Senators: More airmen, fewer Marines to Guam - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

Senators: More airmen, fewer Marines to Guam

Three powerful U.S. senators have proposed changing the military buildup plan, which would reduce the number of Marine families who move to Guam, but might increase the number of airmen at Andersen Air Force Base.

Sens. John McCain, Carl Levin and Jim Webb said in a joint statement Thursday that America’s financial constraints, Japan’s recent disasters and controversies in Okinawa and Guam have made the current troop realignment plan “unrealistic, unworkable and unaffordable.”

McCain, Levin and Webb, members of the Senate Armed Forces Committee, propose three major changes for Guam:

• The mix of Marines that would move to Guam would shift from a majority of headquarters personnel, who would bring their families, to operational transient Marines, whose families would be home-ported elsewhere. Even if this doesn’t reduce the number of Marines who would move to Guam, it would reduce the number of dependents.

• Airmen and “Air Force assets” would move from Kadena Air Base, Japan, to Andersen, which the senators feel is large and under-utilized.

• And instead of building a firing range on Guam, a combined arms training camp would be built elsewhere, possibly in Tinian, an island that is part of the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands.

In their joint statement, the senators voiced a strong commitment to a U.S. military presence in Guam and the surrounding region, but they believe that much has changed since the buildup plan was set under a U.S.-Japan pact in 2006.

“The proposals would save billions in taxpayer dollars, keep U.S. military in the region, greatly reduce the timing of sensitive political issues surrounding Marine Corps Air Station [Futenma] and reduce the American footprint in Okinawa,” the joint statement explains.

Webb and Levin visited Guam about three weeks ago. Staff members from the U.S. House of Representatives will visit Guam for a buildup fact-finding mission next week.

When questioned about the senators’ proposal, Defense Department spokeswoman Leslie Hull-Ryde said the military remains committed to its base realignment plans, according to The Associated Press.

$10 billion price tag

The current Guam buildup plan is one component of a base realignment plan agreed upon in 2006. The treaty was reaffirmed last year, solidifying a plan to move about 8,000 Marines and about 9,000 dependents from Okinawa to Guam.

The shift is expected to cost about $10 billion, with Japan paying about $6 billion, according to the U.S.-Japan agreement.

This astounding price tag is the primary reason the three senators have pitched their proposal, said Denny Roy, an expert on Asian military affairs. Roy is a senior fellow with the East-West Center in Hawaii, a congressionally established think tank.

Rising U.S. debt has brought a climate of spending cuts to Congress, and a triple disaster in Japan has created a tremendous reconstruction expense that no one could have predicted, Roy said. The Associated Press has reported the Japan triple disasters’ estimated price tag at $300 billion.

Neither country can afford a $10 billion buildup on Guam anymore, Roy said.

“One might argue that maybe only the budget crisis in the U.S. would have driven this change even in the absence of disaster in Japan, or only the Japan disasters without a budget crisis could do this,” Roy said. “But, together, the two create an obvious goal of saving money.”

Although Congress may not have direct control over the U.S.-Japan treaty that guides the buildup, the senators behind the proposal are powerful senior lawmakers with considerable military experience.

Also, if Congress doesn’t approve of the current base realignment plan, it has the power to “hold funding hostage,” Roy said.

“These senators’ views carry a lot of influence over what is considered feasible and what isn’t,” Roy said.

Judith Won Pat, speaker of Guam’s legislature, said Thursday that she has seen Congress develop a reluctance to spend money on base realignments throughout the world, including Guam.

At this point, it is unclear if this less-expensive buildup plan pitched by the three senators is preferable for Guam, but at least the federal government is considering revisions instead of rocketing ahead with a questionable buildup plan, she said.

Gov. Eddie Calvo said Guam should look into the details behind the U.S. senators’ statements.

“I see some good suggestions these senators have that bode well for Guam,” he said. “If there’s a way to increase military presence through either the Marines, the Air Force or the Navy without requiring land for a firing range, then that’s a good thing.”

Marine shift

One of the most dramatic changes proposed by the three senators would shift the mix of Marine personnel who are transferred to Guam, reducing the number of military families that would tag along.

The current buildup plan would bring mostly Marine headquarters personnel to Guam, who would be stationed at a Finegayan Marine base with their families.

McCain, Levin and Webb’s new proposal would change a majority of those Marines to operational personnel who would be deployed to Guam temporarily to work under a smaller contingency of headquarters Marines.

The deployed Marines would not bring their families with them, so even if 8,000 Marines were still housed in Finegayan, there would be many fewer dependents with them.

According to Webb’s observations, which are posted on his website, this change would “make a strong difference in terms of infrastructure costs for schools, medical, recreation facilities and housing.”

And the Pentagon has supported this shift.

Adm. Robert Willard, commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, recently told Congress that the military preferred to reduce and redistribute the “headquarters units” initially planned for Guam throughout the Pacific.

Willard said this during an April meeting of the Armed Services Committee where Levin, Webb and McCain were all present.

A shift to transient Marines deployed without their families wouldn’t be new to the Marine Corps, said Lt. Col. Aisha Bakkar, public affairs officer for Marine Forces Pacific Forward Guam and the Northern Marianas.

This is how many Marine bases in Asia and beyond operated before America became embroiled in two wars in the Middle East, she said. Under that system, Marines would be deployed to bases for six months to two years without their families, she said.

“There has been much talk in the Marine Corps that once our war commitments were over, we would eventually go back to that kind of program,” Bakkar said. “It hasn’t been reinstated so far, but it would not be a new concept for us by any stretch.”

Air Force shift

Although the senators are suggesting a plan that would reduce the number of Marine dependents brought to Guam, they are also suggesting an influx from a new source — Kadena.

In an effort to appease public outcry over aircraft noise at Kadena, the senators are suggesting moving “Air Force assets” from Kadena to other bases in the Pacific, particularly Andersen.

During a recent visit to Guam, Levin and Webb noted that Andersen has a lot of empty space. Webb particularly noted that ammunition storage at Kadena could move to Andersen or Naval Magazine.

“It should be noted that Guam’s Andersen Air Force Base is a large, underutilized facility,” Webb states in his observations. “Mindful that B-52 missions were conducted continuously there in the 1970s, we estimate that Andersen Air Force Base is now operating at less than half of its capacity.”

In recent years, Andersen has been increasing its facilities independent from the buildup, so it makes sense that the base could absorb airmen from Japan, said Sen. Judith Guthertz.

Guthertz, chairwoman of the Legislature’s committee on the military buildup, said it would be simpler to fold more Air Force personnel into an existing base than it will be to move Marine dependents into a brand-new base in Finegayan, Dededo.

Andersen has space to spare, and Guthertz was glad the visiting senators noticed.

“I think [Andersen] would be in a position to host additional air wing resources if they needed to do it,” Guthertz said. “It doesn’t surprise me and in many ways that would be a good thing.”

McCain, Levin and Webb don’t state how many airmen or aircraft they propose moving from Kadena to Andersen, so it is unclear if this transfer would offset the reduction of Marine dependents proposed in Finegayan.

Without more details, it is impossible to tell if this plan would make the military population influx smaller, larger or the same size as the current buildup plan, Roy said.

“That’s the big question, isn’t it?” Roy said Thursday. “Will this in fact address the objections that are being made from Guam, that the influx of military populations will overstrain infrastructure on island? This recent proposal from the senators proposed reducing in size one planned group, but introducing a new group to the island.”

Tinian training

A third major change proposed by the three senators is the transfer of Marine training facilities, such as the Route 15 firing range, to an off-Guam location, such as Tinian.

The senators don’t specifically mention Tinian in their joint statement, but Webb states in his online observations that he recommends Tinian for a training site.

The Tinian alternative has been pushed by several Guam politicians, including Won Pat, Guthertz and Delegate Madeleine Bordallo, as well as the group We Are Guahan. The military has stated Tinian cannot be used as a substitute firing range to what it wants to do on Guam.

The military has said that Marines need to use the firing range on a regular basis, and constant travel back and forth to Tinian is not feasible. In March, Lt. Gen. Richard Tryon told Congress that a firing range in Tinian would prevent Marines from test-firing weapons quickly if an emergency arose.

Regardless, Webb recommends a “Camp Fuji style” training site on Tinian.

Camp Fuji is a self-sustaining military training complex in Japan where Marines and Japan Self Defense Force troops visit for training over an extended period. According to the Camp Fuji website, the facility includes firing ranges, maneuver areas, barracks, a gym, a mess hall, a sewage treatment plant and even a post office.

With a facility like Camp Fuji, the military doesn’t need to make regular trips to Tinian, which might make the island a more attractive training option, Guthertz said.

“I think that would be a big win for everybody, and help everyone be more comfortable with these changes,” Guthertz said.