India, March 14 -- The United States Marine Corps is sending a Marine unit to the Middle East as tensions in the region continue to grow. According to ABC News, about 2,200 Marines are traveling on three ships from the United States Navy toward the region.

The unit being deployed is the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (31st MEU). It is usually based in Japan and normally operates in the Indo-Pacific under United States Indo-Pacific Command but it has now been ordered to move toward the Middle East.

According to the official website, a Marine Expeditionary Unit is a mobile military group from the United States Marine Corps that operates from ships at sea. These ships act like floating bases which allows the unit to move quickly and respon...