[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.

[StarCMC]

Thank you so much for the clarification!! I was figuring the 300 number to be roughly right, but I didn't take into account the support. I also heard there are 2 apaches giving air support. Dear GOD keep them safe.

[mathluv]

Here's the stupid civilian question of the day: How many Marines in a battalion???"

I guess I am one of those stupid civilians. I know next to nothing about numbers, or how staffing is done, or what all of the ranks are. That does not mean I do not want to learn, or do not support our troops 100%.