By Dave Davis
For Variety

THE media bring us daily tales of the expected impact of the anticipated increase in the military on Guam. Some of it is good, optimistically reflecting the certainty of an improved economy and higher standard of living for all. Some of it is bad, a reflection of paranoia and/or dog-in-the-manger/chicken-little mindsets.
Actually, planned military strength is far less than in times past (over 200,000 at the end of WWII, for example), and similar to that of the Vietnam era. There’s little or no thought or mention, however, of the impact of the civilian population on military installations and facilities.
If you’re able, take a walk through the Naval hospital. Note the bodies and faces of those awaiting service at the pharmacy, or the dermatology clinic, or radiology, or the surgical department. Most are retirees, dependents of retirees, and other non-active-duty folks. Visit the commissary, and note the preponderance of those obviously not in active-duty status.
I learned a few years ago, while researching my opposition to the now-defunct “visitor” policy, that retirees and dependents comprise the largest segment of the customer base at the commissaries and military exchanges. That short-lived, ill-advised policy clearly showed what could happen when local retirees were allowed to bring “visitors” along to help with the shopping. Parking lots overflowed, commissary shelves were soon bare, and long lines of vehicles waited to enter the base. That was in the days before 9/1/1, and the advent of enhanced security measures.
Large numbers of military retirees and dependents also make use of base recreational facilities, libraries, post offices and other comparatively low-visibility activities. That’s the way it should be: as a military retiree, I fully appreciate the benefits I earned through service to my country, just as did all those others I mentioned. We’ll never become fully disconnected from the ways we lived and the things we did for so long. That’s why our compensation is known as “retirement pay” rather than as a pension or annuity: it is, in fact, a reduced level of pay for a reduced level of service.
A member of the Japanese Diet who visited recently seemed obsessed with getting out the message that life “outside the fences” should be at least as good as that “inside.” I’m not sure what he had in mind, but I do know that life is actually pretty much what you make it.
If and when we who live outside the fences ever manage to break the cradle-to-grave-government-dependency cycle, and acquire the will and the ability to deal with those intent on mindless violence, vandalism, drug abuse and self-serving political agendas — all extremely rare or non-existent inside the fences — then perhaps life on Guam may strike a better balance across the board.