The Corps' Pacific realignment will move forward in 2016 amid recent dust-ups with key allies.
The Pentagon in early December awarded $309 million for the first phase of a Guam construction project needed to move 5,000 Marines and 1,300 dependents from Okinawa. Congress has approved nearly $9 billion for the relocation, and Japan has already put up more than $1 billion. The move from Okinawa is scheduled to run from 2021 to 2023.
The construction plan calls for Marine Corps facilities at the Navy Computer and Telecommunications Station at Finegayan, family housing at Andersen Air Force Base, and live-fire training ranges in the north. The December funds will go toward site and grade preparation; electrical, mechanical, and water and wastewater utilities upgrades; and construction of roadways and sidewalks leading to Finegayan.
Most Okinawans are happy to see a reduction in the number of Marines — 74 percent of U.S. forces in Japan are based on the island — but tensions remain high as Japanese and U.S. officials look to relocate Marine Corps Air Station the Futenma Air Base from a heavily populated section of Okinawa to the less developed area of Henoko Bay. Many residents want the base moved off the island completely. This battle will play out in the courts in 2016, as Japan’s central government in early December filed a lawsuit against Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga to allow construction to move forward.
In the land down under, Darwin deployments have proven invaluable as the Pentagon looks to beef up regional security and response with an eye toward an expanding Chinese military. However, the late 2015 lease of Darwin Port to Chinese-owned company Landbridge Group has caused a stir in the Pentagon, according to Australian media reports, which described subsequent dialogue as "emergency talks."
The Marines' 2015 deployment marked the fourth rotation through Darwin, and the second time a full battalion landing team — about 1,170 Marines and sailors — has deployed to the Northern Territory. President Barack Obama said in 2013 that he hoped to send 2,500 Marines — a full Marine air-ground task force — to Australia during the 2016-2017 timeframe, though it is not clear whether that goal will be met. U.S. and Australian defense leaders are looking to rotate a three-ship amphibious readiness group through the region, and perhaps a carrier strike group. Darwin's port would need to be expanded to host an amphibious assault ship and two dock landing ships.
When the dust settles, the Corps plans to have MAGTFs or better in Australia, Guam, Hawaii and Okinawa.
