US Marine Corps stands up 3 new combat logistics companies in Japan

The U.S. Marine Corps activated three new companies last month as part of the service’s Force Design 2030 recalibration toward agile logistics across the contested island chains of the Indo-Pacific.

Combat Logistics Battalion 4 officially stood up its Headquarters, Alpha and General Service companies during a Nov. 14 ceremony aboard Camp Schwab, Japan, the Marine Corps announced. A fourth combat logistics company, Bravo, is expected to be added in the near future.

The activation of the new formations is geared toward the Marine Corps commandant’s emphasis on building out mobile logistics capable of quickly equipping units across the Indo-Pacific, CLB-4 commanding officer Lt. Col Nathan Green said in a service release.

“This is about outpacing our adversaries in a rapidly evolving operating environment,” Green said, adding that the nature of the theater often warrants quickly adapting.

“If we have to change again, we’ll change again,” Green said.

Commandant Gen. Eric Smith published an update to Force Design 2030 in early October, highlighting the service’s push to make faster decisions and alter course when needed.

“We are modernizing at a time when the character of war is shifting rapidly,” Smith wrote in a preface to the 24-page document. “Adversaries are fielding advanced weapons and employing new methods designed to erode our warfighting advantages. Drones, long-range precision fires, cyber effects and electronic warfare are now daily features of conflict. The lessons drawn from contemporary battlefields underscore what Marines have long understood: combat is unforgiving, and victory belongs to the side that adapts faster, fights harder and endures longer.”

CLB-4 training exercises and joint operations will further impact how the new companies evolve for future fights, Green noted, adding that keeping the Japan-based 4th Marine Regiment and naval expeditionary elements well-equipped in the Indo-Pacific theater will anchor those moves.

As part of the original Force Design 2030, the 4th Marine Regiment was slated to be converted to a Marine littoral regiment based out of Guam.

The most recent program update unveiled by the commandant backtracked on that, however, with the document stating that the regiment “will be retained in III [Marine Expeditionary Force] as a reinforced Marine Infantry Regiment, preserving its core mission while preparing to respond to potential crisis and conflict.”

A Marine Corps spokesman, Lt. Col. Eric Flanagan, told Marine Corps Times that this shift was driven by threat assessments.

“This decision to retain 4th Marine Regiment is informed by recent wargames and analysis which address the growing threat posed by competitors in the Indo-Pacific and, together with other forces in the region, postures the Marine Corps to decisively respond to regional threats, provide integrated deterrence alongside allies and partners, and address emergent crises,” Flanagan said.

“Our current priorities are focused on ensuring that our existing infantry regiments and purpose-built MLRs are equipped and trained to meet the demands of the evolving security environment.”