At least 15 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed within the U.S. military in Hawaii, with a sailor assigned to a Pearl Harbor shore command among recent cases.

A new overseas “stop movement” order put in place by the Pentagon, meanwhile, has raised questions about current deployments of Schofield Barracks soldiers to Thailand and Iraq and Hawaii National Guard soldiers to Afghanistan and left other key Pacific assignments in doubt.

Among exceptions are scheduled deployments and redeployments of U.S. Navy vessels and embarked units, provided they are in transit for 14 days and have met requirements associated with current force health protection guidance.

Hawaii-based Marine Corps helicopters and Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft were flown to Pearl Harbor recently for staging ahead of an annual spring deployment to Australia known as Marine Rotational Force-Darwin involving 2,500 Marines.

“We have not received notification MRF-D is canceled and defer any additional questions about the status of the exercise to the (U.S.) embassy and the Australian government,” spokeswoman 1st Lt. Bridget Glynn said in an email.

the Australian government were not available for comment :|

The majority of the 2500 personnel in this year’s US Marine Rotational Force – Darwin (MRF-D) are expected to arrive in early April, with the rest to arrive in early July.

Greens candidate for Nightcliff Billee McGinley warns the deployment should be postponed until local viral risk is better understood.

“This deployment of 2500 USA Marines comes at the worst possible time,” she said.

A spokeswoman from MRF-D said before arriving in Australia all the US service members will be screened by medical personnel for symptoms and other risk factors associated with COVID-19. Any symptomatic personnel will not deploy.

However, Ms McGinley remains sceptical if those protocols for quarantine are adequate.

“Today, we’re urging the Chief Minister to step up and assert a leadership role in managing the specific risk presented by thousands of visiting foreign servicemen.”

“We’ve called previously for the NT Chief Minister to take an active role in setting boundaries for the visiting forces. This time it’s urgent. The 2020 deployment should be immediately postponed.”

It has been painfully obvious for years that our major ally, the US, major regional partner, Japan, and our major market, China, all see more strategic value in northern Australia than successive federal governments and much of our Defence establishment.

At a time when the US has been trying to reduce the burden of overseas military commitments, the “rotational deployments” of US Marine Corps troops to the Top End — now in their ninth year — are based on an American judgment that northern Australia is increasingly important to Asia’s security.

In the face of a more aggressive China with stronger military forces, the US is dispersing its own forces in Asia. While it’s right to say that 2500 marines is hardly a threat to Beijing, it’s an important demonstration of America’s commitment to Australia and Southeast Asian security.

*headdesk*

The U.S. and Australia should establish a combined amphibious force including 2,000 Marines and a similar number of sailors based in Darwin, Australia, to build regional support for countering China’s ambitions in the western Pacific, according to a former Marine colonel.

Grant Newsham, now a senior researcher with the Japan Forum for Strategic Studies, Tokyo, said Monday that the Marine Corps, which rotated 2,500 Marines through Darwin during the summer, needs to see Australia as more than just a great place to train.

Berger wrote that U.S. “forward bases and legacy infrastructure within the adversary’s weapons engagement zone are now extremely vulnerable.”

Newsham said an “Australian-American Amphibious Force” supported by amphibious ships from both nations could solve that problem. Such a force could be home-ported in Darwin along with facilities such as American schools and shops, he said.

The new amphibious force wouldn’t require stationing an aircraft carrier Down Under, Newsham said. Air support for the Marines could be provided by aircraft operating from bases in the Northern Territory or new F-35B stealth jets flying off the decks of amphibious ships, he said.

James Holmes, a strategist at the Naval War College, wrote Dec. 9 in National Interest magazine that concerns about China could boost Australian support for a permanent U.S. military presence Down Under. “Stationing military forces overseas inspires trust. In turn, an unbreakable bond between America and Australia could give China pause the next time it contemplates making mischief,” he wrote.

Australia and the US should ­establish a Darwin-based ­amphibious force to co-ordinate efforts in resisting Chinese influence in the region, a retired US Marine Corps colonel says.

The plan would involve about 2000 US troops and up to four US Navy ships stationed close to Darwin Port, which was controversially leased for 99 years in 2015 by a private firm with alleged links to the Chinese government.

wild assertions, zero evidence. Australia faces no such threat; China is not our enemy.