Brig. Gen. Ryan Hoyle, left, incoming commander of the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, accepts the Marine Corps flag from outgoing commander Brig. Gen. Robert Brodie at Camp Courtney, Okinawa, Feb. 6, 2026. (Ryan M. Breeden/Stars and Stripes)
CAMP COURTNEY, Okinawa — An infantry officer with experience in Okinawa, Italy, Iraq and Afghanistan has taken command of the Marine Corps’ only permanently deployed expeditionary brigade.
Brig. Gen. Ryan Hoyle took over the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade from Brig. Gen. Robert Brodie during a Friday ceremony at Camp Courtney.
Hoyle also became deputy commander of III Marine Expeditionary Force during the ceremony.
Lt. Gen. Roger Turner, head of III MEF, and Marine Corps Installations Pacific commander Maj. Gen. Brian Wolford were among approximately 150 Marines, sailors, family members and Japanese troops in attendance.
“I’m really looking forward to getting integrated and learning from every single one of you,” Hoyle told those gathered for the ceremony.
Lt. Gen. Roger Turner, commander of the III Marine Expeditionary Force, speaks during a change-of-command ceremony for the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade at Camp Courtney, Okinawa, Feb. 6, 2026. (Ryan M. Breeden/Stars and Stripes)
He takes command as the brigade prepares to participate alongside the Japanese military in the 20th iteration of Iron Fist, an annual exercise scheduled Wednesday through March 9 throughout Japan, including Okinawa.
Brigade Marines were preparing to embark Tuesday aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli to observe U.S. sailors and Marines with the Tripoli Amphibious Ready Group and 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, brigade spokesman Maj. Edward Pingel wrote in an email Friday.
“I know that we don’t have much of a weekend, and that’s all right,” Hoyle told the audience. “We will make up for it as we continue serving together.”
Hoyle, of Jefferson, Iowa, and Lenexa, Kan., was commissioned in the Marine Corps in 1996, according to his official biography. He previously served on Okinawa from 2015 to 2016 as current operations officer for the 3rd Marine Division.
Prior to his return to the island, he served as assistant commander of the 1st Marine Division at Camp Pendleton, Calif., and in operational planning roles with NATO.
Among his decorations, Hoyle has earned the Legion of Merit, Purple Heart and Combat Action Ribbon, according to his biography.
Brig. Gen. Ryan Hoyle gives his first speech as commander of the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade at Camp Courtney, Okinawa, Feb. 6, 2026. (Ryan M. Breeden/Stars and Stripes)
Brodie, of Bucks County, Pa., had a short tenure with the brigade; he took over July 31 from Brig. Gen. Trevor Hall.
Now numbering about 90 Marines, the brigade can aggregate other units to increase in size up to 14,500 to serve as a middleweight air-ground task force.
The brigade’s mission includes rapid response across the Indo-Pacific to humanitarian crises and disaster relief. In November, its Marines provided relief in the Philippines following Typhoon Kalmaegi and Super Typhoon Fung-Wong.
“[The typhoons] took over 300 lives,” Brodie said in remarks during the ceremony. “And what I asked myself is how many more would have died had these Marines not showed up to be able to fly aircraft, support all of the force flow that came in.”
During his tenure, Brodie increased partnership with the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force’s Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade. In January, the Marine brigade stood up a headquarters company to align with the amphibious brigade.
During an interview with media after the ceremony, he cited his relationships with amphibious brigade commander Maj. Gen. Toshikatsu Musha and Japan’s Western Army commander Lt. Gen. Seiji Toriumi as his biggest accomplishments as commander.
“I think we’ve learned how to support the MEF better as the challenges of the theater get a little more complex,” he said.
An F/A-18 Hornet and F-35 Lightning II pilot, Brodie will next command the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing in San Diego, according to a Jan. 26 news release.
AloJapan.com