Course Scope · Company Training
Fighting From the Sea
The ARG‑MEU for the Rifleman
DAY 1 · 90 MIN
The Ship
You live aboard it for months. Learn its shape before you learn anything else — hull types, major spaces, and how to find any compartment without asking twice.
TLO 1. Describe the organization, layout, and capabilities of an amphibious warfare ship, without omission of major spaces or functions.
ELO 1a · Ship Classes
Three hulls, one team
Every Amphibious Ready Group is built from three ship types, each doing a different job. None of them can do the mission alone.
| Displacement | Length | Primary role | |
|---|---|---|---|
| LHA/LHD | ~45,000 t | 844 ft | Aviation & command — small carrier |
| LPD | 25,300 t | 684 ft | Troops & vehicles — multi-role |
| LSD | 16,100 t | 609 ft | Well deck — launches LCAC/LCU |
- The America class (LHA) trades a well deck for extra flight deck and hangar — it fights like a light carrier.
- The San Antonio class (LPD) is Flight II production as of hull LPD‑30, replacing the aging Whidbey Island LSDs.
- A standard PHIBRON is one of each: one big-deck (LHA/LHD), one LPD, one LSD.
USS AMERICA (LHA‑6) · U.S. Navy photo, public domain
ELO 1b · Major Spaces
Four spaces, four functions
Well deck, hangar, flight deck, troop berthing — learn what happens in each before you learn where they are.
Well Deck
Floods to launch craft
Stern gate opens, deck ballasts down, LCAC/LCU/AAV self-deploy under their own power.
Hangar Bay
Aircraft maintenance
One deck below the flight deck; aircraft strike down via elevator for service and stowage.
Flight Deck
Launch & recovery
Marked spots for rotary/tiltrotor ops; spot count drives how fast a wave can lift.
Troop Berthing
Racks & stowage
Assigned by unit; muster and debarkation stations are briefed from here, not the well deck.
LCAC ENTERING A SHIP'S WELL DECK · U.S. Navy photo, public domain
ELO 1d · Ownership
Who owns the space you're standing in
The ship's crew, not the embarked MEU, owns nearly everything you'll walk through. Know which department to ask.
- Deck Department — the well deck, weather decks, ground tackle, small boats. Your point of contact for anything involving lines, cranes, or the well.
- Air Department — flight deck and hangar bay. Nothing moves there without their control.
- Weapons/Combat Systems — magazines, gun mounts, missile systems — restricted spaces you don't enter without escort.
- Supply & Medical — berthing support, mess decks, sick bay — the spaces that keep you fed and fit.
USS SAN ANTONIO (LPD‑17) · U.S. Navy photo, public domain
DAY 2 · 90 MIN
The MAGTF Afloat
Every Marine can name their squad. Fewer can explain who they actually work for once the ramp drops and the ship's captain and the MEU commander are both in the loop.
TLO 2. Identify the component elements and command relationships of a MEU, without error.
ELO 2b · Your MEU
What's actually embarked
Learn your MEU's real building blocks — the units you'll recognize on the flight deck and in the well deck.
| Element | Built around |
|---|---|
| GCE | An infantry battalion reinforced as a Battalion Landing Team (BLT) — armor, artillery, recon, engineers attached |
| ACE | A reinforced tiltrotor/helicopter squadron (VMM/HMM) with fixed-wing and attack/utility rotary detachments |
| LCE | A Combat Logistics Battalion (CLB) — the fuel, chow, maintenance, and medical that keeps the other three running |
| CE | The MEU headquarters — intel, comm, fires coordination binding all three together |
GCE MARINES, ASSAULT AMPHIBIOUS VEHICLE · U.S. Navy photo, public domain
DAY 3 · 90 MIN
Connectors
The vehicle that gets you from the well deck or flight deck to the beach has hard limits — capacity, sea state, spot availability. Know them before you're standing on the ramp.
TLO 3. State the role and employment limitations of surface and air connectors, without omission.
ELO 3a · Surface Connectors
From the well deck to the beach
Three craft, three very different speed/capacity trade-offs.
| Payload | Speed | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| LCAC | 60–75 t | 40+ kts | Air-cushion — crosses the beach itself, not just the surf |
| LCU | ≈350 troops / 140 t cargo | ~10 kts | Slow, high-capacity — 1 tank or 6 LAVs per boat |
| AAV/ACV | ≈25 Marines | ~8 kts (water) | Swims itself ashore & keeps fighting once there |
TWO LCUs REHEARSE A BEACH LANDING · U.S. Navy photo, public domain
ELO 3b · Air Connectors
Over the beach entirely
Air connectors skip the surf zone but trade it for spot availability and weather minimums.
| Lift | Role | |
|---|---|---|
| MV-22 | ≈24 troops | Medium lift, tiltrotor speed & range |
| CH-53E | 16 t cargo | Heavy lift — vehicles, artillery, external loads to 32,000 lb |
| CH-53K | 27,000 lb ext. | Fielding replacement for the CH-53E |
| UH-1Y / AH-1Z | — | Light lift, utility, and armed escort |
CH-53E SUPER STALLION, 22D MEU · U.S. Navy photo, public domain
DAY 4 · 90 MIN
Ship to Shore
This is where the plan meets you personally — your debarkation station, your wave, your actions on the connector and on the ramp.
TLO 4. Describe ship-to-shore movement and the individual Marine's actions within it, IAW the landing plan.
ELO 4d · Individual Actions
In the connector, on the ramp
The part of this block that's actually about you, personally, standing in a moving vehicle.
- Seating & restraint — assigned seating, restraints secured, gear stowed so it can't become a projectile.
- Weapons condition — set IAW the unit SOP for that specific connector; announced, not assumed.
- Seasickness — real and mission-affecting on a slow surface transit; bags issued, used discreetly, gear protected.
- Actions on the ramp — stay seated until the ramp is down and the order is given; move with your team, not as an individual; weapon oriented outboard, not at the Marine to your front.
MARINES, ASSAULT AMPHIBIOUS VEHICLE · U.S. Navy photo, public domain
DAY 5 · 90 MIN
Practical Application
Everything from Days 1–4, under a time limit, briefed back to the class the way you'd brief it to an actual platoon commander.
TLO 5. Given a notional alert order and a time limit, produce and brief a squad-level plan for movement ashore, meeting the stated standard.