The definition of “strategic” is: militarily necessary for fighting a war, or essential to the military forces fighting a war. How is Guam necessary for fighting a war? How does having 10,000 soldiers on the island improve the strategic position of the U.S.? Unless hostilities break out on Guam the Marines have to upload there equipment onto ships or planes and go to the action. The uploading can take place in Hawaii or California just as easily.
It is true that during the Vietnam War, Guam was of strategic value as it was out of range of the enemy and supplies could be stockpiled. Being part of the U.S., Guam has some advantages as a supply depot over foreign countries, but that might be offset by the GovGuam wanting to let the Chinese and Russian tourist in without screening out the spies, terrorist or saboteurs.
But the real reason the buildup shouldn’t be on Guam is the cost to the U.S. taxpayer! Because of the typhoons and earthquakes on Guam everything costs at least twice what it would on the mainland. Shipping adds another huge cost. The DoD got to skip the second step in any re-alignment of troops, the Cost Analysis of Alternatives! Congress has said military re-alignment should be based on the military mission, cost, and environmental impact. The Guam buildup is unique in that the re-alignment is based on international agreement. The military mission was not considered until after the fact when the military was told to make it work. The DoD skipped the first two steps because if military mission didn’t count, then cost wasn’t a determining factor either. The EIS appears to have some fatal flaws also. One of them being the congressional requirement that the military purchase utilities from the local government or private utilities. The DoD is required to assure that the sewage from the installation receives at least secondary treatment. Unfortunately, the GovGuam treatment facility does not even meet the primary treatment standard. The government of Japan agreed to lend GovGuam $500 million to bring the plant up to primary treatment standards and GovGuam would pay back the loan with increased revenues from the military base. This is where the house of cards starts to fall apart. The Navy can’t pay to discharge sewage into an inadequate system, the GovGuam can’t pay the loan back without the increased revenue from the Navy, the Navy can’t build facilities if there is no place to discharge the sewage, and any facilities built can’t remain unoccupied very long without needing major renovation in the Guam climate.
Another problem is the residents of Guam appear to be opposed to Marines building a firing range or training ranges on Guam. If the Marines can’t train on Guam then there is no reason for them to live on Guam. The Marines only have a training cycle and a deployment cycle and if they can’t train on Guam then they don’t need to be on Guam.
There are some advantages to the U.S. military being in a foreign country. In Japan, the Japanese pay for all the non-war fighting facilities for our military like housing, schools and MWR facilities. In South Korea, the South Koreans pay for all of the war fighting facilities the U.S. military needs.
In Australia, the Australian government provides housing and training facilities. On Guam the military is expected to pay for the school buses and ambulance needed by the local residents, the historical museum, and war reparations for winning WWII.
The DoD may not have done a full Master Plan based on telling Congress they don’t know how much the final cost will be is far better than lying to Congress and saying there is a military mission that can only be performed on Guam no matter what the cost.
CHARLES W. ADAMS
Northvale, New Jersey
