Marines

News Stories Archive

Staff at the Recycle Center separate cardboard as it is delivered. Pictured from left to right: Chad Fukinaga, Joe Lapera, Gary Reavis, and Jovita Ambrosia. - Staff at the Recycle Center separate cardboard as it is delivered. Pictured from left to right: Chad Fukinaga, Joe Lapera, Gary Reavis, and Jovita Ambrosia.

Recycling in Paradise

When you live on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with nearly a million other people, space is going to be an issue. We adapt, explore and have a lot of fun, but what to do with all of our trash? We can’t send it all to the landfill due to limited space, so we need to do our best to reduce, reuse, and recycle as much as possible.

They Croak among Us

The cane toad (Rhinella marina) poses a threat to our beloved pets as well as our native wildlife. Cane toads’ skin is toxic, and they have poison glands that secrete a milky white fluid called bufotoxin. Even the eggs and tadpoles are poisonous to most animals.

U.S. Marine Corps military working dogs, Yenkie, left, and Diego pose for a photo, Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Jan. 14, 2020. (U.S. Marine Corps Illustration by Sgt. Alex Kouns and Lance Cpl. Samantha Sanchez) - U.S. Marine Corps military working dogs, Yenkie, left, and Diego pose for a photo, Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Jan. 14, 2020. (U.S. Marine Corps Illustration by Sgt. Alex Kouns and Lance Cpl. Samantha Sanchez)

Diego and Yenkie: The Future of DoD Law Enforcement

Across the Department of Defense (DoD), military working dogs serve many purposes. K-9’s are utilized to subdue suspects, find specific items, and people. Most are only capable of one or two of these functions; Diego and Yenkie, residents of the Marine Corps Base Hawaii (MCBH) Provost Marshal’s Office (PMO) kennels, are a bit different. Typically, military working dogs are dual purpose; Diego and Yenkie, however, are the first K-9’s in DoD law enforcement to fulfill all three of these functions.

Changes to Base Security and Access Control Order

Marine Corps Base Hawaii (MCBH) Order 5532.1, MCBH Access Control Order, became effective Dec. 30, 2019, and cancelled Chapter 4 of MCBH Order 5532, Base Security and Access Control. MCBH Order 5532.1 revises vehicle registration and base access procedures.

MCBH Household Hazardous Materials Re-use Room - MCBH Household Hazardous Materials Re-use Room

MCBH Household Hazardous Materials Re-use Room

Do you have half a can of paint sitting in the garage you are not sure what to do with? Do you have an empty propane tank that seems wasteful to throw away? Are you PCSing and hate to throw away all your lightly used gardening supplies? The place you are looking for is Marine Corps Base Hawaii’s Re-use Room (building 6409 near 3rd Marine Regiment’s Supply building along Mokapu Road).

Stormwater Management - Stormwater Management

Stormwater management

While swimming, waterskiing, or boating in Kaneohe or Kailua Bay have you seen plastic bags or cigarette butts floating around you? I have. Yuck! Did you know that storm water is a large source of pollution for both the Kaneohe and Kailua Bay? When it rains, pollution like trash, oil, pesticides, fertilizers, household chemicals, and toxic pollutants are washed into the ocean without being treated or filtered. Paved concrete and asphalt surfaces on roofs, driveways, streets, buildings, and parking lots send rainwater rushing into gutters and storm drains. This storm water – carrying all the pollution and debris it collects along the way – then gets emptied into drain systems that flow directly into Oahu’s bays.

A rendering of the soon to be constructed Wiki-Wiki Marine Mart, Marine Corps Base Hawaii (MCBH), Oct. 9, 2019. The WIki-Wiki is scheduled to be built fall of 2020 on MCBH. (Courtesy photo provided by Marine Corps Community Services, Logistics) - A rendering of the soon to be constructed Wiki-Wiki Marine Mart, Marine Corps Base Hawaii (MCBH), Oct. 9, 2019. The WIki-Wiki is scheduled to be built fall of 2020 on MCBH. (Courtesy photo provided by Marine Corps Community Services, Logistics)

New construction expands and develops MCBH

Expanding in recent years, Marine Corps Base Hawaii (MCBH) began development on three new construction projects to modernize the way our Marines work, train, eat, and play. The three projects include a larger and more modernized medical facility, new base housing, and expansion of the Wiki-Wiki shopping center.

MCB Hawaii:Overwatch

Guiding an aircraft to the ground safely is a task not only for the pilots, but also for the air traffic controllers. As an aircraft approaches the flight line of Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Kaneohe Bay, Marine Corps Base Hawaii (MCBH), you hear the controller constantly engaging the pilot on the other end.

The Kaneohe Bay Range Training Facility is located in the northeastern corner of Marine Corps Base Hawaii in the Ulupa'u Crater. Nestled downrange just outside of the impact area are approximately 2,500 federally protected tree-dwelling seabirds.Read more here: https://www.mcbhawaii.marines.mil/News/News-Article-Display/Article/1959422/boobies-bullets/ - The Kaneohe Bay Range Training Facility is located in the northeastern corner of Marine Corps Base Hawaii in the Ulupa'u Crater. Nestled downrange just outside of the impact area are approximately 2,500 federally protected tree-dwelling seabirds. Read more here: https://www.mcbhawaii.marines.mil/News/News-Article-Display/Article/1959422/boobies-bullets/

Boobies & Bullets

The Kaneohe Bay Range Training Facility is located in the northeastern corner of Marine Corps Base Hawaii in the Ulupa'u Crater. Nestled downrange just outside of the impact area are approximately 2,500 federally protected tree-dwelling seabirds.

A peek into the future

After waiting for, what seemed like hours, finally you enter a room as a Marine greets you with a smiling face. “Good afternoon, how may I help you?” said Master Gunnery Sgt. Ingram, as he peeks his head over the computer screen on his desk. “Today, I got helped with the duty stations that I might have available to me now that I’m looking at becoming a chief,” said U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Scott Roguska, combat graphics specialist, Communication Strategy and Operations.

U.S. Marines with Charlie Company, Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, exit from a U.S. Marine Corps Amphibious Combat Vehicle assigned to Charlie Company, BLT 1/7, 31st MEU, during a simulated force-on-force mechanized raid at Combat Town, Camp Hansen, Okinawa, Japan, April 24, 2025. The purpose of the exercise was to create a challenging, realistic training environment with the integration of the newly fielded ACV that produces combat-ready forces in urban terrain. The 31st MEU, the Marine Corps’ only continuously forward-deployed MEU, provides a flexible and lethal force, ready to perform a wide range of military operations as the premiere crisis response force in the Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Angel Diaz Montes De Oca) - U.S. Marines with Charlie Company, Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, exit from a U.S. Marine Corps Amphibious Combat Vehicle assigned to Charlie Company, BLT 1/7, 31st MEU, during a simulated force-on-force mechanized raid at Combat Town, Camp Hansen, Okinawa, Japan, April 24, 2025. The purpose of the exercise was to create a challenging, realistic training environment with the integration of the newly fielded ACV that produces combat-ready forces in urban terrain. The 31st MEU, the Marine Corps’ only continuously forward-deployed MEU, provides a flexible and lethal force, ready to perform a wide range of military operations as the premiere crisis response force in the Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Angel Diaz Montes De Oca)

Ready, Partnered, Lethal: 31st MEU completes MEUEX

The 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) conducted training to prepare the unit for future warfighting capabilities. Immersive, scenario-based evolutions focused on lethality, readiness, and interoperability for an upcoming deployment in the Indo-Pacific Region during a MEU Exercise (MEUEX) in Okinawa, from Apr. 28 to May 9, 2025. Over two weeks of training, MEUEX prepared approximately 2,400 Marines and sailors in strategies and procedures, as well as lethal and nonlethal operations by simulating a wide range of contingencies.

U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Ricardo Ramirez, a radio operator assigned to the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, I Marine Expeditionary Force, operates a multi-mission terminal (MMT) during a command post exercise on Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, April 23, 2025. - U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Ricardo Ramirez, a radio operator assigned to the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, I Marine Expeditionary Force, operates a multi-mission terminal (MMT) during a command post exercise on Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, April 23, 2025. The MMT is a rapidly deployable, software-defined system that provides broadband connectivity across multiple satellite networks, enabling secure communications in support of expeditionary operations. The CPX allowed the 15th MEU to develop best practices for command and control of forces from a shore-based location to test systems, evaluate processes, develop techniques, and validate standard operating procedures. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Patrick Katz)

Attention on the Watch Floor: 15th MEU participates in Command Post Exercise

Marines with the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, I Marine Expeditionary Force, conducted staff training as part of Command Post Exercise I at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, April 21-24, 2025.

Armed Forces of the Philippines, U.S. Marines, and Japan Self-Defense Forces service members and U.S. government officials pose for a group photo during a Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief Tabletop Exercise in support of Exercise Balikatan 25 at Camp Aguinaldo, Manila, Philippines, May 1, 2025. Balikatan is a longstanding annual exercise between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the U.S. military designed to strengthen our ironclad alliance, improve our capable combined force and demonstrate our commitment to regional security and stability. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Carson Jeney) - Armed Forces of the Philippines, U.S. Marines, and Japan Self-Defense Forces service members and U.S. government officials pose for a group photo during a Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief Tabletop Exercise in support of Exercise Balikatan 25 at Camp Aguinaldo, Manila, Philippines, May 1, 2025. Balikatan is a longstanding annual exercise between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the U.S. military designed to strengthen our ironclad alliance, improve our capable combined force and demonstrate our commitment to regional security and stability. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Carson Jeney)

Balikatan 25: Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief Exercise strengthens multinational cooperation

U.S., Philippine, and Japanese military forces, along with civilian leaders, gathered for the Balikatan 25 Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) Tabletop Exercise, working together to enhance crisis response coordination and strengthen their longstanding alliance from April 29 to May 1, 2025. The trilateral exercise fulfills a pledge made by the leadership of the three nations and captured in an April 11, 2024, Joint Vision Statement. It strengthens their extensive cooperation in HADR while simultaneously demonstrating that working together advances the security and prosperity of the nations and the Indo-Pacific region.

A U.S. Army UH-60 Black Hawk with 25th Combat Aviation Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, prepares to land while transporting U.S. Marines with 3d Littoral Combat Team, 3d Marine Littoral Regiment, 3d Marine Division, and Philippine Marines with Marine Battalion Landing Team 10, to the Batanes island chain for the Maritime Key Terrain Security Operations event during Exercise Balikatan 25 in the Philippines, April 24, 2025. Balikatan is a longstanding annual exercise between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and U.S. military designed to strengthen our ironclad alliance, improve our capable combined force, and demonstrate our commitment to regional security and stability. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Malia Sparks) - A U.S. Army UH-60 Black Hawk with 25th Combat Aviation Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, prepares to land while transporting U.S. Marines with 3d Littoral Combat Team, 3d Marine Littoral Regiment, 3d Marine Division, and Philippine Marines with Marine Battalion Landing Team 10, to the Batanes island chain for the Maritime Key Terrain Security Operations event during Exercise Balikatan 25 in the Philippines, April 24, 2025. Balikatan is a longstanding annual exercise between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and U.S. military designed to strengthen our ironclad alliance, improve our capable combined force, and demonstrate our commitment to regional security and stability. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Malia Sparks)

Balikatan 25 | 3d MLR Concludes Maritime Key Terrain Security Operations in Batanes

U.S. Marines and Sailors with 3d Marine Littoral Regiment, 3d Marine Division, supported by U.S. Marines with 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, U.S. Soldiers with 25th Infantry Division, and Philippines Marines with Marines Battalion Landing Team 10, concluded the Maritime Key Terrain Security Operations event during Exercise Balikatan 25 with the retrograde of forces from the Batanes islands to Northern Luzon, May 2, 2025.

Balikatan is a longstanding annual exercise between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and U.S. military designed to strengthen our ironclad alliance, improve our capable combined force, and demonstrate our commitment to regional security and stability. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Mitchell Johnson) - U.S. Marines with 3d Littoral Anti-Air Battalion, 3d Marine Littoral Regiment, 3d Marine Division, prepare a Marine Air Defense Integrated System for the Integrated Air Missile Defense training during Exercise Balikatan 25, at Naval Station Leovigildo Gantioqui, Philippines, April 25, 2025.

Balikatan 25 | 3d MLR Participates in Integrated Air and Missile Defense

U.S. Marines with 3d Littoral Anti-Air Battalion, 3d Marine Littoral Regiment, alongside Philippine Airmen with 960th Air and Missile Defense Group, concluded one of six Combined Joint All-Domain Operations (CJADO) events during Exercise Balikatan 25, April 27, 2025. The Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) was held at Naval Station Leovigildo Gantioqui from April 25 - 27 and included live- and dry-fire demonstrations from the U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Army, and Philippine Air Force’s counter-unmanned aerial systems (c-UAS) weapon systems.

U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Payton Garcia, an expeditionary fuels technician, instructor and competitor with the Marine Corps Shooting Team, Weapons Training Battalion, holds up an M1 Garand rifle during the Marine Corps Championships Award Ceremony hosted by WTBn at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, April 18, 2025. The M1 Garand rifle was presented to the first-place competitor who attained the highest aggregate score of the Individual Rifle Match and the Individual Pistol Match. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Joshua Barker) - U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Payton Garcia, an expeditionary fuels technician, instructor and competitor with the Marine Corps Shooting Team, Weapons Training Battalion, holds up an M1 Garand rifle during the Marine Corps Championships Award Ceremony hosted by WTBn at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, April 18, 2025. The M1 Garand rifle was presented to the first-place competitor who attained the highest aggregate score of the Individual Rifle Match and the Individual Pistol Match. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Joshua Barker)

Marine Corps Championships at MCB Quantico

MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va. – Weapons Training Battalion – Quantico hosted the Marine Corps Championships, the culminating event of the Marine Corps Marksmanship Competitions, from April 10–18 at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia.

A Marine Air Defense Integrated System Mk 1 fires upon a small unmanned aircraft system during a training exercise at Pohakuloa Training Area, Hawaii, Jan. 25, 2025. A key component of the Marine Corps’ Force Design initiative, the mobile MADIS increases 3d Marine Littoral Regiment’s tactical flexibility by extending the range of the airspace which 3d MLR is able to sense and defend without support from the Joint Force. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Jacqueline C. Parsons) - A Marine Air Defense Integrated System Mk 1 fires upon a small unmanned aircraft system during a training exercise at Pohakuloa Training Area, Hawaii, Jan. 25, 2025. A key component of the Marine Corps’ Force Design initiative, the mobile MADIS increases 3d Marine Littoral Regiment’s tactical flexibility by extending the range of the airspace which 3d MLR is able to sense and defend without support from the Joint Force. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Jacqueline C. Parsons)

Enhanced Defense: 3d MLR Deploys MADIS to Philippines for Balikatan 2025

U.S. Marines with 3d Marine Littoral Regiment, 3d Marine Division, deployed to the Philippines in support of Exercise Balikatan 25, scheduled for April 21 to May 9, 2025. During this year’s iteration of the Integrated Air and Missile Defense event (IAMD), one of the 6 Combined Joint All-Domain Operations events scheduled during Balikatan 25, U.S. Marines with 3d Littoral Anti-Air Battalion’s Ground-Based Air Defense Battery (GBAD) will conduct live-fire training with the newly fielded Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS).

U.S. Marines with Marine Rotational Force – Darwin 25.3 disembark a U.S. Air Force C-130J with 36th Airlift Squadron, 374th Airlift Wing after their arrival to Puerto Princesa, Palawan, Philippines, from Mindanao for Balikatan 2025, April 15, 2025. Balikatan is a longstanding annual exercise between U.S. and Philippine armed forces designed to strengthen the alliance, showcase the capable combined force, and demonstrate the commitment to regional security and stability. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Ezekieljay Correa) - U.S. Marines with Marine Rotational Force – Darwin 25.3 disembark a U.S. Air Force C-130J with 36th Airlift Squadron, 374th Airlift Wing after their arrival to Puerto Princesa, Palawan, Philippines, from Mindanao for Balikatan 2025, April 15, 2025. Balikatan is a longstanding annual exercise between U.S. and Philippine armed forces designed to strengthen the alliance, showcase the capable combined force, and demonstrate the commitment to regional security and stability. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Ezekieljay Correa)

MRF-D 25.3 surges forward for Balikatan

Following the successful completion of Marine Exercise 2025 in Mindanao, the Marine Rotational Force – Darwin (MRF-D) 25.3 Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF) seamlessly repositioned it’s Ground Combat Element (GCE) forces from Mindanao to Palawan, Philippines, as a show of Allied and partner commitment to regional security and building maritime domain awareness in support of Exercise Balikatan 25.

U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Dakota Meyer, a Medal of Honor recipient, stands with Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of Defense, and Sgt. Maj. Carlos Ruiz, the Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps, after reenlisting in a ceremony at the Pentagon, April 17, 2025. Sgt. Meyer is the only living Medal of Honor recipient currently serving in the Marine Corps. (U.S. Marine Corps photos by Lance Cpl. Abigail Hutcheson) - U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Dakota Meyer, a Medal of Honor recipient, stands with Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of Defense, and Sgt. Maj. Carlos Ruiz, the Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps, after reenlisting in a ceremony at the Pentagon, April 17, 2025. Sgt. Meyer is the only living Medal of Honor recipient currently serving in the Marine Corps. (U.S. Marine Corps photos by Lance Cpl. Abigail Hutcheson)

Returning to the Ranks: Sgt. Dakota Meyer reenlists into the U.S. Marine Corps

U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Dakota Meyer, a Medal of Honor recipient, returned to service on the afternoon of April 17, 2025, in the Pentagon’s Hall of Heroes.

. 1st Reconnaissance Battalion conducted the training to enhance rapid insertion capabilities in littoral zones as preparation for integrating with 3d Marine Littoral Regiment and its subordinate battalions while forward in the Philippines for Exercise Balikatan 25 and Kamandag 9 this summer. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Malia Sparks) - U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Stefan Mueller, a native of Colorado and a reconnaissance Marine with 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, tests gear prior to conducting dive operations on Marine Corps Base Hawaii Feb. 24, 2025

1st Recon to Support 3d MLR for BK25

MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII, HAWAII – Since January 14, a platoon of U.S. Marines with 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division has been conducting training on Marine Corps Base Hawaii in preparation for integrating with 3d Marine Littoral Regiment and its subordinate battalions while forward in the Philippines for Exercise Balikatan 25.

Marine Corps Base Hawaii