US/Israel conduct airstrikes on Iran again

I've had a bit of a look into this. According to USNI News, the unit being deployed is the 31st MEU (Marine Expeditionary Unit), which consists of a ground combat element, a supply & logistics element that allows the group to generally operate independently, as well as an aviation element containing both transport & attack helicopters and a number of F-35B fighters. All these units are based on the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli, LHA 7, and the amphibious landing ships USS New Orleans, LPD 18 and USS San Diego, LPD 22.

Link to USNI News

The Tripoli, an America class amphibious assault ship, looks like a small aircraft carrier and houses much of the 31st's aviation element, but it also has a vehicle deck, berthing for US Marines, and a well deck in the back for embarked landing craft. The New Orleans and San Diego meanwhile are San Antonio class landing ships and look more like a militant ro/ro ferry. They have a smaller flight deck aft, as well as a vehicle deck, large well deck, and significant berthing for embarked troops. These ships are lightly armed, basically only have point defence weapons, so they are going to be escorted by a number of Arleigh-Burke class destroyers, as well as a Sacramento class fleet oiler. So the entire task force, referred to as an expeditionary strike group (ESG) is likely going to be between seven and nine ships, not counting the odd nuclear attack submarine that might be skulking around with the group.

Now, here's where things get interesting. US Marines are generally trained to a much higher standard than their US Army counterpart, even though Manic Moran might not like to hear that. As such, the spectrum of combat operations they can perform is much larger than that of a regular US Army unit of comparable size. In some ways, they're more akin to a SpecOps outfit than a regular infantry unit. There is a program to bring an entire MEU up to a standard at which it is capable of special operations, these units are referred to as MEU(SOC), but I couldn't find any information as to whether the 31st MEU is special operations capable.

What I did find was a PDF of a USMC order dating back to 2015 that lists the 31st MEU as the only MEU capable of conducting small boat raids. These are basically what it says on the tin, amphibious raids that rely on teams in RHIBs and other small boats, rather than the large and slow LCU (Landing Craft Utility) or large and loud LCAC (Landing Craft, Air Cushioned) landing craft that are common across the other MEUs. An article by Marine Captain Andrew Mirsch, published in the USNI's Proceedings magazine back in 2018, further confirms this.

In light of the above, I highly suspect that the 31st will be used as an offshore special operations force whose primary purpose is going to be to interdict the IRGC's minelaying and fast boat operations in the Strait of Hormuz. Small assault boats such as RHIBs are far too small to trigger most contact mines, and their magnetic field is far too weak to trigger any magnetic mines, meaning that they can operate in areas that are off-limits to larger craft, be they more conventional landing craft, or the numerous small patrol boats that are often used to support Navy SEAL operations. The composition of the 31st MEU makes it ideal for this in my eyes, since a lot of the IRGC's naval operations are equally focused on small boat operations, which the US Navy's Arleigh Burke class destroyers, or Littoral Combat Ships, are far less capable of dealing with.

I suspect that the US already has SpecOps units on the ground in Iraq. While discussing the loss of a KC-135 tanker aircraft last night, @vswr mentioned that the KC-135R (RT), the only KC-135 tanker variant able to itself be refuelled mid air, is generally used to support operations by MC-130, a variant of the C-130 Hercules used for special operations. vswr also mentioned that a number of MC-130s had been transferred into the area recently. Given that only 8 KC-135R (RT) ever existed, having these assets near an active conflict zone only makes sense when their particular capabilities are needed to support operations.

I think there's another post (could be in a different thread) suggesting they could be tasked with recovering the Uranium. But firstly, that sounds implausible for the skills/equipment of this unit, especially if said uranium is inland, and secondly, I just read a report that there is currently no appetite either from the us or Israel to recover the material.

Mine sweeping duty seems very plausible and once complete, perhaps it will morph into a shipping protection unit?

Thanks for such a detailed response - extremely insightful.