The Marine Corps introduced that it’ll redesignate an Okinawa-based regiment right into a Marine littoral regiment on Nov. 15, a transfer that comes because the service establishes a shore-ready presence within the Indo-Pacific within the face of China’s persistent affect there.
The twelfth Marine Regiment, an artillery unit, will convert into what the Marine Corps has deemed a “stand-in power” that may defend its allies within the area and reply to threats shortly. After November, the unit will likely be known as the twelfth Marine Littoral Regiment, full with a brand new mission and group.
Earlier this 12 months, Japan mentioned it might conform to the unit remaining in Okinawa, a crucial place within the nation’s southern island chain that’s key to deterring Chinese language affect within the area — an affect that the Marines hope to reply to ought to tensions boil additional.
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The unit seems forward of schedule in its effort, based on a Marine Corps press launch Tuesday asserting the redesignation date, which mentioned that the institution of the twelfth Marine Littoral Regiment was meant to be accomplished by 2025.
The redesignation is a part of a larger push to have three Marine littoral regiments working within the Indo-Pacific by 2030. The third Marine Littoral Regiment, which was the primary effort to redesignate, is predicated in Hawaii. The 4th Marine Regiment is about to be transformed as effectively, in accordance to USNI News.
The Marine littoral regiment, or MLR, is supposed to have a small footprint and be an easy-to-maintain unit that may shortly react to threats — significantly Chinese language army ones — in opposition to U.S. forces and allies. It’s divided into three subordinate components: a littoral fight workforce, a littoral anti-air battalion, and a fight logistics battalion to maintain and keep the larger unit.
The littoral fight workforce, or LCT, is predicated across the infantry battalion and is designed to deploy a number of “platoon-reinforced-size” components for intelligence, surveillance and early warning, amongst different missions. These models are then protected by air protection assist.
In complete, the MLR wil have roughly 2,000 Marines and sailors in what is meant to be a small and fast power. It’s barely smaller than the Marine expeditionary unit, of which the Corps has seven.
One main distinction between the 2 is that whereas MEUs are supposed to ahead deploy to wherever all over the world, the MLRs are already based mostly within the Indo-Pacific, the place tensions with China are excessive.
The low profile was a part of the settlement between Japan and the U.S., which was hammered out earlier this 12 months. The Related Press reported that any potential enhance in troops stationed on the island could be a extremely delicate political problem for the Japanese authorities amid the negotiations; many on Okinawa have lengthy pushed for a diminished U.S. army presence there.
In Could, hundreds of protesters close to Kadena Air Base in Okinawa gathered to problem the U.S. presence, which has remained since World Warfare II and now contains almost three-quarters of U.S. army amenities within the nation, in accordance to Axios.
“No new models will likely be added to Okinawa beneath the settlement,” the Marine Corps mentioned within the press launch. “That is strictly a redesignation of an present unit on Okinawa, in accordance with Marine Corps modernization efforts.”
The twelfth Marine Regiment is presently coaching in Japan via the top of the month, based on the press launch. It plans to check out the MLR group and deploy between Japan’s southwest islands and Hokkaido to the north of the mainland.
In the course of the train, the unit will “present sensing capabilities in a simulated battlespace, and combine joint-force firepower with our Japanese ally’s capabilities,” the press launch mentioned.
— Drew F. Lawrence might be reached at drew.lawrence@army.com. Observe him on X @df_lawrence.
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