By Gerardo R. Partido
Variety News Staff

GUAM’S military build-up is on track as a retired U.S. Marine Corps major general has been tapped to help oversee the planning for the expansion of the military on island and the transfer of 8,000 Marines from Okinawa to Guam.
According to Congresswoman Madeleine Z. Bordallo, Major General David F. Bice, USMC (Ret.) has been named executive director of the Joint Guam Program Office which will help coordinate the military’s development plans for Guam.
Bordallo met yesterday with Bice and Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Installations and Environment B.J. Penn to discuss the continuing planning efforts being led by the U.S. Navy for the overall military development on Guam.
The group met to conduct an “in-progress” review of the development plans for Guam and to discuss an upcoming visit to Guam by Penn, Bice and members of their staff.
According to Bordallo, the Navy delegation will be visiting Guam to further consult with local and community officials, as well as to conduct detailed visits to sites where development is expected and to meet with local military commanders.
The military has already released a 90-page master plan that provides more details on the relocation. According to the master plan, most of the $10.3 billion in development projects will revolve around the Finegayan and Naval Communications Station area, with about 3,550 homes to be built in the South Finegayan area.
The Marine headquarters and other facilities like the base exchanges and commissaries will be settled in the Naval Communications Station area where the Navy has its communications center set up. In addition, there will be development in the wharfage area of Big Navy.
“Secretary Penn is leading a very complex development program and his consultations will help to ensure that our community is prepared for the challenges ahead. I was impressed with the newly appointed director of the Joint Guam Program Office, Major General Bice, who will be a superb manager in undertaking the planning and implementation phases of the military development scheduled for our island,” Bordallo said in a statement.
“I have asked Secretary Penn and General Bice to continue to update our leaders and to work with us to address community concerns as we go forward,” she added.
The Joint Guam Program Office was established within the Department of the Navy in August 2006 at the direction of Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England.
The JGPO falls under the direct oversight of Penn, and has responsibility for planning and executing the military development on Guam.
Bice retired from active service with the United States Marine Corps on Jan. 5, 2007 and immediately assumed his leadership post with the Joint Guam Program Office.
He was chosen to head the program office because of his wide experience as a Marine, having last served as Inspector General for the Marine Corps.
During his distinguished career, he commanded at every level through Division Command in the Marine Corps, including commanding the 3rd Marine Division in Japan.
The 3rd Marine Division is the same division that liberated Guam 62 years ago and that will now return to Guam when Marines move from Okinawa to Guam.
Last year, initial implementation details for the movement of Marines to Guam and associated military construction projects took place under the leadership of the U.S. Pacific Command.
The Department of Defense has said that the U.S. is committed to Guam and wants to build an “enduring” presence on island, with both Japan and the U.S. spending some $10 billion over a seven-year period to facilitate the transfer of the Marines from Okinawa.
All in all, over the next 10 years, the military said Guam will see a doubling of Air Force and Navy personnel, with Air Force personnel rising to about 4,500 and Navy personnel increasing from 4,000 to 8,000, aside from the 17,000 Marines and their dependents who will be relocated from Okinawa.