According to Bloomberg, the new announcement will include a drastic scaling back of the number of troops headed to Guam, diverting about half of the 8,000 slated to leave Japan to Australia, Hawaii, or the Philippines.
I suppose that answers one of my questions about whether our planned deployment would be in addition to our forces in the western Pacific or just a move of existing forces.
If it is to be the Philippines, I doubt it would be permanent but would be training rotations. The Philippines likes that idea:
U.S. and Philippine commandos waded ashore on Wednesday in a mock assault to retake a small island in energy-rich waters disputed with China, part of a drill involving thousands of troops Beijing had said would raise the risk of armed conflict.
The exercises, part of annual U.S.-Philippine war games on the southwestern island of Palawan, coincide with another standoff between Chinese and Philippine vessels near Scarborough Shoal in a different part of the South China Sea.
The Marines may well be planning an islet-hopping strategy in the South China Sea where small units of good troops fight over tiny islets. Spreading out the Marines wouldn't be a problem if that is the strategy for coping with Chinese territorial ambitions in the South China Sea.
