Expeditionary maneuver warfare (EMW) is the current concept that guides how the United States Marine Corps

United States Marine Corps

The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...

 organizes, deploys and employs its forces. Utilizing maneuver warfare

Maneuver warfare

Maneuver warfare, or manoeuvre warfare , is the term used by military theorists for a concept of warfare that advocates attempting to defeat an adversary by incapacitating their decision-making through shock and disruption brought about by movement...

 and the Marine Corps' expeditionary heritage, EMW emphasizes strategically agile and tactically flexible Marine Air Ground Task Forces with the capability to project power against critical points in the littoral

Littoral

The littoral zone is that part of a sea, lake or river that is close to the shore. In coastal environments the littoral zone extends from the high water mark, which is rarely inundated, to shoreline areas that are permanently submerged. It always includes this intertidal zone and is often used to...

s and beyond.

EMW was designed to fit the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

's "Sea Basing"

Seabasing

Seabasing is a naval capability that provides commanders with the ability to conduct selected functions and tasks at sea without reliance on infrastructure ashore. It describes the concepts and methods for sustaining large military forces during operations at large distances from traditional...

 concept as outlined in the 'Sea Power 21 vision.

This concept has influenced Marine Corps equipment procurement

Procurement

Procurement is the acquisition of goods or services. It is favourable that the goods/services are appropriate and that they are procured at the best possible cost to meet the needs of the purchaser in terms of quality and quantity, time, and location...

 in recent years, leading to the purchase of the MV-22 Osprey, Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle

Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle

The Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle is an amphibious assault vehicle that was being developed for the U.S. Marine Corps. It is launched at sea, from an amphibious assault ship beyond the horizon, able to transport a full Marine rifle squad to shore...

, F-35 Lightning II

F-35 Lightning II

The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is a family of single-seat, single-engine, fifth generation multirole fighters under development to perform ground attack, reconnaissance, and air defense missions with stealth capability...

 and the M777 Lightweight Howitzer

M777 howitzer

The M777 howitzer is a towed 155 mm artillery piece, successor to the M198 howitzer in the United States Marine Corps and United States Army. The M777 is also used by the Canadian Army, and has been in action in Afghanistan since February 2006 along with the associated GPS-guided Excalibur...

.

Supporting operational concepts

• Ship-to-objective maneuver (STOM)
• Enhanced networked sea basing
• Sustained operations ashore
• Other expeditionary operations