Despite revisions planned to the impending U.S. military buildup on this Pacific island territory, foremost of which is the expected reduction in U.S. Marines to be transferred from Japan, Guamanians remain concerned with the repercussions.

Under a 2006 road map on the realignment of U.S. forces in Japan, the headquarters of the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force was to be moved to Guam.

Under the plan, tangible progress on relocating U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma elsewhere in Okinawa was a precondition for transferring around 8,000 of the 18,000 marines and their dependents from the prefecture to the U.S. territory.