{"id":37528,"date":"2020-03-31T12:40:08","date_gmt":"2020-03-31T12:40:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/03\/31\/marine-rotation-to-australia-delayed-over-covid-19-concerns\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T16:08:01","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T16:08:01","slug":"marine-rotation-to-australia-delayed-over-covid-19-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/coronavirus\/2020\/03\/31\/marine-rotation-to-australia-delayed-over-covid-19-concerns\/","title":{"rendered":"Marine rotation to Australia delayed over COVID-19 concerns"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The annual six-month rotation of Marines to Australia has been delayed as COVID-19<\/a> continues to spread, according to U.S. Marine Corps Forces Pacific.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nearly 2,500 Marines<\/a> were slated to participate in this year\u2019s iteration of training in Australia \u2014 roughly the same size as last year\u2019s rotation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marines were expected to start arriving in Australia in April but a newly implemented overseas travel ban by the Defense Department has sidelined those departure dates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Pentagon recently ordered a 60-day stop-movement order that will impact exercises<\/a>, deployments and permanent change-of-station moves. In all, nearly 90,000 troops will be impacted by the order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Corps says its prepared to conduct the deployment later this year. Some limited equipment and supplies are still being delivered to Australia to support future Marine deployments, MARFORPAC said in the release. That equipment will arrive without any personnel.<\/p>\n\n\n\t