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Guam - In the next few months, Guam is set to see some major development in regards to the military buildup. KUAM News sat down with the man who is tasked with leading the local effort.


Commander Daniel Schaan is the new forward director of the Joint Guam Program Office. He says his goal is to provide leadership here on Guam for efforts regarding the buildup and the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement. He shared, "My first goal is to continue with the work that has already been performed with in coordination with the Government of Guam, as well as the leadership of Guam through the legislators as well as the Mayors Council. So a lot of good work has been done to this point - my work here will focus on continuing that coordination and building upon those relationships."


And while Commander Schaan only started late last year, he has over 25 years of military experience, something he says will help fulfill the job at hand. "I think my military experience first and foremost helps me understand the professional leadership that is expected of the military to be a competent force and security of the United States and to be a good citizen and good partnerships in the community," he added.


And while the island can expect some major development with the release of the final SEIS and the Record of Decision soon, Commander Schaan offers his assurance to the people of Guam that their feedback in the last year will be strongly considered.


"One of the things I'm certain of is that all the comments provided during the public hearing series, those comments are documented and responded in the SEIS final product when its released," Schann added. "One of the key things was during those comment periods was there was a lot of comment about the pillars of the net negative requirement to use DOD land instead of acquiring additional land - the comments are very helpful in identifying or rethinking what alternatives are being considered and to make sure we make the most informed decision that also reflects the comments and wishes of citizens of Guam."


While we wait for its release, Commander Schaan says he will continue to engage with the island community. He relocated his wife Linda, their four dependents and Guam recently and is enjoying the island life.


"We're thrilled, we absolutely love it here," he said enthusiastically. "We went down to the fiesta at Umatac and absolutely had a fabulous time and we're looking forward to the fiesta in Yigo this upcoming weekend, so being in the communities, being part of the community is very important to us and is very important to me and the more I learn and the more I'm exposed to it, the better."