USMC sharpens its posture in Guam and Japan
The US Marine Corps (USMC) has long planned to realign marine units from Okinawa to the US territory of Guam in the Western Pacific.
That reality came a step closer when the USMC activated a new base in the Micronesian territory on 1 October. Shortly before that, the USMC announced plans to bring a second F-35B fighter squadron to Iwakuni Air Base in Japan.
These developments all come against a consternating backdrop of rapid modernisation and an aggressive stance by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in China. Guam is a critical strategic operational and logistics hub for US forces operating
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