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Force Service Support Group
(FSSG)
The force service support group (FSSG)
provides sustained combat service support for the
Marine Division and other force level units. Each
FSSG contains eight battalions that provide all
combat-service support functions beyond the
inherent capability of other FMF units. The FSSG
is structured to support either a one-division/
wing-configured MEF, two MEBs simultaneously,
or four MEUs simultaneously.
Marine Corps Reserve
Ready to increase the manpower combat
strength of the Marine Corps by one-third in a
matter of weeks is the 4th Marine Division/Wing
Team of the Selected Marine Corps Reserve. This
force is organized, equipped, and trained in the
same manner as the Regular Fleet Marine Forces.
Depending on the combat situation, 4th Marine
Division/Wing units are capable of either
augmenting Regular FMF units or deploying as
a separate division/wing team.
The Selected Marine Corps Reserve totals
slightly over 40,000 marines in both ground and
aviation units. Additionally, Individual Ready
Reservists (IRR) consist of more than 52,000
officers and enlisted marines not assigned to units.
IRRs are trained and prepared to fill out both
Active and Reserve organizations in an
emergency.
Training programs for Reserve Marines
include realistic air-ground training one weekend
a month and 2 weeks each summer. During the
latter period, Reserve and Regular units train
together frequently, engaging in exercises that
simulate their roles in combat.
WOMEN MARINES
During World War I, 305 women reservists
served in clerical jobs in order to free male marines
to fight in France. In February 1943 the Marine
Corps again called on women so that men could
be released for combat. By June 1944 the
authorized quota of 18,000 enlisted women
marines had been met and approximately 800
women Marine officers had been trained and
assigned.
Unlike World War I women marines, World
War II women reservists performed over 200
different military assignments, serving at every
major post and station in the United States and
Hawaii. By July 1946 all women reservists became
eligible for discharge. They had performed well
in answering the Corps’ call to “free a man to
fight.”
By Act of Congress on 12 June 1948, authority
was given to enlist women in the Regular Marine
Corps. Soon thereafter a women’s officer training
detachment was set up at Quantico, Virginia,
and the 3rd Recruit Training Battalion was
activated at Parris Island for training women
recruits.
Today women marines are an integral part of
the Regular Marine Corps, providing a nucleus
that can expand rapidly in the event of mobiliza-
tion. Women marines serve in all noncombat
fields and are assigned to every major post and
station of the Marine Corps.
MARINE CORPS EQUIPMENT
The Marine Corps’ heavy equipment includes
tanks, amphibians,
light armored vehicles,
artillery, missiles, and aircraft. During the 1980s,
equipment modernization programs across the
entire spectrum of combat arms have brought
dramatic improvement in the Marine Corps’
fighting capability. Major improvements include
the AV-8B Harrier, the vertical/short takeoff and
landing (V/STOL) aircraft, and the light armored
vehicle (LAV).
TANKS
The Marine Corps’ main battle tank is the
M-60 medium tank. Its armament includes a
105-mm gun, a 7.62-mm machine gun, and a
.50-caliber machine gun. The M-60 tank weighs
53 tons and can travel at speeds up to 30 miles
per hour. It can climb 60-percent grades, scale
3-foot-high obstacles, ford 8-foot-deep streams,
and cross 8½-foot-deep ditches.
AMPHIBIOUS ASSAULT VEHICLES
(AAVS)
The Marine Corps’ current amphibious assault
vehicle (AAV) is the LVTP-7 (landing vehicle,
tracked, personnel). It can carry either 25
combat-equipped marines or 5 tons of supplies
in the amphibious assault. It can travel at speeds
up to 8.4 knots in water or 40 miles per hour on
land. The LVTP-7 can climb 60-percent grades,
breech 3-foot-high obstacles, and traverse 8-foot-
wide ditches.
Other versions of AAVs include the LVTC-7
(command) and LVTR-7 (recovery). The LVTC-7
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