What was the significance of the US victories at Guadalcanal and Midway Island during the WWII Pacific campaign?

Administrative buildings located on Camp

Catlin, Hawaii, Dec. 29, 1945

FMF-PAC operated on Camp Catlin, Hawaii, until 1950 when the staff began looking for a more permanent location. In 1955, the command moved into the former Aiea Heights Naval Hospital that had completed constructed in 1942, with the first Marine residents taking post in October of 1955. The headquarters staff placed the camp in full operation just two weeks before its dedication on January 31, 1956.

In 1992, U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Pacific, was designated a service component headquarters, and the commander still maintains the role of FMF-PAC.

Since 1955, the commander, U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Pacific, leads, operates, and commands from the headquarters base, Camp H.M. Smith, Hawaii. The camp was named after Gen. Holland M. “Howlin’ Mad” Smith on June 8, 1955, in honor of his leadership during World War II, including leading Marines to victory in the island-hopping campaign across the Pacific, and for his successes in modernizing amphibious warfare.

Left: The Aiea Naval Hospital conducts an all-hands formation in front of the Aiea Heights Naval Hospital during World War II. On Jan. 1, 1944, Adm. Chester W. Nimitz ordered all able patients to assemble in front of the hospital in order to personally present the combat-wounded patients their awards. The building that currently headquarters U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Pacific was once the primary rear-area hospital for the Navy and Marine Corps during World War II.

The Aiea Naval Hospital

U.S. Marines with 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, take cover after receiving contact in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, May 28, 2012.

Following the September 11, 2001 attacks and the initiation of Operation Enduring Freedom, Lieutenant General Earl B. Hailston, Jr., commander, U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Pacific, was designated as commander, U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Central Command. Although tailored for operations in littoral environments, Lt. Gen. Hailston was tasked with establishing a Combined Joint Task Force-Consequence Management headquarters in Kuwait. Later, Lt. Gen. Hailston and his staff would oversee the deployment of more than 70,000 U.S. Marines and sailors to the CENTCOM AOR in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

In August of 2005, as the number of operations in the CENTCOM AOR increased, MARCENT was removed from the responsibilities of MARFORPAC and its commander, and a free standing headquarters was established as U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Central Command.

U.S. Marines in the Pacific are assigned to the commander, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, and operate across the INDOPACOM area of responsibility that contains two-thirds of the world's population, 43 countries, the world's six largest armed forces and crosses 16 time zones – more than half the Earth's surface. 
 

U.S. Marines with Marine Rotational Force Darwin set up a defensive position during Exercise Koolendong, at the Royal Australian Air Force Base Curtin, WA, Australia, July 18, 2022.

U.S. Marines with A Company, 1st Battalion, 1st Marines [A/1/1] return fire from a house window during a search and clear mission in the battle of Hue, Feb. 1968.

Throughout its storied history, MARFORPAC has directly served in or supported various campaigns to include: the Pacific Island Campaigns, World War II, June 1944 to August 1945; the war in Korea, June 1950 to July 1953; the war in Vietnam, March 1965 to April 1975; Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm, Southwest Asia, August 1990 to April 1991; Operation Iraqi Freedom, 2003 to 2010, and Operation Enduring Freedom, Afghanistan, 2001 to 2021.

In addition to combat operations, MARFORPAC has responded in support of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations throughout the Indo-Pacific, to include: Operation Unified Assistance, Indonesia; Operation Sea Angel, Bangladesh; Operation Caring Response, Myanmar; Operation Tomodachi, Japan; Operation Sea Angel II, Bangladesh; Operation Damayan, Philippines; and Operation Sahayogi Haat, Nepal.

U.S. Marine Corps Col. John E. Merna, commanding officer, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, speaks with a Philippine Department of Social Welfare and Development worker during Operation Damayan, Leyte, Philippines, November 18, 2013.