PLANS to deploy additional Marines to the Top End continue to be delayed while Australia and the US figure out the final details.

The original plan was to have a 2500-strong Marine Air Ground Task Force in the Territory until 2020. However, issues such as cost-sharing have caused delays in the number of Marines who can be stationed in the Top End.

The NT News reported in April that one of the problems was which country would pay for the toilets, as well as other housing and utilities, including power and sewerage. It appears these negotiations are still continuing, with only 1250 Marines here this dry season.

US military newspaper Stars and Stripes reported Australian Defence Force officials said in an email the next rotation was still unclear.

The political situation in the US could also be playing a part in the delays, after Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump argued countries with a US military presence should be paying the United States.

A Larrakia man says Aboriginal people have been fishing in Darwin's Rapid Creek unaware there were concerns about contamination.

The Northern Territory Health Department yesterday issued a warning advising people not to eat fish or crabs caught in Rapid or Ludmilla Creeks.

It came weeks after tests by the NT Environment Protection Authority confirmed the presence of the perflourinate chemicals historically used in fire-fighting foam at Defence bases around the country.

"It's a bit of a problem when you hear that there's poison, potential poison coming down from the airport," said local resident and Larrakia man Keith Risk.

A Senate inquiry recommended blood tests for workers on Defence bases and residents potentially affected by contamination.

A Marine three-star general pulled a Hawaii-based helicopter squadron from a spring deployment after two of its aircraft crashed off Oahu's coast in January, killing a dozen Marines.

Lt. Gen. John Toolan, the head of Marine Corps Forces Pacific, declined to send CH-53E Super Stallions from Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 463 to Australia's Northern Territory as part of Marine Rotational Force–Darwin, said 1st Lt. Joseph Butterfield, a spokesman for 1st Marine Aircraft Wing.

HMH-463 was one of two Hawaii-based helo squadrons slated to send detachments to Australia for six months starting in April. Toolan decided to keep HMH-463 at home and send more helicopters from Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 367 instead, Butterfield said.

The commanding officer of HMH-463 was fired three days before the Jan. 14 crash after senior officials determined he had failed to keep the unit operating at acceptable standards. The investigation into the accident remains under investigation.

Before the deadly crash, Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 463 was one of two squadrons that were slated to take part in the latest rotation of rotation of Marine Rotational Force–Darwin. Currently, four UH-1Y Venom helicopters from HMLA-367 are supporting the Marines in Darwin, he said. Last year, four CH-53Es from HMH-463 took part in the rotation. The Honolulu Star-Advertiser first reported on Toolan's decision last month.

Lieutenant Colonel Steven Sutey, commander of this year’s annual Marine Rotational Force Darwin, says the US military is “on track” to grow its numbers in northern Australia.

This year’s rotation, made up primarily of the California-based 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, will see 1250 US Marines based in Darwin, most at Robertson Barracks, for six months.

This is the fifth and largest group to be deployed to Australia since MRF-D was announced by the US and Australian governments in 2011 to improve interoperability between the two militaries.

Lt Col Sutey, who arrived in the Top End on Saturday, said this year’s force was the third battalion-sized group to come to Darwin.

“We are on track to grow our numbers over the years to that goal of 2500,” he said.

“This year’s force brings with it four UH-1Y (Venom) helicopters – a different capability than the CH-53s we’ve bought in the past - that will allow us to do more with our live-fire exercises (such as) close support as well as assault support and aerial command and control that we haven’t been able to do in the past."

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