Marine Corps Battalion Redesignates as First Medium Missile Battalion

History was made at the home of the 2nd Marine Division as the 1st Battalion, 10th Marine Regiment, redesignated from an artillery battalion to a medium missile battalion during a ceremony Oct. 9 at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, creating a first-of-its-kind unit in the Marine Corps.

In accordance with the commandant's planning guidance, the battalion was selected to redesignate to align with the Marine Corps Force Design 2030 plan, supporting modernization efforts by adding the Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System to its arsenal.

"The medium-range missile battalion employs the NMESIS," said Marine Corps Lt. Col. Joseph Mozzi, battalion commander. "[The NMESIS] is the Marine Corps' emerging ground-based anti-ship missile capability, and it will also be a ground-based, long-range precision fires platform."

First introduced to the 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment in 2024, the interdiction system combines a remotely operated ground unit for expeditionary fires carrier with a launcher that can fire two Naval Strike Missiles, providing sea denial, sea control and a defense against maritime threats.

"The requirement for the Marine Corps to have a land-based capability to conduct sea denial was identified as a crucial step to facilitate the maritime component commanders to fight for sea control," Mozzi said.

In an ever-changing battlefield, adaptability is crucial to the success of defensive powers. Integrating the NMESIS provides the service with a rapidly deployable system that can function in austere, expeditionary environments.

During Large Scale Exercise 2021, the Marine Corps successfully tested the system off the coast of Hawaii with a Naval Strike Missile fired toward a surface target at sea. With an effective range of more than 130 nautical miles and the ability to target surface ships and fixed ground targets, Marine Corps leaders said the Naval Strike Missile is a critical asset for denying adversaries access to key portions of contested waters.

"Projecting combat power ashore from the sea is historically what [Marines] do," said Marine Corps Col. William Soucie, 10th Marine Regiment commander. "What we will be able to do with [the NMESIS] is shoot in support of not only maneuver that's already ashore [but] we will also be able to shoot in support of maneuver[s] at sea."

The redesignation is the first artillery battalion modernization in the Marine Corps. Redesignating as a medium missile battalion offers the division new capabilities while still retaining lightweight howitzer capabilities.

The NMESIS does not replace the battalion's cannon artillery; rather, Soucie said it complements it. The regiment will retain artillery capabilities in another battalion, while the new system within the 1st Battalion will seamlessly integrate to provide close and continuous fires to units ashore and at sea.

As a unit in the service-retained force, the 1st Battalion was a candidate for artillery modernization because it gives the II Marine Expeditionary Force commanding general, and the Marine Corps as a whole, greater flexibility during a crisis.

"While the transition of the weapons platform is interesting, what makes the story compelling is that the Marines and sailors in that formation are not changing," Soucie said. "They are just as good as they have always been. And they will make the platform successful, and whatever mission they are assigned [to] successful, because they are phenomenal."