New Defense Department efforts to improve health care access for civilian employees in Japan and Guam are underway, but it’s too soon to tell whether they’re working, according to a federal watchdog.

A contingent of international military officers joined U.S. sailors Friday as command of the Navy’s largest destroyer squadron passed to its deputy commodore.

The Department of Defense has scheduled “listening sessions” at three U.S. military bases in Japan next week to collect feedback on a pilot program designed to connect DOD civilians with Japanese health care providers. 

A Chinese man was sentenced to a short federal prison term for attempting to smuggle 12 Chinese migrants from the Northern Mariana Islands to Guam last year, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Guam said.

The U.S. Coast Guard on Guam is expecting at least two new cutters next year, an addition that would expand its operations as the service reprioritizes border security.

The U.S. is sending military personnel to its ally Thailand and monetary assistance to Myanmar to help the neighboring countries recover from a 7.7-magnitude earthquake that struck the area Friday.

The aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson and its strike group arrived on Guam this week for a scheduled port call as its sister ship, the USS Nimitz, prepared to depart San Diego for the Indo-Pacific.

Bollinger Shipyards is moving forward with design work and construction of the Coast Guard’s first new heavy icebreaker in five decades, part of a program that has faced repeated delays and cost increases.

A joint venture between a U.S. and Japanese construction company has secured a $97 million Defense Department contract to build energy storage facilities aimed at shielding the U.S. Navy on Guam from power outages.

Tens of thousands of visitors toured the home of the U.S. 7th Fleet and other U.S. military installations in Japan over the weekend as part of annual spring festivals.