by Sabrina Salas Matanane

Guam - The military buildup and other issues of particular importance to the territory were discussed in a closed-door meeting last night at Adelup between Deputy Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter, Governor Eddie Calvo and Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo.

Guam is the second leg of Carter's trip to the Asia Pacific region. He met with Calvo and Bordallo at the Governor's Complex before dinner up the hill at Government House in Agana Heights.

Although Carter did not speak with island media, in Hawaii he told the press that his trip to the region follows previous trips by his boss, Secretary Leon Panetta, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. "I'm out here in their wake, to show that when they talked about rebalancing our security effort to the Asia-Pacific Theater, that we aren't just talking the talk, we're walking the walk," he said. He added that during his ten-day travels he'll be looking at the United States' relationships with these countries, saying, "What is it that I need to go back to Washington and make sure we're doing on our end to hold up our bargain with you?"

Bordallo said of the meeting, "We discussed many things, the military buildup and the National Guard and Global Hawks. Nothing new, we just covered things and wondered how the progress was going." The delegate added that it was a productive discussion on a host of issues ranging from the buildup and the importance of convening an interagency meeting in the near term between the DOD, the Department of Homeland Security and other federal stakeholders to address legitimate security concerns and finally implement visa-free travel for Chinese visitors.

Carter in the meantime announced that the memorandum of agreement was signed between the DOD and the Internet Revenue Service to ensure that rotational Marines on Guam will be captured in Section 30 payments.

Aside from dinner at Adelup, Carter was scheduled tour military facilities on island and discuss progress on new military construction.