About 9,000 U.S. Marines stationed on Okinawa will be moved to Hawaii, Guam and other locations in the Asia-Pacific under a U.S.-Japanese agreement announced Thursday.
Of that total, between 4,700 and 5,000 Marines will relocate to Guam, according to a U.S. defense official who briefed reporters on some of the details at the Pentagon.
The official was asked how many Marines would be moved to Hawaii.
"I won’t comment on the Hawaii portion because a lot of those plans are still evolving inside the (Defense) Department," the official said.
U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye said Tuesday that more than 2,500 Marines would be moved from Japan to Hawaii, a more than 20 percent increase in the islands. About 11,700 Marines are based on Oahu.
The new Pentagon plan has emerged as the U.S. scales back a previous $21.1 billion blueprint for Guam that at one time envisioned nearly 9,000 Marines moving there but was deemed impractical and too costly.
"There is a lot of work that needs to be done (in Hawaii) to prepare for their arrival," Inouye said Tuesday of the Marine plan. "We must build more housing, secure more training areas and improve and expand infrastructure while working with the counties and the state to make certain the Marines transition easily into their new duty station in Hawaii."
Officials said Kaneohe Bay is the preferred location for the new Marines, but it will be crowded with other planned additions, and multiple locations on Oahu will be considered to accommodate the additional troops.
The Marines are expected to be moved to Hawaii in phases through the next several years.
The reduction in Japan is part of a broader arrangement designed to reduce tensions stemming in part from opposition on Okinawa to what many view as a burdensome U.S. military presence.
It also reflects a desire by the Obama administration to spread U.S. forces more widely in the Asia-Pacific region as part of a re-balancing of U.S. defense priorities in the aftermath of a decade of war in the greater Middle East.
The agreement was outlined in a joint statement from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and their Japanese counterparts.
Citing an "increasingly uncertain security environment" in the Asia-Pacific region, they said their agreement was intended to maintain a robust U.S. military presence to ensure the defense of Japan.
The statement said the moves would happen "when appropriate facilities are available to receive them" on Guam and elsewhere. About 10,000 Marines will remain in Okinawa. The U.S. also has a substantial Air Force presence on Okinawa.
The Marine Corps will have a rotational presence in Australia, "with other U.S. Marines moving to Hawaii to enhance operational capability there," the statement said.
On Guam the Marine presence will include the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade headquarters, the 4th Marine Regiment and elements of aviation, ground and support units. Of the $8.6 billion estimated cost of relocating Marines to Guam, Japan has agreed to pay $3.1 billion.
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Star-Advertiser reporter William Cole and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
