Report denotes positive steps for buildup

by Ken Quintanilla

Guam - An 100+ page unclassified portion of the Independent Assessment of the U.S. Force Posture in the Asia-Pacific Region was released today and according to the governor's buildup director Mark Calvo, it appears mostly positive. "From what we can tell, it's a positive report for us because it does identify that the Department of Defense has challenges with coordinating realignment in this area and the buildup altogether. And we saw those challenges the last four years," he said.

The study was mandated as part of the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act and was one of requirements before funding can be released for the Marines' relocation from Okinawa to Guam. This independent analysis was conducted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies and focuses on the larger question of how to align U.S. force posture to overall U.S. national interests in the Asia Pacific Region.

Calvo added, "It endorses that there's consensus that the DOD needs to move quickly because of some strategic imperatives given by the President of the United States about defense in this area...and also that Guam is an appropriate location for military initiative here even if its smaller than the original one planned 1521 with the 9,700 Marines."

Buildup Chair Senator Judi Guthertz says she's happy the analysis acknowledges other aspects including how the DOD must prepare its master plan, an emphasis on the need to work with congress and ultimately a list of recommendations. "This report also recommends, highly recommends that congress come on board and start funding projects that department of defense needs to move forward with realignment," she said.

Other recommendations include a better align engagement strategy under the U.S. Pacific Command and several other initiatives, such as expediting the environmental impact statement process along with seeing that infrastructure improvements need to be carried out.

Back in our nation's capital, Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo reacted by saying while the report is positive overall for Guam, it also includes a vague suggestion that fewer than 5,000 Marines on Guam must be more operationally viable, saying, "I do not agree with this suggestion, however it is important to note that the recommendation included in this report do no represent the views of the Department of Defense."

For Guthertz, she says the numbers will always be fluid until the DOD firms up its master plan. "But I've always said from the very beginning - whether it starts small, we can be sure that it will get bigger 1602 because Guam is just too valuable as a strategic location," she said.

She's holding off on Defense Secretary Leon Panetta's comments and adds that the DOD still has a lot of homework, namely completely the master plan for Guam.