Rear Adm. Greg Huffman, then-commander of Joint Region Marianas, visits Marine Corps Base Camp Blaz on Guam, Feb. 29, 2024. (Rey Moreno Marilao/U.S. Marine Corps)
Leadership of Guam’s three major military bases, along with other installations in the region, changed hands Thursday as the former commander prepares to assume a new role next week.
Rear Adm. Brent DeVore relieved Rear Adm. Greg Huffman as commander of Joint Region Marianas during ceremony at Naval Base Guam. The command is responsible for all military installations in the U.S. territory — primarily Andersen Air Force Base, Naval Base Guam and Marine Corps Base Camp Blaz — along with the surrounding Northern Mariana Islands.
Huffman, who led the command since June 2023, won’t be leaving the island. He’ll head up an entirely new command — Joint Task Force Micronesia — set to begin operations June 14.
The task force will represent the senior military officer in the region and be responsible for operational defense. Huffman, in his new role, will also serve as a direct representative to U.S. Indo-Pacific Command and provide military support to civilian and humanitarian assistance projects, according to task force spokesman Cmdr. Joseph Hontz.
The new command, headquartered alongside Joint Region Marianas at the Nimitz Hill Annex in Asan, Guam, has about 30 personnel but plans to grow to about 40, Hontz told Stars and Stripes by phone Thursday.
Rear Adm. Greg Huffman, outgoing commander of Joint Region Marianas, right, and Rear Adm. Brent DeVore, incoming commander, left, pose with Adm. Stephen Koehler, commander of U.S. Pacific Fleet, in Guam on May 25, 2024. (Samantha Jetzer/U.S. Navy)
The task force represents a “strong commitment” from the Department of Defense to work closer with regional partners and build “operational capability and flexibility,” Huffman said at Thursday’s ceremony, which was livestreamed on Joint Region Marianas’ Facebook page.
“With these capabilities, we will ultimately drive towards deterrence,” he said. “Adversaries will see the work that we are doing and the posture we’re setting throughout the region and think, ‘Not today — today is not the day to risk conflict.’”
The Defense Department’s presence on Guam has grown steadily over the past decade with the establishment of new training areas, commands and other facilities both on the island and on nearby Saipan and Tinian.
Camp Blaz activated in 2020, becoming the first new Marine Corps installation since 1952. In May 2023, the Missile Defense Agency introduced a proposal for a comprehensive, 360-degree missile defense system that can counter ballistic, cruise and hypersonic weapons.
The buildup is tied to Guam’s proximity to China, North Korea and the contested South China Sea, which has led to the U.S. military calling the island the “tip of the spear” in the Indo-Pacific. The Defense Department particularly sees China, which claims nearly the entirety of the South China Sea and aspires to annex Taiwan, as its pacing challenge.
“The threat from China continues to grow every day,” said Vice Adm. Scott Gray, head of Navy Installations Command, at Thursday’s ceremony. “Any major conflict today has the potential to impact our population and the people of Guam like we haven’t seen in many years.”
The job of Joint Region Marianas and Joint Task Force Micronesia is to keep Guam and the U.S. safe and “present a posture that will make any foe seek to think twice before they mess with the United States,” he added.
DeVore, formerly a chief of staff for U.S. Pacific Fleet’s Naval Surface Forces, brings to Joint Region Marianas ample experience both in surface warfare and naval administration. He commanded the guided-missile destroyer USS Stethem, the amphibious transport dock USS New York and Patrol Coast Crew Foxtrot while attached to the patrol ships USS Typhoon and USS Hurricane.
He also served as an executive assistant for a director at U.S. Joint Forces Command and as a deputy for the director of surface warfare at the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, according to his Navy biography. He holds a bachelor’s in chemistry education from Purdue University, a master’s from Georgetown University and a master’s from the Marine Corps Command and Staff College.
DeVore, noting that he’ll be working alongside Huffman, promised “two for the price of one,” during the ceremony.
“Double the energy, double the enthusiasm, double the commitment,” he said.
