The planned transfer of U.S. Marine Corps personnel from Okinawa Prefecture to the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam may start as early as October 2024 and be completed within 18 months, a marine spokesman has said.
The current plan will relocate approximately 5,000 marines, of whom about 1,700 will be permanently based on Guam and the remainder rotated every half year, according to Tina Rose Muna Barnes, speaker of the island's legislature who was earlier briefed by a representative of Marine Corps Activity Guam. About 19,000 U.S. Marines are based in Okinawa.
The United States had previously said about 4,000 marines would be moved from Okinawa to Guam.