[StarCMC]

I am just trying to catch up from last night, so if this has been answered, just ignore me... I heard that there are 1200 Marines PLUS 2 battallions on Fox News this morning. Here's the stupid civilian question of the day: How many Marines in a battalion???

[DollyCali]

good question that many of us do not know..

[VMI70]

"I heard that there are 1200 Marines PLUS 2 battallions on Fox News this morning. Here's the stupid civilian question of the day: How many Marines in a battalion???"

A Marine, as well as an Army, infantry battalion numbers around 1,000-1,200.

The "PLUS 2 battalions" you refer to are Iraqi security forces, which are probably the same size. So the combined force strength is somewhere in the neighborhood of 3,000-3,600.

If you assume that these are all ground pounders, then multiplying those numbers by about 6-8 (the "support multiplier") will give you the approximate number directly involved in the operation. Getting between 18,000 and 28,800 people moving in the same direction in 2 days should be pretty impressive, by anyone's standards.

Note: I draw that info from my experience from many moons ago, but I think it generally still holds true. I would welcome any updates.

[Getsmart64]

"How many Marines in a battalion???"

Not sure about marine corp manning numbers but their organization is based on the triangle, just like the Army. With full manning, a Army infantry battalion has 495 combat troops. Three battalions to a Regiment and three Regiments in a Division. Along with the basic combat troops in a division, each division has Artillery, Anti-Aircraft, Anti-tank, HQ personnel, tank support, and assorted support personnel to include services, admin types, intel, supply, etc.

As for Brigades. Brigades are a combination of Infantry, Light and/or Mech, Armour, and all support troops. Some Infantry AND Armour divisions are based on the Brigade instead of the Regiment.

Someone please correct me if I'm inaccurate.