POTENTIALLY thousands of extra American sailors and Marines will flood through the Darwin port in coming years with a US General confirming a greater military presence in the South Pacific.

The head of US Marine Corps Force Command, Lieutenant General John Wissler, said the Pentagon planned to dispatch another three-ship amphibious ready group to the Asia-Pacific region as early as October 2018.

The Marine Corps Times reported that the ships would likely carry an embarked Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU).

That would see an extra 4000 sailors and Marines in the region.

Lt-Gen Wissler said the goal of the MEU was to augment the number of Marines already coming to the Top End as part of the annual six-month Marine Rotational Force Darwin deployment.

This year, about 1250 Marine are deployed to Darwin, based mostly at Robertson Barracks about 20km from the Darwin CBD.

US and Australian officials hope to boost that number to 2500 by 2020.

“The actual basing (of the extra Marines and sailors) ... and all of those significant details are being worked out,” Lt-Gen Wissler said.

“That’s why it’s a (fiscal) 2019 problem because, as you can imagine, it’s a very complex undertaking.”

The Japan-based 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit presently conducts two 90-day patrols in the Pacific each year — one in spring and another in autumn — and respond to humanitarian crises in the region throughout the year.

Lt-Gen Wissler said the new arrangement would allow that unit to focus on north eastern Asia while the new ARG/MEU conducted two 90-day patrols in the South Pacific.

He said the Marine Corps has not determined whether the new MEU will come from the continental US, Hawaii or Japan.

Lieutenant Commander Matt Knight from the US Pacific Fleet said it is too soon to say which ships may be assigned to the MEU in fiscal 2019.

Former Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Jon Greenert said the amphibious assault ship America was a “prime candidate” to visit Australia as part of such a group.

“They will go into Darwin … and conduct on-load and off-load,” he told Navy Times in March 2015.

He said while the Marines trained in the Top End of Australia, the ships in the ARG could operate and hold exercises in South East Asia.

A new class of amphibious assault ships will support Marine Corps operations for the two continents.

As Marines buckle down for another decade with limited amphibious ships and high operational demand, planners are taking a look at re-purposing some ship classes and reconfiguring others in order to bridge the demand gap.

The Marines' rotational deployment to Darwin, Australia continues to grow, with plans to build up to 2,500 Marines per six-month rotation. And the Marines' Europe-based crisis response task force for Africa -- created because of the dearth of amphibious ships to respond in that part of the world -- is increasingly participating in joint exercises and theater security cooperation efforts on both continents.

At both locations, the lack of available ships to carry Marines is felt, said Lt. Gen. Robert Walsh, commanding general of Marine Corps Combat Development Command.

In the long-term, Marines plan to task a future amphibious group led by the America-class amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli, still under construction, with supporting two 90-day patrols around Australia per rotational deployment, Walsh told Military.com. That future ARG is expected to be based in San Diego and will support operations in the Pacific, including the Darwin troops.

sea basing goes beyond what was initially announced in 2011, and reduces even further the capacity for any local control and agency over the growing foreign military presence

Pentagon officials have flown to Australia to for "emergency talks"
to express their frustration over the Port of Darwin sale
and Canberra's reluctance to stand up to Beijing.

Last year, the port hosted 102 naval vessels, according to its annual report, and was the point of arrival for US Marines on rotation through Darwin. Pentagon officials now want assurances from Australia on security arrangements at the port and better systems to ensure the breakdown in communication doesn't happen again.

The US officials also expressed concerns over Australia's lack of interest in sending naval ships to join Washington's so-called "freedom of navigation" operations in the South China Sea.

Defence was asked about any sensitivities over Darwin's China port deal, the NT Government says.

Defence was consulted prior to the deal being sealed, after a NT parliamentary committee noted the strategic position of the port and warned no foreign investment should occur that threatened the country's security interests.

While a Federal Government spokesperson said Defence secured a 15-year access agreement to the port in anticipation of the lease occurring - they also said it was spending millions of dollars on an alternative barge facility in Darwin.

The Maritime Union of Australia (MUA), which is against the deal, has labelled the lease a strategic worry for the Top End, which plays host to a large Australian Defence presence and yearly rotations of USA Marines.

The USA Chief of naval operations, Admiral Greenert, when he was in Australia last year clearly identified port infrastructure needs in Darwin as a critical element to the growth of 'cooperation' in Darwin.

Parliament has approved an $18 million project to build a barge facility at a site adjacent to the Darwin port that will be capable of loading and unloading giant amphibious naval ships at short notice.

Residents near military air bases producing ''lethal'' levels of noise suffer from hearing loss, insomnia, stroke, heart attacks - even death.

Growing numbers of USA residents are finding themselves in the firing line of domestic military expansionism, whether it be living in areas subjected to chronic, harmful jet noise, or having their fishing areas disrupted and polluted by Naval war gaming exercises. For many, the issue could literally be a matter of life and death.

The impacts of noise pollution are often underestimated. Its effects span a broad range of health issues, many of which don't seem connected with sound or hearing at first glance.