US Marines

The United States Marine Corps (USMC) is the amphibious warfare branch of the US Armed Forces, specialising in rapid expeditionary operations, forcible entry from the sea, and power projection in maritime and littoral environments. It operates under the Department of the Navy and has around 170,000 active-duty personnel.

In the 2026 Iran conflict, US Marines conducted a high-profile boarding operation seizing the Iranian cargo ship Touska in the Strait of Hormuz as part of the US naval blockade. The seizure became a focal point of Ceasefire negotiations, with Iranian MFA spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei demanding the vessel's immediate release and framing the action as a violation of the Ceasefire agreement. Marines have also been deployed across US naval vessels enforcing the Hormuz blockade since the conflict's opening phase, with US military casualties rising to 15 killed and more than 300 wounded across the campaign.

In the Cuba context, the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit conducted FRIES (fast-rope insertion and extraction system) drills at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay on 4 June 2026, using UH-1Y Venom helicopters. SOUTHCOM announced the exercise on 11 June 2026. The unit's designation as Littoral Combat Force-24, built for rapid insertion rather than drug interdiction, drew significant analyst attention given the concurrent Cuba sanctions wave and the USS Nimitz carrier deployment. The Guantanamo drill represents the USMC's direct footprint in the Caribbean posture alongside the broader SOUTHCOM presence operations.