Only about 150 Marines are assigned to Camp Blaz on Guam, but approximately 4,000 more are expected from Okinawa as part of a 2012 agreement between the United States and Japan to reduce the military footprint there. (Seth Robson/Stars and Stripes)
CAMP BLAZ, Guam — About two-thirds of an $8.9 billion budget has been spent on this 562-acre facility to accommodate U.S. Marines relocating from bases on Okinawa, according to Navy and Marine Corps officials.
Nearly $6.2 billion of the appropriation has gone toward building and outfitting Camp Blaz to date, according to a Wednesday email from Capt. Steven Keenan, a Marine Corps spokesman at the Pentagon. Blaz is the service’s first new base since 1952.
The Officer in Charge of Construction Marine Corps Marianas, part of Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command Pacific, was formed in 2016 to oversee work on the new installation.
The command includes 10 Navy Civil Engineer Corps officers and 100 civilian staff, including construction managers, engineering technicians and administrative staff, Keenan said.
Guam — a remote, 210-square-mile island that provides a strategic foothold for the U.S. in the Western Pacific — is expected to grow from about 17,000 U.S. service members to 24,000 by fiscal year 2033.
About 4,000 Marines are expected to move from Okinawa to Guam, part of a 2012 agreement between the U.S. and Japan to reduce the American military footprint on Okinawa, where nearly 30,000 of the 55,000 U.S. service members in Japan are stationed.
Recently completed housing for single Marines is seen at Camp Blaz on Guam, Dec. 10, 2025. (Seth Robson/Stars and Stripes)
About 1,300 members of III Marine Expeditionary Force may be permanently stationed on Guam, while another 3,700 Marines could rotate through the island on temporary deployments.
Japan is providing approximately $3 billion of the money allocated to build Blaz and other Guam infrastructure.
Many new facilities appeared ready for the Marines in December when Marine Corps Installations Pacific commander Maj. Gen. Brian Wolford paid a visit to Guam from his headquarters on Okinawa.
“Camp Blaz offers forward-stationed capabilities and operational flexibility to the United States and Marine Corps,” he said in a statement Keenan provided by email. “Bases and stations such as Camp Blaz serve as critical nodes for generating combat power and providing sustainment to the Fleet Marine Force. Camp Blaz serves as a force multiple for the U.S.-Japan Alliance and the region at large ensuring a free and open Indo-Pacific.”
One of the 150 Marines already at the base, Maj. Philip King, arrived there from Okinawa in July, he told Stars and Stripes at Blaz on Dec. 10.
The communications officer said he went to Guam as part of a routine change of station after serving with the 7th Communication Battalion at Camp Hansen, Okinawa.
“My wife and I chose Blaz because we wanted to stay overseas,” he said.
The couple moved into a beachside condo in Tumon, Guam’s tourist hotspot, King said, adding that he enjoys snorkeling in his spare time.
There’s no language barrier on Guam but the cost of living is a little higher than on Okinawa, he said.
