by Sabrina Salas Matanane

Guam - Assistant Secretary of the Navy Jackalynne Pfannensteil signed the Record of Decision on the Guam/CNMI Military Buildup just before 8 o'clock this morning. One of the significant decisions was to delay the decision regarding the placement of training ranges for the Marines until sections of the National Historic Preservation Act are met.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation has urged the Department of Defense to remove the ancient village of Pagat as a site for the Marines training and firing range, even so far as threatening litigation.

Other major decisions in the ROD include:

The Navy will construct the Marine Corps main base at NCTS Finegayan and family housing at the former FAA property/ South Finegayan
Marine Corps aviation activities will be at AAFB North Ramp and waterfront operations at Apra Harbor
The Navy will defer a decision on a specific location for a transient CVN berth in Apra Harbor and voluntarily collect additional data on marine resources in the two alternative site locations
The Army will implement its preferred alternative for placement of an Air Missile Defense Task Force should it be assigned this mission on Guam
The pace and sequencing of construction will be adjusted to ensure that construction activities stay within the limitations of Guam's infrastructure
The arrival of Marine Corps forces will be timed with the availability of their required facilities

The ROD will be available at GuamBuildupEIS.us.