Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Eric Smith cautioned on Wednesday that ongoing efforts to relocate Marines from Okinawa to Guam will move those forces away from where they are most needed.

“Frankly, Guam puts us going the wrong way,” Smith told reporters at a Defense Writers Group Breakfast in Washington, D.C. “Guam puts us on the other side of the International Date Line, but it puts us a long way from the crisis theater, from the priority theater.”

About 19,000 Marines are currently stationed in Okinawa. The United States and Japan agreed in 2012 to move about 9,000 Marines from Okinawa to Guam and other locations in the Pacific, including Hawaii. About 4,000 Marines are expected to be stationed on Guam, where Camp Biaz will serve as their primary installation.

Although the Marine Corps is committed to drawing down to about 10,000 Marines on Okinawa, the move to Guam is a “challenge,” Smith told reporters on Wednesday.