It is the largest field command in the Marine Corps and is headquartered at Camp H. M. Smith in Hawaii.

In 2002, then-commander of Marine Forces Pacific, Earl B. Hailston, temporarily moved from Hawaii to the Arab states of the Persian Gulf to oversee operations in the Middle East.

The expansion of MARCENT during the War on Terror led to it being made a free standing headquarters under Central Command.

Even after the removal of MARCENT from its area of responsibility, MARFORPAC remains the largest field command in the Marine Corps.

Longstanding missions for MARFORPAC include building partner capacity in support of regional cooperation and capacity-building efforts, as well as the defense of South Korea (via subordinate command MARFORK) and Japan.