Camp Blaz to see limited increase in personnel

The U.S. Marine Corps has confirmed logistics personnel from the III Marine Expeditionary Force in Okinawa will be joining Marines already at Marine Corps Camp Blaz this month.

Lt. Governor Joshua F. Tenorio toured Marine Corps facilities in Okinawa in May, together with Vera Topasña, executive director of the Government of Guam’s Community Defense Liaison Office. Photo from Journal files

In a release sent to Guam media on Dec. 15 – also on behalf of the U.S. Ministry of Defense, the number is confirmed at “approximately” 100. Earlier estimates put the number at about 105. See oorah-next batch of marines arrive in december-mbjguam.com in the May 31 issue of the Journal. Japan’s Ministry of Defense also issued a release on the transfer of personnel.

The arriving personnel will add to the “less than 100” Marines already at Camp Blaz.

One factor in any transfer of personnel has been the slow pace of construction at the base and elsewhere in Guam. Although military construction has continued in Guam, the peak of construction still lies ahead – estimated at occurring in 2028.

The release said that ultimately, the Marine Corps will maintain a forward presence in the Indo-Pacific through a combination of stationed and rotating Marines in Japan, Guam and Hawaii.

U.S. military installations cover approximately 25% of the island of Okinawa, with estimates varying on the number of U.S. Marines there, but upwards from 19,000.

Andersen Air Force Base will also house Marine Corps personnel, who will use the firing ranges between the base and Andersen to train, as well as the two hangars that can each accommodate a squadron of 12 MV-22 Osprey aircraft.

Okinawa is home to Marine Corps Air Station Futenma. Major subordinate commands falling under the III Marine Expeditionary Force there include the 3rd Marine Logistics Group, the 3rd Marine Division, the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade and the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit.

According to Marine Corps Base Hawaii, more than 25,000 Marines, sailors, and family members live and work on the base. California has 54,000 active-duty Marines. California has the most active-duty service members of any state, with nearly 160,000 troops in total.

Japan has paid up to $2.8 billion (known as mamizu money) for the building of infrastructure at the U.S. bases on Guam, and the United States will fund the remaining costs. Japan has previously complained about the slow pace of construction to allow troops to transfer to Guam.

About 50 entities were ready to bid on the estimated $3 billion worth of work in the Japan-funded Mamizu MACC or multiple award construction contract, which was twice delayed in 2011, according to Journal files. Naval Facilities Engineering and Systems Command Pacific awarded a $990 million Mamizu MACC contract in January 2021 to seven companies. Hensel Phelps-Shimizu Joint Venture was awarded the initial task order of $53.9 million for the construction of the base administration building on Camp Blaz.

Aptim Construction JV LLC.; Black Construction–Tutor Perini JV; Caddell-Nan JV.; Core Tech-HDCC-Kajima, LLC; CWI-Weitz JV; and Gilbane SMCC ECC LLC were the other groups named, with an expected completion date of January 2026. While task orders have been awarded, the latest of those will see completion in June and October 2026. Some single awards have been made separately from mamizu funding.

Cpt. Blake Burket, commanding officer of Officer in Charge of Construction Marine Corps Marianas, said in November at the
Society for American Military Engineers Guam Forum, “We are in Phase 1 … we are about 70% along. We’re just starting Phase 2 and 3.”

Marines and the Japan Self Defense Forces will conduct joint training in Guam and the Northern Marianas Islands, the release said.

Crimes by U.S. personnel in Japan are high profile and contribute to tension. According to the Mainichi Shimbun, there were 118 criminal cases involving U.S. military personnel in Japan in 2023, and of those, 72, or 61%, were committed in the Okinawa Prefecture.

A U.S. airman from Kadena Air Base in Okinawa was sentenced to five years in prison on Dec. 13 after being convicted of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a minor female a year ago, according to media reports. In September 1995, two Marines and a Navy corpsman kidnapped an Okinawan girl and gang raped her. mbj

Camp Blaz to see limited increase in personnel