The 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (24th MEU) is one of seven Marine Expeditionary Units currently in existence in the United States Marine Corps. The Marine Expeditionary Unit is a Marine Air Ground Task Force (MAGTF) with a strength of about 2,200 personnel. The MEU consists of a command element, a reinforced infantry battalion, a composite helicopter squadron and an MEU service support group. The 24th MEU is currently based out of Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.
What is today the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) was activated at various times as the 34th Marine Amphibious Unit (MAU) to participate in exercises and operations in the North Atlantic, Mediterranean and Caribbean.In May 1982, it was redesignated the 24th MAU and served twice as part of the multinational peace-keeping force in Lebanon (October 1982 through February 1983, and May through November 1983). The 24th MAU lost 221 in the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing.It continued to make routine six-month deployments to the Mediterranean during the next six years while also providing forces for operations in the Persian Gulf. The 24th MAU was redesignated the 24th MEU in February 1988.
In February 2008, the 24th MEU began deploying its Marines to Kandahar, Afghanistan. They began their combat operations in April 2008. Marines of the 24th MEU flooded into the Taliban-held town of Garmsir April 29, 2008 , in Helmand province, in the first major American operation in the region in years. By June 1, 2008, the Taliban were pushed out of Garmser. By mid-July, after a month and a half of heavy combat, it was reported that more than 400 Taliban fighters in the Garmser area had been killed.