Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Benjamin Watson, the head of Training and Education Command, listens to a brief at Camp Lejeune, N.C., March 25, 2025. (Zachariah Ferraro/U.S. Marine Corps)
CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — A general with 35 years of experience that includes combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan has been tapped to lead the Marine Corps’ operations in Japan.
Lt. Gen. Benjamin Watson was nominated by President Donald Trump to serve as commander of III Marine Expeditionary Force and Marine Forces Japan, both headquartered at Camp Courtney on Okinawa, according to a Defense Department announcement Jan. 20.
If confirmed by the Senate, he will succeed Lt. Gen. Roger Turner, who has led the commands since January 2024.
III MEF is one of three expeditionary forces in the Marine Corps, and the only one permanently deployed in the Indo-Pacific. A Marine expeditionary force is the largest air-ground task force and the principal organization of the Marines’ combat power. III MEF consists of about 27,000 Marines, according to a 7th Fleet news release from February 2022.
Watson would take over III MEF as the Marine Corps continues to implement its Force Design plan to counter China’s moves in the Indo-Pacific.
Turner oversaw the integration of the 12th Marine Littoral Regiment’s three subordinate units, including logistics, anti-air and combat team elements. The regiment’s stand-in force operations are a key tenet of the island-fighting doctrine found in Force Design.
Watson since August 2024 has served as the head of Training and Education Command at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va. He commanded the 1st Marine Division as a two-star from 2022 to 2024, according to his service biography.
Watson is a native of Syracuse, N.Y., according to a July 2024 division news release. He was commissioned through the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps program after graduating from Cornell University with a bachelor’s in history in 1991, according to his biography.
He deployed to Bosnia and Herzegovina as commander of Weapons Company and operations officer of 2nd Battalion, 6th Marines, from 1999 to 2002; and to Iraq as G-3 Future Operations Planner with I Marine Expeditionary Force from 2006 to 2007.
While commanding 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines, from 2008 to 2011, he deployed with the 31st MEU to Afghanistan. He returned from January to November 2018 as commander of Task Force Southwest, his biography states.
His awards include two Defense Superior Service Medals with “C” device, the Legion of Merit, a Bronze Star with “V” device, two Meritorious Service Medals, three Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medals and two Combat Action Ribbons.
