CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. –Brigadier Gen. Joaquin F. Malavet, designated a Naval Aviator in 1987 as a CH-53D pilot, will assume command of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Brigade during a ceremony at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton Friday, August 29 at 12:30 p.m.  Malavet will assume command from Brig. Gen. Carl E. Mundy III who has served as the commander since July 2013. 

The mission of 1st MEB is to composite and deploy as a Marine Air Ground Task Force (MAGTF) in support of Combatant Commander requirements for contingency response and serves as the core element of a Joint Task Force. 

1^st MEB provides flexibly scalable forces, allowing commanders to tailor force footprints to evolving situations and effectively composite modular MAGTFs by combining forward-deployed forces with rapidly deployable standby forces at the right place at the right time.

Malavet’s previous assignment was as the Principal Director to the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for South and Southeast Asia in Washington, D.C.  He has also previously deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.

From 8-14 August 2014, Mundy led 1^st MEB during Large Scale Exercise 2014 that trained over 5,000 U.S. Marines, Sailors, Airmen, and Soldiers as well as over 150 Canadian military forces across a range of military operations.  Mundy, a Major General select, has been chosen to be the next commander of U.S. Marine Corps Forces Central Command Forward in Bahrain as well as the commander of Combined Task Force 51, a naval force that falls under the U.S. Navy’s 5^th Fleet.

Media interested in attending this event should contact the I MEB public affairs officer, Capt. Staci Reidinger, at (760)763-7047. Media must arrive at the Camp Pendleton main gateNLT 11:30 a.m. Friday and will be escorted to the 21 Area Parade Field for the ceremony.

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