HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — Members of the public this week have the opportunity to weigh in and learn more about the military’s plans to create a 360-degree enhanced integrated air and missile defense system for Guam.
Three open house scoping meetings will be hosted Wednesday through Friday by the Missile Defense Agency, the federal entity tasked with standing up the system. Each meeting will have project representatives on standby to provide information about the plan. The meetings will also be a chance for members of the public to submit comments on the project and any environmental or historical impacts, according to a news release from Joint Region Marianas.
Each meeting will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. at the following dates and locations:
• Aug. 2 at the Hilton Guam Resort & Spa Micronesian Room.
• Aug. 3 at the Micronesia Mall, on the second floor next to the Macy’s Women’s department.
• Aug. 4 at the Hågat Mayor’s Office Community Center.
Comments will continue to be accepted via regular mail, email and online through Aug. 18, according to the release from JRM.
Though the proposed missile defense system has been a topic of much discussion and between government officials since it became public knowledge in May, this will be the first chance members of the public will get to directly ask federal officials about the project. Open house meetings and the deadline for public comment were extended in the wake of the devastation caused by Typhoon Mawar.
‘Key strategic location’
Dubbed the Guam Defense System, the project has been called the top national security priority for the military’s U.S. Indo-Pacific Command amid rising regional tensions with other global powers and especially China.
“Guam is a key strategic location for sustaining and maintaining U.S. influence, deterring adversaries, responding to crises, and maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific,” the release from JRM states on the need for the proposed system. “An attack on Guam would be considered a direct attack on the United States and would be met with an appropriate response.”
While the military can defend against current ballistic threats, “regional missile threats to Guam continue to increase and advance technologically.”
The Missile Defense Agency and the U.S. Army will be working to “strategically locate and integrate various system components,” including radar arrays, sensors, missile launchers and control centers at multiple sites.
There are 20 locations around the island that have been identified as potential sites for pieces of the system, The Guam Daily Post has previously reported, though Rear Adm. Benjamin Nicholson, the recently outgoing commander for JRM, said the goal is to use the smallest number of sites possible.
Not all the property belongs to the military, and concern over the potential for land taking has been raised during public debate around the issue. Other concerns include the possibility of nuclear reactors being deployed to Guam, the increasing threat to the community, the impact on local infrastructure, and what’s been called an “information deficit,” the Post reported. Experts have also questioned how reliably any missile defense platform could defend against cutting-edge technology like hypersonic weapons deployed by China.
A map shows 20 initial sites proposed to house the various components of a proposed 360-degree missile defense system for Guam.
U.S. Naval Base Guam Apra View in Sånta Rita-Sumai is shown July 19, 2023.
