Japan

Oliver Stone says Okinawa military bases are ‘no longer necessary’

By Gina Harkins on August 17, 2013 Japan

The Academy Award winning director of military blockbusters like “Platoon” and “Born on the Fourth of July” denounced the U.S. presence in Japan during a recent visit there. Oliver Stone called U.S. military bases in Japan “no longer necessary” during a discussion in Okinawa on Wednesday, Japan Daily Press reported. The event included a former Okinawa governor and other panelists on his trip that coincided with the 68th anniversary of Japan’s surrender to the Allied Forces, which ended World War II. Japan Daily Press reported that Stone visited Okinawa to learn more about the military base issue on the island. He…

Marine Corps Times deployment map

By Gina Harkins on August 7, 2013 26th MEU, Afghanistan, Africa, Battle Rattle, Deployment map, Deployments, Japan, MEU operations, Status of forces map

Check out what Marines are up to around the world, as of Aug. 7: [HTML1]

From Kangaroo Flats to kayaks in the south of France: Your Marines around the globe

By Hope Hodge Seck on May 23, 2013 26th MEU, Afghanistan, Africa, Australia, Camp Lejeune, Camp Pendleton, Deployment map, Deployments, Japan, Status of forces map

[HTML1] Take a look at what Marines are doing around the globe in our newly updated Status of Forces map! Highlights include: Marines in Darwin, Australia conducting squad-attack exercises at a place called “Kangaroo Flats” Some lucky Marines doing coalition exercises with French partners in kayaks in the Mediterranean Urban crisis contingency training with local counterparts at Mihail Kogalniceanu Military Base, Romania. Major moves: About 160 reserve troops from Camp Lejeune’s R4OG (Retrograde and Redeployment in Support of Reset and Reconstitution Operations Group) deployed to Afghanistan this month, replacing an R4OG from Camp Pendleton. About 200 Marines with Special Purpose Marine Air…

Hagel confirms: second V-22 squadron headed to Japan

By Hope Hodge Seck on April 30, 2013 Aviation, Battle Rattle, Japan, Marines, Pacific issues, Pentagon, Safety, The Pacific

In a joint press conference with Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera at the Pentagon Monday afternoon, Defense Secretary confirmed that the Marines would land a second squadron of MV-22 Ospreys in the country this summer. The move, Hagel said, would increase U.S. capabilities in the region at a time in which the U.S. was intentionally pivoting its military focus to the Asia-Pacific region. Onodera added more details about the move. “Secretary Hagel and I confirmed that government’s plans to land U.S. 12 MV-22s of the second squadron of MV-22 through MCAS Iwakuni this summer and then move them to MCAS…

Your Marines around the globe: status of forces this week

By Hope Hodge Seck on April 26, 2013 26th MEU, Afghanistan, Africa, Australia, Camp Lejeune, Camp Pendleton, Deployment map, Japan, Korea, Status of forces map

[HTML1] Status of Forces (as of April 19) Active duty: 194,370 Selected Reserve: 39,705 Reservists on active duty: 2,477 It’s been awhile since we did a blog update on the status of forces around the Marine Corps, but we’re going to start in again on making this a weekly feature. The positions above are as of April 19. Of note, the 26th Marine Expeditionary Units and 15th MEU are moving through their areas of operations, with the 26th MEU’s Kearsarge Amphibious Ready Group near the Gulf of Aden, at the eastern tip of Africa, and the 15th MEU’s Peleliu ARG…

Marine Corps War Memorial in running for $1 million grant

By Gina Harkins on April 26, 2013 Iwo Jima Memorial, Japan, Marines

The Marine Corps War Memorial is in the running for $1 million in preservation grants, but your votes are needed in order for it to win the competition for the funds. American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation launched the initiative that will grant one of 24 selected historic spots in Washington, D.C., special funding. It’s a competition they’re leaving up to the public, which means fans of the various sites need to go online and vote for their favorite. The Marine Corps War Memorial will need to beat out 23 other sites including Mount Vernon, the Washington National…

Iron Fist: Japanese forces take to the desert with Marines

By Gidget Fuentes on February 5, 2013 Allies and training, Camp Pendleton, I MEF, Japan, Marines, The Pacific

Members of the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit from Camp Pendleton, Calif., joined Japanese Ground Self-Defense Forces for this year’s “Iron Fist” exercise, held in Southern California. The three-week interoperability training exercise has the combined forces training on this side of the Pacific along the coast, in the desert, out at sea and back ashore as the Marines and soldiers hone their warfighting skills with patrolling, assaults, mechanized attacks and live-fire and maneuver drills. This is the eighth year for the bilateral training, which “promises to be bigger and better than in previous years,” Maj. Gen. Melvin G. Spiese, the I Marine Expeditionary Force deputy…

Okinawa Marines dance “Gangnam Style”

By Gina Harkins on December 6, 2012 Bored Marine Video, III MEF, Japan, Marines, Pop culture

Marines are always pretty quick to jump on the latest pop song craze, and “Gangnam Style” is no exception. Marine wife, Erin Giove, posted this video of the III MEF Rock Band taking the stage in their dress blues and Santa hats during a holiday show in Okinawa, Japan, to her Facebook page yesterday. In the video, the Marines bust out their moves to South Korean musician PSY’s pop hit to a cheering crowd. Giove’s video has already been shared about 6,000 times on Facebook and has about 1,800 Likes. The Weather Channel’s “Coast Guard Florida” TV show shared it…

It’s official: VMM-265’s final Phrog flight from Futenma

By Gidget Fuentes on November 30, 2012 Aviation, III MEF, Japan, Marines

Battle Phrog, move over to make room for the fighting Osprey. In the latest milestone in the Marine Corps’ slow, bittersweet farewell to the CH-46E Sea Knight — aka the Battle Phrog — the last of the twin tandem-rotor transport helicopters with Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 265 flew their final departure flight from the flight line at Futenma Marine Corps Air Station in Okinawa, Japan. It wasn’t a long trek: The helicopters were headed to Camp Kinser, the Corps’ logistics camp on the island, for “official disposition,” according to a III Marine Expeditionary Force article. Those longer legs will be sought-out by III Marine…

Marine Corps Times deployment map as of Oct. 31

By Gina Harkins on October 31, 2012 Afghanistan, Africa, Battle Rattle, Camp Lejeune, I MEF, Japan, Life at sea, Marines, MEU operations, Pacific issues, The Pacific

Marines are definitely getting back to their expeditionary roots. The 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit just returned to Camp Lejeune, N.C., following a seven month deployment. But as Marine Corps Times’ Gidget Fuentes reported, when the 24th MEU was still in the Persian Gulf, there were more Marines on Navy ships than in the combat zone in Afghanistan in late-October. That’s a pretty interesting shift. Check out the map below to see what Marines are doing around the world. [HTML1]

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