Grass-to-brass general takes charge of Marine Corps’ largest operational force

A former III Marine Expeditionary Force commander took charge Tuesday of the Marine Corps’ largest operational command, inheriting responsibility for roughly two-thirds of the service’s active-duty forces.

Lt. Gen. Roger Turner assumed command of Marine Corps Forces Pacific from Lt. Gen. James Glynn during a ceremony at Marine Corps Base Hawaii, ending Glynn’s 37-year military career.

Turner most recently commanded III MEF on Okinawa, where he oversaw development of the 12th Marine Littoral Regiment as the service continued reshaping force operations across the Indo-Pacific.

Marine Corps Commandant Eric Smith hailed both generals as “spectacular in their leadership skills, in their technical capabilities and in their interpersonal skills.”

“I mean,” he said after a pause, “if anybody says anything bad about Jim Glynn or Roger Turner, I’ll punch him straight in the mouth because it’ll be a lie.”

Smith told the audience his own career paralleled those of both men, including with Turner in Iraq.

“Roger and I got blown up together in Ramadi in a Humvee by an [improvised explosive device] on our first day on the job,” he said.

Turner now leads a force of about 72,500 Marines and sailors, including roughly 22,000 operating west of the International Date Line.

Headquartered at Camp Smith on Oahu, Marine Corps Forces Pacific includes I MEF in California and Arizona and III MEF in Hawaii and Japan.

Smith described the command as the Corps’ “most consequential force.”

“That doesn’t take anything away from Marine Corps Forces Atlantic, but our future lies in the Pacific,” he said. “We’re a Pacific-facing nation, and we put our best and our brightest out here.”

Lt. Gen. Roger Turner, left, the incoming commander of Marine Corps Forces Pacific, and Lt. Gen. James Glynn, the outgoing commander, exchange the unit’s colors at Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Aug. 11, 2026. (Chloe Zimmerer/U.S. Marine Corps)

Smith commended Glynn, who took command in September 2024, for doing “stellar” work despite toiling under a constrained budget.

“He has partnered with our allies and partners,” he said. “He’s made things happen on a shoestring budget, and it truly is a shoestring when you look at all that he’s been tasked to do.”

Glynn helped advance the service’s Force Design initiatives involving the Navy-Marine Corps Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System, or NMESIS, a mobile, land-based anti-ship missile system.

NMESIS “is the thing that you don’t want to see if you’re an adversary vessel sailing close to contested waters, because we’ll strike you,” Smith said. “We’ll strike you at range, and you’ll never see it coming.”

Adm. Samuel Paparo, head of Pacific Command, told the audience that the threats facing the nation require “hard, innovative, smart, determined people” to meet those challenges.

He expressed confidence in Turner, citing his work at III MEF and with the 12th Marine Littoral Regiment.

“As the commander of III MEF, I’ve seen you in action, where you have changed the face of the United States Pacific Command in the Pacific, how you’ve enhanced deterrence, how you’ve never given up an inch and gained ground,” Paparo said. “It is the most Marine thing that you can do.”