The Joint Light Tactical Vehicle is the latest addition to III Marine Expeditionary Force’s fleet of vehicles, and is a valuable new asset to units across III MEF in the dynamic and evolving Indo-Pacific area of operations. III Marine Expeditionary Force (III MEF), based out of Okinawa, Japan, is a forward deployed combat unit that serves as III MEF’s comprehensive logistics and combat service support backbone for operations throughout the Indo-Pacific area of responsibility. III MEF is a formation of the Marine Air-Ground Task Force of the United States Marine Corps.
The Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) is a United States military (specifically U.S. Army, U.S. Marine Corps) and USSOCOM program to part-replace the Humvee with a family of more survivable vehicles with greater payload. Oshkosh’s L-ATV was selected as the winner of the JLTV program in August 2015 and awarded an initial production contract for up to 16,901 JLTVs. The U.S. Army approved the JLTV for full–rate production in June 2019. JLTV follows the U.S. Army’s Long Term Armor Strategy (LTAS) with kits for two levels of armor protection.
It is forward-deployed and able to rapidly conduct operations across the spectrum from humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HA/DR) to amphibious assault and high-intensity combat. It maintains a forward presence in Japan and Asia to support the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the United States and Japan (1960) and other alliance relationships of the United States. III MEF also conducts combined operations and training throughout the region in support of the National Security Strategy for Theater Security Cooperation.
