WASHINGTON – The US Defense Department is considering plans to deploythousands of heavily armed Marine Expeditionary Units (MEU) to East Asia,in a bid to reposition American military forces from the Middle East to thePacific aimed at containing rising Chinese influence in the region,Pentagon officials say.
The measure would be part of Washington’s initial concrete steps to boostits military presence in the region following Trump administration’sunveiling of its National Defense Strategy (NDS) in January, theUS-based Wall Street Journal reported Friday.
The NDS points to countering Russia and China as a military priority forthe US and insists that the MEUs in East Asia will help the Americanmilitary “persuade Pacific nations to stand with the US,” rather than China.
An MEU is a group of nearly 2,200 Marines who operate from amphibiousassault ships and have their own aircraft, tanks, heavy weapons, and otherresources, the report adds, noting that a typical deployment takes aboutseven months and may involve coastal missions such as patrols ormilitary-to-military training.
“I believe the [National Defense Strategy] and other guidance requires usto adopt a more global posture and this will shape our future navalpresence, especially in the Indo-Pacific region,” said US MarinesCommandant General Robert Neller.File photo of US naval forces
“We have to be present and engaged to compete,” he added, further pointingout that the new defense strategy “will shape our future naval presence,especially in the Indo-Pacific region.”
The US military regards the redeployment as a scheme for “a globalresetting of forces” rather than a “buildup for war.”
The MEUs will be involved in patrols and training and would be prepared tointervene “if a conflict were to break out.”
Citing military officials, the report, however, does not elaborate on howmany MEUs the US intends to deploy to East Asia. Nearly 50,000 Americantroops are already stationed in Japan, in addition to almost 30,000 inSouth Korea and 7,000 more in Guam.
In a related development, the US military will also expand the number ofMarines deployed in Darwin, Australia. Currently, there are 1,250 troopsstationed there in rotating training assignments lasting six months eachyear.
According to the report, it was not yet clear how large the number ofadditional US service members in Australia will be.