page_title: List of United States Marine Corps battalions
section_title: Infantry battalions
hierarchical_section_title: List of United States Marine Corps battalions / Active units / Ground Combat Element battalions / Infantry battalions
caption_attribution_description: U.S. Marines patrol a road in Khowst Province, Afghanistan, on Feb. 13, 2005. The Marines are assigned to Headquarters and Service Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines, and are conducting security and stabilization operations in the province.
context_page_description: This is a list of current United States Marine Corps battalions, sorted by the mission they perform.
context_section_description: Infantry battalions are the heart and soul of the ground combat element. The mission of locating, closing with, and destroying the enemy with fire and maneuver and repelling the enemy's assault with fire and close combat lies with the "grunts". Marine infantry battalions often have limited organic equipment outside of small arms, infantry crew-served weapons (e.g., heavy machine guns, medium mortars, and anti-tank missiles), and a few light tactical trucks. Marine infantry primarily maneuvers by foot as light infantry, and must be supplemented with additional trucks to become motorized infantry or Amphibious Assault Vehicles to become mechanized infantry.
  A Marine infantry battalion is usually organized into three rifle companies, a weapons company, and a headquarters and service company. The rifle company has a company headquarters, three rifle platoons, with three rifle squads each, and a weapons platoon with medium machineguns, mortars, and assault weapons sections. The weapons company includes a company headquarters, a heavy machinegun platoon, an 81mm mortar platoon, and an antiarmor platoon. Sometimes, the commander will mix these into Combined Anti-Armor Teams. The headquarters and service company includes all command, administration, intelligence, operations, logistics, and communication Marines and equipment, as well as the battalion's  Scout Sniper platoon and Battalion Aid Station (BAS) staffed by U.S. Navy Hospital Corpsman.  By 2030 three battalions will be disbanded, and some reflagged: 1/8th becoming 2/2nd, 2/8th becoming 4/6th, 8th Marine HQ and 3rd Btn disband.
caption: Marines on patrol
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