1st Reconnaissance Battalion | Zodiac

Recon Marines with Bravo Company, 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, paddle a Combat Rubber Raiding Craft (CRRC), commonly known as a 'Zodiac', down a river.

Zodiacs are used by U.S. Special Operations Forces (SOF) unit such as Navy SEAL teams, Force / Division Reconnnaissance teams and Green Beret SCUBA teams.

Zodiacs are used for over-the-horizon insertion/extraction of small SOF raiding / recon teams.

The boats can be launched from surface vessels, dropped into the water from helicopters in a low hover or deployed by parachute.

The boat is bouyed by 8 seperate chambers.

This design allows the Zodiac to remain afloat in the event of any one chamber being punctured.

Recon Battalions provide division-level reconnaissance to the Ground Combat Element (GCE) of a Marine Air GRound Task Force (MAGTF).

The 1st Reconnaissance Battalion is a component of the 1st Marine Division.