US Marines start partial transfer from Okinawa in Japan to Guam under plan agreed 12 years ago

Associated Press

TOKYO (AP) — U.S. Marines have begun a partial transfer from Okinawa to Guam, 12 years after Japan and the United States agreed on their realignment to reduce the heavy burden of American troop presence on the southern Japanese island. The relocation began Saturday with 100 members of III Marine Expeditionary Force stationed on Okinawa moving to the Pacific island, the U.S. Marine Corps and Japan’s Defense Ministry said in a joint statement. Tokyo and Washington agreed in 2012 to relocate about 9,000 of the 19,000 Marines stationed on Okinawa, including 4,000 to Guam in phases.