Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations is a form of expeditionary warfare that involves the employment of mobile, low-signature, operationally relevant, and relatively easy to maintain and sustain naval expeditionary forces from a series of austere, temporary locations ashore or inshore within a contested or potentially contested maritime area in order to conduct sea denial, support sea control, or enable fleet sustainment.
EABO support the projection of naval power by integrating with and supporting the larger naval campaign. Expeditionary operations imply austere conditions, forward deployment, and projection of power. EABO are distinct from other expeditionary operations in that forces conducting them combine various forms of operations to persist within the reach of adversary lethal and nonlethal effects. It is critical that the composition, distribution, and disposition of forces executing EABO limit the adversary’s ability to target them, engage them with fires and other effects, and otherwise influence their activities.
Holding Security
Photo by Sgt. Alexis Flores
U.S. Marine Corps Pfc. Jacob Gastelum, a rifleman with Alpha Company, Battalion Landing Team 1/1, 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, holds security for an amphibious landing as part of an expeditionary advance base exercise, May 15. Marines and Sailors of the 11th MEU and Essex Amphibious Ready Group are conducting integrated training on and off the coast of southern California.
Missions of EABO include:
• Support sea control operations
• Conduct sea denial operations within the littorals
• Contribute to maritime domain awareness
• Provide forward command, control, communications, computers, combat systems, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, targeting, and counter-targeting capability
• Provide forward sustainment
Setting Up
Photo by Cpl. Donovan Massieperez
U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Tyler Ochs, a platoon commander with 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, currently attached to 3rd Marine Division under the Unit Deployment Program, sets up defensive positions during an Expeditionary Advance Base Operation exercise at the Northern Training Area, Okinawa, Japan, June 17, 2020. This 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment-led exercise also features participation from 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion and High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems from 3rd Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment. Training events like this strengthen 3rd Marine Division’s ability to control key terrain in a contested battlespace. Ochs is a native of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.
The Naval Service remains the preeminent US military component for sustained power projection, and a littoral force conducting EABO is a key enabler to a naval campaign.