Col. Paul Pond of the U.S. Marine Corps and the chief of staff of the Joint Guam Program Office in Washington, D.C. said 8,600 U.S. Marines from Okinawa and their estimated 9,000 dependents will be relocated to Guam by 2014.
The military buildup also involves building facilities at Guam’s Apra Harbor to support visiting aircraft carriers and the creation of an Army Air and Missile Defense Task Force that will involve the permanent relocation of about 630 U.S. soldiers and their families to the territory.
The U.S. Air Force is also relocating approximately more than 1,000 personnel to Guam.
“The United States forces are being realigned in the Pacific to better protect U.S. interests. This realignment affects both Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Guam is a key piece of this alignment because of its strategic location in the Pacific,” said Pond in his brief remarks last Friday during the public hearing for the environmental impact statement on the projects.
“All together, these realignments within the Pacific, to include Guam, would bring a more complete, robust U.S. national security presence to the region,” he added.
His office, the JGPO, was established to coordinate the planning efforts for the Guam and the CNMI military realignment.
Under the U.S. National Environmental Policy Act, an Environmental Impact Statement, or EIS, which identifies and studies the potential impacts of the military activities proposed, must first be completed.
The comment period for the EIS will end on Feb. 17, 2010.
The final draft EIS will be published in the summer of 2010.
Only after this process is completed can the actual construction phase for the buildup can begin.
The relocation of the American forces will only occur after a record of decision is signed by the assistant secretary of the Navy some time after the final EIS is published.
“Relocating the Marines to Guam will require construction of administrative offices, housing, and support facilities proposed for the Finegayan area. Support facilities include commissary, exchange, education, child care, recreational and medical facilities. The Finegayan area would also be known as the ‘main cantonment’ area,” said Pond.
He said the Marines require continuous training to maintain their individual and small unit readiness.
“Live fire training is essential to prepare Marines to perform in combat by developing confidence with their weapons. Construction of training facilities and ranges are proposed at Andersen South and an area adjacent to Route 15 on the eastern side of Guam… The live-fire ranges will be limited to pistol and rifle ranges and a machine range. No mortar or artillery firing, or air to ground bombing will take place on these Guam ranges,” he said.
On Tinian, several ranges will be built that Guam cannot accommodate such as enabling the Marines to participate in tactical scenarios in combination with the battalion landing and maneuver exercises.
Two-thirds of public lands on Tinian are leased to the U.S. military.
