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5/9/2012 - Saipan Tribune The privately owned high-speed vessel that's supposed to bring some 100 U.S. Marines from Japan to Tinian has experienced “some technical challenges,” further pushing back the Marines' arrival by a few days, Lt. Col. Aisha Bakkar of the Marine Forces Pacific Guam and CNMI said yesterday. ...more. |
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5/8/2012 - Saipan Tribune The arrival on Tinian of some 100 U.S. Marines from Japan that will take part in Exercise Geiger Fury 2012 has been pushed back to Friday instead of today, the Marine Forces Pacific Guam and CNMI said last night. ...more. |
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5/8/2012 - American Forces Press Service U.S. Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta welcomed Chinese Defense Minister Gen. Liang Guanglie to the Pentagon May 7 as part of the first U.S. visit by a Chinese defense minister in nine years. ...more. |
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5/7/2012 - Saipan Tribune The training of around 200 U.S. Marines on Tinian as part of Exercise Geiger Fury 2012 is intended to allow Marine Aircraft Group-12 out of Japan “to improve aviation combat readiness and simulate operations in a deployed austere environment,” decades after Tinian played a decisive role to end World War II. ...more. |
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5/3/2012 - Pacific News Center Guam - Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Plans, Robert Scher, told the Pentagon Channel that military planners are looking at ways to move Marines from Okinawa to Guam, possibly as soon as 2014. ...more. |
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5/2/2012 - Pacific News Center Guam - Joint Guam Program Office Director Joseph Ludivici and the Director of Marine Corp Forces Pacific Craig Wheldon briefed Guam lawmakers this morning on the Guam Military build-up in the wake of last week's announcement of the revised realignment plan. ...more. |
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5/2/2012 - Guam Pacific Daily News The decrease in the number of Marines headed to Guam has prompted the federal government to rethink the placement of a military base, and a final decision is not expected until 2015. ...more. |
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Japan, U.S. officials discuss realignment of forces
4/19/2012 - The Mainichi
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Senior Japanese and U.S. officials on Thursday discussed the realignment of U.S. forces in the Asia-Pacific region, in final preparations before Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's visit to Washington in late April. ...more. |
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Panetta apologizes for photos of U.S. troops with corpses
4/18/2012 - Rome News Tribune
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House and the Pentagon voiced regrets Wednesday for newly published photographs that purport to show U.S. troops posing with the bodies of dead insurgents in Afghanistan, with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta calling them a violation of America's "core values." ...more. |
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4/17/2011 - BBC The Philippines lodged a second formal diplomatic protest, saying China was harassing a research ship at the Scarborough Shoal, 230km off its island of Luzon. ...more. |
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4/17/2011 - The New York Times SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea said on Tuesday that it was abandoning an agreement in made in February with the United States, in which it promised to suspend uranium enrichment, nuclear tests and long-range missile tests. ...more. |
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Philippines, China Locked in Maritime Standoff
4/11/2012 - Wall Street Journal
MANILA—The Philippines Wednesday said it is trying to find a diplomatic solution to a tense standoff between a Philippine warship and two Chinese surveillance vessels over fishing rights in the South China Sea, as long-brewing tensions in the contested waters reach a fresh crisis point. ...more. |
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US Marines to train in New Zealand
4/11/2012 - The Dominion Post The first joint exercise with United States troops on New Zealand soil in 26 years is the beginning of "continued opportunities" between the two countries, a top Nato commander says. ...more. |
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4/09/12 - The Hill Days after the Marines set up shop at their new base in Australia, the service plans to boost their presence in another key Asia Pacific country in the near future. ...more. |
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Philippines to declare no-fly zone
4/4/2012 - Inquirer
A no-fly and no-seafaring zone will be declared over a wide area off northern Luzon from April 12 to 16 when North Korea is scheduled to launch a long-range missile. ...more. |
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Philippine President Urges ASEAN Unity on South China Sea
4/3/2012 - Voice of America
Philippine President Benigno Aquino is calling on the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations - ASEAN - to forge a code of conduct on territorial claims in the South China Sea, before negotiating with China to ease festering regional tensions. ...more. |
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3/25/2012 - Majirox News
TOKYO (majirox news) — The long-standing debate over the US forces stationed in the island prefecture of Okinawa took a new turn. Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba recently announced that the plan proposed by the US in February would not be implemented ... more |
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US-Japan plan reportedly would spread Marines across Pacific
3/22/2012 - Stars and Stripes
CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — U.S. Marines based on Okinawa would be spread out across the Pacific as part of a strategic realignment plan now being worked out with Japan, according to anonymous government sources quoted Thursday by the Yomiuri newspaper. ...more. |
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Philippines seeks US help on North Korea rocket
3/22/2012 - AFP, Inquierer
MANILA, Philippines—Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said Thursday the Philippines will seek the assistance of the United States to track a North Korean long-range rocket, part of which is expected to land off the Philippines. ...more. |
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Philippines using US smart bombs
3/21/2012 - Associated Press
Concealed by the night sky, the two aging Philippine air force planes unleashed a surprise high-tech weapon: U.S. satellite-guided bombs that whizzed down with deadly precision toward a long-elusive terrorist suspect and two other top radicals dozing with their men in Jolo Island's jungle. ...more. |
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3/20/2012 - CNN China says it has had "a frank, in-depth talk" with North Korea about the situation on the Korean Peninsula after Pyongyang's announcement of a planned satellite launch provoked an international outcry. ...more. |
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US asks Japan for additional $1.2 billion to move Marines to Guam
3/8/2012 - Stars and Stripes
WASHINGTON -- The United States has asked for an increase in Japan's financial contribution to the transfer of U.S. Marines stationed in Okinawa Prefecture to Guam, requesting $4 billion instead of the $2.8 billion the sides agreed on in 2006, according to sources close to the bilateral talks. ...more. |
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Pentagon says aims to keep Asia power balance
3/8/2012 - Reuters WASHINGTON, March 8 (Reuters) - The United States is shifting more military muscle, including another aircraft carrier, to the Pacific to protect the status quo in a region facing China's growing clout, the Pentagon's second-ranking official said on Thursday. ...more. |
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3/7/2012 - ABC
WASHINGTON (AP) - A top U.S. general says Marines will lead the U.S. troop drawdown in Afghanistan this year, reducing their numbers in the key province of Helmand by about half by the end of September. ...more. |
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3/7/2012 - Inquirer
MANILA, Philippines—Approximately 6,000 troops from the United States are expected to arrive in the country for the 28th Balikatan exercises between the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the US this coming April 16-27, Balikatan spokesman Major Emmanuel Garcia said Wednesday. ...more. |
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3/7/2012 - The Washington Times
China's foreign minister on Wednesday said his nation is “committed to peaceful development” and hopes the United States will see Chinese progress “in the right and objective way.” ...more. |
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3/6/2012 - Fox News
The U.S. Navy will start giving Breathalyzer tests to Marines and sailors reporting for duty aboard ships and submarines and at squadrons, Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced Monday in a worldwide call to forces. ...more. |
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3/5/2012 - Los Angeles Times
Fellow Marines say that as Sgt. Rafael Peralta lay dying in Iraq in 2004, he pulled an enemy grenade under his body, saving their lives. A pathologist disagreed, but new evidence has emerged. ...more. |
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Marines show weapons to be fired at range
3/2/2012 - Guam Pacific Daily News
DEDEDO, Guam - Three mayors watched as a Marine straddled the end of a massive machine gun, explaining that the brutal beast was too heavy for one man to carry, but could fire for miles.This was the scene yesterday at Naval Computer and Telecommunications Station Guam in Dededo ... more |
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3/2/2012 - Pacific News Center
Washington - Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo questioned Admiral Robert Willard Thursday about the revised force realignment in the Pacific during the ongoing PACOM hearings. ...more. |
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3/1/2012 - Military.com
CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa -- The United States will keep the core of its expeditionary force on Okinawa as part of a new agreement with Japan that will see a reduction in the number of Marines on the island, according to the Yomiuri newspaper. ...more. |
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Guam not ready for Okinawa's Marines, officials say
2/28/2012 - Stars and Stripes
CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — The U.S. and Japan might be moving forward with plans to relocate thousands of Marines off of Okinawa, but it will be years before those troops could be stationed on Guam, according to the Navy and the territorial government there ... more |
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2/23/2012 - The Associated Press
San Diego — Two Marine Corps helicopters collided over a remote section of the California desert during a nighttime exercise, killing seven Marines in one of the Corps' deadliest training accidents in years ... more |
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2/15/2012 - The Mainichi Daily News
WASHINGTON (Kyodo) -- Defense Secretary Leon Panetta indicated Tuesday that the United States is considering moving some of its Marines in Japan's Okinawa Prefecture to the Philippines as part of efforts to diversify their deployment on a rotational basis. ...more. |
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Buildup plan to be adjusted
2/14/2012 - Pacific Daily News The local government's $1.8 billion plan to cope with the military buildup will be adjusted now that the military is trimming its plans for the island, according to the governor's buildup adviser. ...more. |
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A 2013 Defense Budget proposal rolled out Monday by the White House would trim about 5,000 troops from the Marine Corps by next year, slow production of the Corps’ most innovative aircraft and add fees for military retirees on Tricare. But the proposal also aims to improve Defense Department schools, strengthen military spouse hiring initiatives and protect care for wounded troops. ...more. |
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$600M in ongoing projects: No halt despite shrinking buildup
2/11/2012 - Pacific Daily News The U.S. Congress has frozen nearly all new funding for the relocation of Marines from Okinawa to Guam this fiscal year, pending additional information from the military this summer, but hundreds of millions of dollars of work on the Guam buildup already has started and continues to move forward. ...more. |
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2/11/2012 - Laredo Sun MANILA (Reuters) - The United States is seeking more access to Philippines ports and airfields to re-fuel and service its warships and planes, diplomatic and military sources said on Thursday, expanding its presence at a time of tension with China in the South China Sea. ...more. |
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U.S. likely to scale down plans for bases in Japan and Guam
2/10/2012 - The Japan Times The U.S. military will probably scale back plans to build key bases in Japan and Guam because of political obstacles and budget pressures, according to U.S. and Japanese officials, complicating the Obama administration's efforts to strengthen the presence of U.S. forces in Asia. ...more. |
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Kaneohe Marine charged with attempted murder
2/10/2012 - Star Advertiser
A 22-year-old Kaneohe Marine was charged with second-degree attempted murder after he allegedly hit a 48-year-old man with a chair and and his fists during argument in a Waikiki parking lot. ...more. |
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U.S. Pacom Nominee Calls Regional Allies Bedrock of Strategy
1/10/12 - Defense Professionals News
WASHINGTON | Japan, South Korea and other traditional allies will remain the bedrock of U.S. strategy in the Pacific even as the nation reaches out to others, President Barack Obama’s nominee to lead U.S. Pacific Command said during a Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing Feb. 9. ...more. |
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Japan, U.S. to review road map for realignment of U.S. forces
2/9/2012 - The Mainichi Daily News
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- The United States is planning to move some U.S. Marines stationed in Okinawa Prefecture to Guam separately from the relocation of the Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station within the prefecture, amending the 2006 Japan-U.S. accord on the realignment of U.S. forces in Japan, according to a draft joint statement obtained by Kyodo News on Tuesday. ...more. |
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US government to hand over second ship to Philippines
2/9/2012 - PhilStar
WASHINGTON – The US government will hand over a second Coast Guard cutter to the Philippines with the aim of improving the country’s maritime security in light of heightened tension in the South China Sea, a congressional hearing was told. ...more. |
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KANEOHE BAY, Hawaii (AP) – A military jury on Thursday found a Marine sergeant not guilty of charges in the hazing of a lance corporal who later committed suicide in Afghanistan. ...more. |
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Pentagon will loosen restrictions on women in combat zones
2/9/2012 - The News Tribune
WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon will take a small step Thursday and announce that women will be formally permitted in crucial and dangerous jobs closer to the front lines, but the new rules stop short of officially allowing them to serve in combat. ...more. |
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US Military Seeks More Access In Philippines
2/9/2012 - Reuters The United States is seeking more access to Philippines ports and airfields to re-fuel and service its warships and planes, diplomatic and military sources said on Thursday, expanding its presence at a time of tension with China in the South China Sea. ...more. |
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TOKYO — The U.S. and Japan on Wednesday tweaked a long-stalled military realignment plan, hoping to streamline the transfer of Marines from Okinawa to Guam by cutting the number of troops to be moved and sidestepping a separate controversy about the future location of the Okinawa base. ...more. |
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2/7/2012 - ABC News
KANEOHE BAY, Hawaii -- A Hawaii-based Marine sergeant is being court-martialed on accusations that he hazed a member of his squad by ordering him to dig a foxhole as punishment for falling asleep on watch duty in Afghanistan. ...more. |
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CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa – The U.S. and Japan will announce a new agreement today on the relocation of Marines from Okinawa to Guam, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. ...more. |
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South Korea denies report on transfer of U.S. marines
2/7/2012 - The Korea Herald
South Korea on Tuesday denied a media report that some U.S. marines stationed in Japan may be redeployed to the South on a rotational basis, as Washington and Tokyo consider transferring thousands of American forces from Okinawa to other regions. ...more. |
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2/6/2012 - LA Times
Twenty families have been cleared to return to their homes at a Marine housing complex in Mono County after an explosion Friday night that killed a Marine's wife, injured two other people and forced the evacuation of 38 families. ...more. |
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2/3/2012 - Stars and Stripes The Obama administration is preparing to scale back a stalled U.S. military plan to relocate Marine forces from Japan to Guam by rotating thousands of Marines through foreign bases in Australia and the Philippines instead, according to a Bloomberg news report Friday. ...more. |
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North Korea opens door to talks with South Korea
2/2/12 - USA Today PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) – North Korea is open to immediate talks with rival South Korea if Seoul responds to several preconditions for dialogue, a North Korean military official told the Associated Press on Thursday. ...more. |
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Fallen Marine’s letter: 'it was all worth it'
2/2/2012 - LA Times
A flag-draped casket containing the remains of Sgt. William Stacey, a Marine from Camp Pendleton who was killed this week in Afghanistan, arrived Thursday at the military mortuary at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. ...more. |
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2/1/12 - Star Advertiser
A second court-martial trial in an alleged hazing case in Afghanistan that preceded the suicide death of Hawaii Marine Lance Cpl. Harry Lew is scheduled for Monday at the Kaneohe Bay Marine Corps base, officials said. ...more. |
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Marine gets jail time, reduced rank in hazing case
1/31/12 - FOX News
KANEOHE BAY, Hawaii – A Hawaii-based Marine lance corporal will spend 30 days in jail and have his rank reduced to private first class for punching and kicking a fellow Marine who killed himself shortly afterward, a judge ruled late Monday, saying she found no evidence the abuse led to the suicide. ...more. |
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1/31/12 - ABS CBN News
WASHINGTON D.C. - The Philippines and United States are threading carefully. Nearly 4 decades after it was forced to retreat from Vietnam and 20 years after it closed down Subic Base, the Americans are trying to return to Southeast Asia because of worries over China’s ambitions in the region. ...more. |
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U.S. Navy, Marines say more capable arms offset cuts
1/31/2012 - Chicago Tribune
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senior officials from the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps said on Tuesday that growing capabilities of new weapons systems could help offset cuts in defense spending that will shrink the number of ships and aircraft in coming years. ...more. |
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1/30/12 - USA Today
KANEOHE BAY, Hawaii (AP) – A Hawaii-based lance corporal accused of hazing a fellow Marine who committed suicide at their remote outpost in Afghanistan is appearing in court after agreeing to a plea bargain. ...more. |
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01/22/2012 - The Star Online ‘Pivoting to Asia’ is fast becoming the centrepiece of US strategic and diplomatic objectives. IF there were doubts about America’s “return” to Asia, all were dissipated with the release of the new strategic guidance report by the Pentagon on Jan 5 ... more |
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6 U.S. Marines killed in helicopter crash
01/20/2012 - Associated Press
All six Marines killed in the crash of a U.S. helicopter in Afghanistan were based in Hawaii, a Hawaii congresswoman said Friday. The helicopter crashed Thursday in Afghanistan’s southern province of Helmand ... more |
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1/17/2012 - NBC San Diego
The U.S. Navy will present its highest honor to the California family of a Marine who was killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan after helping his fellow Marines get out of harm's way. ...more. |
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Cobra Gold 2012 to Promote Partnership, Interoperability
1/16/12 - Defence Professionals
Cobra Gold, the United States’ longest-standing military exercise in the Pacific, kicks off this weekend, bringing together more than 10,000 members of the U.S. and six other militaries to focus on interoperability and multinational coordination and training. ...more. |
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Panetta: Urination video 'utterly deplorable'
1/12/2012 - USA Today
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on Thursday condemned as "utterly deplorable" a video that purports to depict four U.S. Marines urinating on the corpses of Taliban fighters. He said such behavior is "entirely inappropriate for members of the United States military" and those responsible will be held accountable. ...more. |
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12/29/2011 - Stars and Stripes
CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — A U.S. Department of Defense official said Japan made significant progress toward the relocation of Futenma air station when officials filed an environmental assessment of the project with the Okinawan government. ...more. |
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12/28/2011 - CBS News
PYONGYANG, North Korea - North Korea's next leader escorted his father's hearse in an elaborate state funeral on a bitter, snowy day Wednesday, bowing and saluting in front of tens of thousands of citizens who wailed and stamped their feet in grief for Kim Jong Il. ...more. |
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12/28/11 - Stars and Stripes
CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — The Okinawa governor’s office Wednesday grudgingly accepted delivery of an environmental assessment report from the Japan Ministry of Defense, one of many steps required in the plan to relocate Marine Corps Air Station Futenma. ...more. |
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12/28/2011 - San Francisco Chronicle
A Marine Corps ruling on the future of a pair of crosses at the top of a steep Camp Pendleton hill isn't expected until next year. ...more. |
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December 20, 2011, Stars and Stripes
YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan – Japan has picked Lockheed-Martin’s F-35 Lightning II as its next generation fighter aircraft, a move that could help facilitate cooperation with U.S. forces amid Japan’s growing concerns over North Korea and China’s military growth ... more |
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Dec 20, 2011 - Marine Times
Grunts and amtrac crewmen assigned to the Corps’ seven Marine expeditionary units will undergo more intensive water-survival training as part of a new initiative to teach personnel how to escape a sinking amphibious assault vehicle ... more |
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