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| Mobile Landing Platform (MLP) |
By Hope Hodge Seck, Staff writer
Marines are eyeing new alternative shipping platforms to solve an emerging problem: how to bring Marine units in the Pacific together quickly in the event of a crisis.
A planned move of thousands of Marines from the Japanese island of Okinawa to other locations throughout the Asia-Pacific region will make the Corps more regionally capable, but create an "aggregation challenge" to major contingency operations, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Joseph Dunford told lawmakers at a Washington, D.C., event hosted by the Shipbuilding Caucus Thursday morning. One possible solution: position new ships like the afloat forward staging base in key locations, ready to transport lots of Marines quickly.
"It isn't just about one ship, it's not just about one location, it's about dealing with a logistics challenge, a training challenge, a war-fighting challenge with a shortfall of platforms," Dunford said.
The Marine Corps is in the process of building training areas and barracks to house 5,000 Marines in Guam by 2021. About 1,000 Marines are now stationed in Darwin, Australia, on a rotational basis, and that number is expected to grow to 2,500 troops by next year in accordance with a bilateral agreement between the two countries. These moves are part of a long-range plan to reduce the Marine Corps' footprint on Okinawa, which has long hosted the bulk of the service's Pacific presence.
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