Gates OKs Guam buildup preps

Gates surveyed Guam from the air and praised the U.S. territory for being “very hospitable to our military forces for a very long time.”

Before departing for the rest of an Asian tour, Gates also had a favorable response to preparations for the coming influx of U.S. troops to the island.

“I’m surprised at the amount of construction that’s already under way,” Gates said after a helicopter tour over military facilities on the island.

Most of the military construction must still await completion of a comprehensive environmental impact study of the basing of more troops on the small island territory.

Gates assured local officials the Pentagon will be “sensitive to the needs of the people of Guam” as 7,000 Marines are transferred from Okinawa to the island within the next six years at an estimated cost of $10.2 billion (€6.58 billion).

The Finegayan area that stretches for miles (kilometers) along Guam’s Route 3 has been identified by military planners as the preferred site for a planned Marine base. Gates said he is confident that the goal of relocating the Marines to Guam by 2014 will be met.

Construction projects related to the Marines’ relocation are expected to start about two years from now, but other military projects already are under way.

For the current fiscal year, which ends June 30, the Pentagon has budgeted $228 million (€147 million) for Guam military construction, including projects for the Air Force, Army, National Guard and construction of schools for children of military families.

At Andersen Air Force Base, up to $2 billion (€1.29 billion) worth of projects are expected to be carried out within the next few years, said Brig. Gen. Doug Owens, the base’s commander.

“Andersen six years from now will not look anything like this,” Owens said, adding that military growth on the island over the next several years will be unprecedented.

He said Guam’s strategic location is suited for immediate deployment of U.S. military forces to anywhere in the Asia Pacific region. Planes from Guam can reach any place in East Asia within a few hours.

Mudslides in the Philippines, the recent storm devastation in Myanmar, the China earthquake and other U.S. humanitarian missions involved personnel from Andersen among the first U.S. responders, he said.

A $42 million (€27.08 million) facility for the unmanned Global Hawa surveillance aircraft is under construction at Andersen. It’s expected to be completed in a year, with aircraft arriving around July 2009, Owens said.

Owens said the base is also being readied to accomodate the Air Force’s next generation of fighter jets.

Andersen will see its Air Force personnel grow from 8,000 now to about 9,000 in the next several years, he said.

When Gates arrived on Guam Thursday afternoon, Gov. Felix Camacho asked him to support Guam’s request for U.S. financial support for infrastructure improvements and other expenses related to hosting a massive increase in troops.

The local government has put a price tag of $2 billion (€1.29 billion) to $3 billion (€1.93 billion) in civilian projects to accommodate the buildup.