31st MEU Takes the Lead of Joint-service Task Force in Response to Super Typhoon Yutu
Gunnery Sgt. Angel Ignacio, the battalion gunnery sergeant with Combat Logistics Battalion 31, catches a package of bottled water from a coastguardsman aboard the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Washington (WPB-1331) while delivering food and supplies to citizens of Tinian, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands during relief efforts in the wake of Super Typhoon Yutu, Oct. 29, 2018. Ignacio, a communications chief, is a native of Guam, CNMI, which was also affected by Yutu. The Marines arrived on Tinian in the wake of Super Typhoon Yutu as part of the U.S. Defense Support of Civil Authorities here. The Marines arrived at the request of CNMI officials and the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency to assist relief efforts in the wake of Yutu, the largest typhoon to ever hit a U.S. territory. The 31st MEU, the Marine Corps’ only continuously forward-deployed MEU, provides a flexible force ready to perform a wide-range of military operations across the Indo-Pacific region.