JACKSONVILLE, Fla. --
U.S. Marine Corps Col. David Merles, commanding officer of Marine Corps Support Facility Blount Island, hosted the Marine Corps Installations East fall commander’s conference Sept. 9–10 in Florida, as regional leaders aligned priorities and saw firsthand how the Jacksonville facility anchors the Corps’ global readiness.
Merles welcomed command teams from Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, Marine Corps Air Station New River, Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort and Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany inside the facility’s new emergency operations center.
“We project power, we produce readiness, we promote resilience,” said Merles, standing at a podium, facing tables full of the region’s colonels and sergeants major.
Brig. Gen. Ralph Rizzo Jr., commanding general of Marine Corps Installations East and Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, led the two-day forum to strengthen their shared understanding of objectives for the year ahead. He said the conferences give leaders space to address regional issues, such as access and security, while Blount Island offered a unique perspective because of its sustainment mission.
Marine Corps police officers briefed commanders on unmanned aerial systems for perimeter security against waterborne threats. Facility personnel highlighted corrective maintenance, preventative maintenance and corrosion repair, tasks that keep prepositioned gear combat-ready.
The agenda included a tour of the USNS Sgt. William R. Button, a cargo ship operated by the Navy’s Military Sealift Command, and a ride aboard an Improved Navy Lighterage System—both essential to ship-to-shore movement during maritime prepositioning force operations.
“It’s not like something we have at every installation,” said Sgt. Maj. Wesley Turner II, senior enlisted leader of MCIEAST-MCB Camp Lejeune. “With its maritime focus, Blount Island still projects combat power but in a different way. It shows the full spectrum of how the Marine Corps operates.”
Staff updates during the conference covered workforce restructuring, budget priorities, barracks renovations, encroachment concerns and community collaboration to bolster resilience. Rizzo stressed the need to sustain readiness, accelerate Force Design integration and invest in quality-of-life initiatives.
Merles outlined both quality-of-life and operational progress at Blount Island, from adding barber and recreation spaces to increasing aviation support equipment.
“Bring it here, put it through the production cycle, then put it at ashore sites,” Merles said. “We’ll take that equipment, get it in a better readiness state, then work with the geographic commands and expeditionary forces to exercise it more frequently.”
He added that the Blount Island facility represents more than infrastructure and logistics systems.
“We are the Marine Corps’ hub for prepositioning and a center of excellence for maritime innovation,” Merles said. “But what makes Blount Island truly exceptional is its people. We have great teams here, and they’re committed to giving Marines the best combat-ready equipment in the world.”
Rizzo noted the region’s geography mirrors the Indo-Pacific, giving the Marine Corps realistic training opportunities. He said Blount Island’s value lies in its ability to sustain forces once deployed forward.
“Any great force in history that outran its supply lines failed,” Rizzo said. “Blount Island’s piece of projecting combat power is that it can be sustained as far forward as possible.”
Rizzo and Turner closed by stressing community partnerships and the need for welders, electricians, plumbers and other skilled trades to sustain the industrial base, along with hiring veterans whose teamwork, discipline and timeliness strengthen the community.
“Be as military- and veteran-friendly a community as you can,” Rizzo said. “That matters to our reenlistment and retention. Marines and sailors base those decisions not only on their jobs, but on how well their families are supported in the communities where they serve.”