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Julia Gillard Julia Eileen Gillard (born 29 September 1961) is an Australian former politician who served as the 27th prime minister of Australia from 2010 to 2013, holding office as leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). She is the first and only ...

and

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

announced that starting in 2012 US Marines would deploy to

Darwin Darwin may refer to: Common meanings * Charles Darwin (1809–1882), English naturalist and writer, best known as the originator of the theory of biological evolution by natural selection * Darwin, Northern Territory, a territorial capital city i ...

on a rotational basis for about six months to conduct exercises and train with the

Australian Defence Force The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is the military organisation responsible for the defence of the Commonwealth of Australia and its national interests. It consists of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army, Royal Australian Air Fo ...

in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Au ...

. The first rotation of about 200 US Marines deployed to Australia in April 2012. On 14 June 2013, the Prime Minister announced that in 2014 the size of the deployment would increase to 1150 US Marines to be based at Robertson Barracks. Since then, that number has increased to 2,500.

Assets

* Key ** GCE = Ground Combat Element ** ACE = Aviation Combat Element ** LCE = Logistic Combat Element * MRF-D (April – October 2012) ** GCE – Fox Company,

2nd Battalion 3rd Marines 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines (2/3) was an infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps based out of Marine Corps Base Hawaii consisting of approximately 1000 Marines and sailors. The battalion fell under the command of the 3rd Marine Regim ...

* MRF-D (April – October 2013) ** GCE – Lima Company,

3rd Battalion 3rd Marines 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines, abbreviated as (3/3), is an infantry battalion of the United States Marine Corps, based out of Kaneohe, Hawaii. Known as either "Trinity" or "America's Battalion", the unit falls under the command of the 3rd Marine L ...

* MRF-D (April – October 2014) ** GCE –

1st Battalion 5th Marines 1st Battalion, 5th Marines (1/5) is an infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps based out of Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California consisting of approximately 800 Marines and sailors. Nicknamed ''Geronimo'', it falls under the ...

** ACE – Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 463 (HMH-463) with

Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion The Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion is a heavy-lift helicopter operated by the United States military. As the Sikorsky S-80, it was developed from the CH-53 Sea Stallion, mainly by adding a third engine, adding a seventh blade to the main rotor, ...

s ** LCE –

Combat Logistics Regiment 3 Combat Logistics Regiment 3 (CLR-3) is a direct support (DS) logistics unit of the United States Marine Corps and is headquartered at Camp Foster, Okinawa, Japan. The unit falls under the 3rd Marine Logistics Group and the III Marine Expeditio ...

(CLR-3) * MRF-D (April – October 2015) ** GCE –

1st Battalion 4th Marines 1st Battalion, 4th Marines (1/4) is an infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps based out of Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California consisting of approximately 800 Marines and sailors. They fall under the command of the 1st M ...

** ACE –

HMH-463 Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 463 (HMH-463) was a United States Marine Corps helicopter squadron consisting of CH-53E Super Stallion transport helicopters. The squadron, also known as "Pegasus", was last based at Marine Corps Air Station Kaneo ...

with Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallions * MRF-D (April – October 2016) ** GCE –

1st Battalion 1st Marines 1st Battalion 1st Marines (1/1st Marines) is an infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps based out of Camp Pendleton, California, consisting of anywhere from 800 to 2,000 Marines and Sailors, but the number fluctuates depending on t ...

** ACE – Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 367 (HMLA-367) with

Bell UH-1Y Venom The Bell UH-1Y VenomDoD 4120-15L, ''Model Desi ...

s. * MRF-D 17.2 (April – October 2017) ** GCE –

3rd Battalion 4th Marines 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines (3/4) is an infantry battalion of the United States Marine Corps. Nicknamed "Thundering Third". Nicknamed "Darkside," it is based at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, California, and consi ...

** ACE – Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 367 (HMLA-367) with

Bell AH-1Z Viper The Bell AH-1Z Viper is a twin-engine attack helicopter, based on the AH-1W SuperCobra, designed and produced by the American aerospace manufacturer Bell Helicopter. Being one of the latest members of the prolific Bell Huey family, it is also ...

s, and

Bell UH-1Y Venom The Bell UH-1Y VenomDoD 4120-15L, ''Model Desi ...

s. Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 268 (VMM-268) with Bell Boeing MV-22B Ospreys. * MRF-D 18.2 (April – October 2018) ** GCE –

2nd Battalion 4th Marines 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines (2/4th Marines) is an infantry battalion of the United States Marine Corps. The battalion, nicknamed the ''Magnificent Bastards'' from the Vietnam War, is based out of Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California and ...

** GCE – Mike Battery, 3rd Battalion 11th Marines ** ACE – Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 268 (VMM-268) with Bell Boeing MV-22B Ospreys. * MRF-D 19.2 (April – October 2019) ** GCE –

1st Battalion, 1st Marines 1st Battalion 1st Marines (1/1st Marines) is an infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps based out of Camp Pendleton, California, consisting of anywhere from 800 to 2,000 Marines and Sailors, but the number fluctuates depending on t ...

** GCE – India Battery, 3rd Battalion, 11th Marines ** ACE – Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 363 (VMM-363) with Bell Boeing MV-22B Ospreys. Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 367 (HMLA-367) with

s, and

Bell UH-1Y Venom The Bell UH-1Y VenomDoD 4120-15L, ''Model Desi ...

s ** LCE – Combat Logistics Battalion 1 * MRF-D 20.2 (April - October 2020) ** GCE -

3rd Battalion 7th Marines The 3rd Battalion 7th Marine Regiment (3/7) is an infantry battalion of the United States Marine Corps. They are based at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms and consist of approximately 800 Marines. The battalion falls ...

** GCE - Kilo Battery, 3rd Battalion, 11th Marines ** ACE - Detachment,

VMU-3 Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron 3 is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) squadron in the United States Marine Corps that operates the RQ-21 Blackjack that consists of approximately 200 Marines. They are based out of Marine Corps Base Hawaii, ...

** LCE - Combat Logistics Battalion 5

References

External links

*US Marines *DVIDS {{DEFAULTSORT:Marine Rotational Force - Darwin Ad hoc units and formations of the United States Marine Corps Australia–United States military relations Darwin, Northern Territory