United States Marine Corps Forces Central Command

The United States Marine Corps Forces Central Command is headquartered at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida. The Marine Corps Force Central Command is responsible for all Marine Corps Forces in the United States Central Command, except for those assigned to the U.S. Special Operations Command, and Special Operations Command, Central Command.

The Command's responsibility includes 20 countries and over 500 million people in regions including Arabian Sea, Red Sea, Persian Gulf, and part of the Indian Ocean. The terrain ranges from mountain ranges with elevations of more than 24,000 feet and desert areas below sea level and temperatures ranging from below freezing to 130 °F. The region contains the major maritime trade routes which link the Middle East, Europe, Asia and the Western Hemisphere.

The Command regularly deploys marines aboard U.S. Navy amphibious ships to the region, organised as Marine Air Ground Task Forces. There have been Marines stationed at the Central Command since September 1982, but Marine Central Command only came into existence in 1990, in preparation for Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in Southwest Asia.

The Command has partaken, through Marine Corps Forces Pacific, Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Pakistan, operations in the Central Asian States as well as the Horn of Africa, and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

History
The Marine Corps did not have a service component command at the Central Command headquarters until 1990. During the Gulf War, the Commanding General of I Marine Expeditionary Force (I MEF) was also titled as Commander, Marine Corps Forces Central Command (MARCENT). In 1992, the Marine Corps gave this role to the Commander of U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Pacific, though the title was only to be used as needed. In 1996 a Marine Liaison Office was opened at CENTCOM headquarters, MacDill Air Force Base, being known as MARCENT, and in 1999 this office was upgraded to Headquarters Marine Corps Forces Central Command. At this point the Deputy Commander of MARFORPAC was responsible for overseeing MARCENT. In 2001, the Commander of MARFORPAC formally took on the role of leading MARCENT. Having one officer commanding both the Central Command and Pacific Command service components was too much, and in 2005 the Marine Corps gave the role of MARCENT commander to the Commanding General of I MEF. The decision to create a free standing MARCENT headquarters was made as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan continued. In 2012, Lieutenant General Robert Neller became the first dedicated head of MARCENT at MacDill AFB, fully focused on the Middle East.