Brig. Gen. Simon Doran, left, incoming commander of the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, receives the wing colors from the outgoing commander, Maj. Gen. Marcus Annibale, at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, Okinawa, March 20, 2026. (Ryan Sotodavila/U.S. Marine Corps)
A veteran Marine fighter pilot and former instructor at the Navy’s elite Top Gun school has taken command of a key U.S. air unit in the Indo-Pacific, as regional tensions continue to shape the military’s posture in Asia.
Brig. Gen. Simon Doran assumed command of the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing on Friday, succeeding Maj. Gen. Marcus Annibale during a ceremony at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma.
About 200 Marines, U.S. airmen and representatives from Japan and South Korea attended the ceremony, which was closed to the news media, wing spokesman Capt. Tyler King said by email Monday.
Annibale, in remarks at the ceremony, described the wing’s Marines as “neighbors when called to help, partners when called to stand together, and warriors when called to fight,” King wrote.
Doran pledged to continue strengthening cooperation with regional allies and supporting the Marines and sailors assigned to the unit, the spokesman said.
Brig. Gen. Simon Doran gives his first remarks as 1st Marine Aircraft Wing commander at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, Okinawa, March 20, 2026. (Scott Smolinski/U.S. Marine Corps)
Doran, who was born in Liverpool, England, graduated from Purdue University and was commissioned in 1993, according to his official biography. He holds a master’s degree in national security and strategic studies from the Naval War College.
A designated F/A-18 Super Hornet pilot, Doran attended the Navy Fighter Weapons School, known as Top Gun, in 2000 and returned as an instructor from 2002 to 2005. He has flown more than 600 combat hours in the Super Hornet and F-35B Lightning II.
His deployments include missions over the Persian Gulf in 1999 aboard the aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy and operations in Afghanistan in 2001 aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt, according to his official biography.
Before coming to Okinawa, Doran led the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory in Quantico, Va., and has been nominated for promotion to major general.
Annibale, of Fairfax, Va., led the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing during a period of heightened tensions with China, whose naval and coast guard activity has increased in waters around Taiwan and Japan.
During his tenure, the Marine Corps deployed MQ-9A Reaper drones to Kadena Air Base in 2024 for intelligence and surveillance missions. The wing also hosted its first rotational deployment of F-35B fighters to Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, near Hiroshima, last year.
Annibale is expected to become deputy chief of staff at NATO’s Allied Command Transformation in Norfolk, Va.
The 1st Marine Aircraft Wing — the aviation component of the III Marine Expeditionary Force — includes about 7,500 Marines and sailors based in Japan and Hawaii. It operates a range of aircraft, including F/A-18 and F-35B fighters, MV-22 Osprey tiltrotors and AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters, and provides air support, reconnaissance and electronic warfare capabilities.
AloJapan.com