Guam serves as Pacific 'springboard' for U.S. forces: commander

Kyodo News

<p>GUAM/MANILA - A 16-year-old plan to transfer a significant number of U.S. Marines from the Japanese island prefecture of Okinawa to the U.S. territory of Guam continues to make sense strategically and politically, a U.S. military commander said.</p><p>Joint Region Marianas Commander Rear Adm. Benjamin Nicholson, in a recent interview with Kyodo News and other media, said Guam plays an important role as &quot;springboard&quot; for U.S. forces to rapidly respond, by air or sea, to any military crisis in the region amid looming threats from China and North Korea.</p><p>&quot;It&#x27;s essentially equidistant between Tokyo, Manila and Port Moresby,&quot; he said.</p><p>Nicholson said the ability to quickly deploy troops and equipment is the current focus in the so-called second island chain, a strategic defense line formed by Japanese islands south of Tokyo and the Mariana Islands.</p><p>In June, the United States test-fired a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS, and conducted Patriot missile live-fire exercise during the U.S.-only Valiant Shield exercise to demonstrate its capabilities in multiple locations across Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and Palau.</p><p>The United States is also expanding Guam&#x27;s missile defense system by installing in multiple locations on the island various types of radars and interceptors against ballistic, hypersonic, and cruise missiles that China or North Korea may launch.</p><p>In two years, the relocation of about 4,000 Marines may finally commence in line with the U.S-Japan force realignment plan that the two countries last revisited in 2012.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/nation/02/05/12/us-move-marines-japan-guam-ph-reports">US to move Marines from Japan to Guam, PH: reports</a></li></ul><p>The plan, which involves the construction of a Marine base, Camp Blaz, next to the existing Andersen Air Base on Guam, is partly meant to unburden Okinawa, where anti-base sentiment runs deep due to noise, pollution and crimes committed by the U.S. servicemen.</p><p>For decades, Okinawa has hosted the bulk of the U.S. forces in Japan. But the island prefecture&#x27;s proximity to Taiwan, the self-ruled island that China claims, raises concerns it could be targeted should cross-strait tensions escalate.</p><p>Christopher Johnstone, senior adviser and Japan chair of the think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies, said spreading out its forces, rather than keeping a large concentration in Okinawa, across Guam and even across the Northern Mariana Islands and Palau gives the United States greater flexibility to deter an attack by China.</p><p>This strategy also &quot;complicates&quot; military planning in Beijing and even in Pyongyang, he said in a recent email interview with Kyodo News.</p><p>&quot;The relocation of Marines to Guam won&#x27;t make Japan more vulnerable. Guam isn&#x27;t far from Japan and the numbers of U.S. forces (in the Indo-Pacific region) won&#x27;t really change,&quot; Johnstone said.</p><p>&quot;A more distributed U.S. force posture ultimately makes Japan more secure, not less,&quot; he added.</p><div><strong>==Kyodo</strong></div><div><strong>RELATED NEWS</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZDGhQ-uXsNE?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

A 16-year-old plan to transfer a significant number of U.S. Marines from the Japanese island prefecture of Okinawa to the U.S. territory of Guam continues to make sense strategically and politically, a U.S. military commander said.

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Guam serves as Pacific 'springboard' for U.S. forces: commander

Guam serves as Pacific 'springboard' for U.S. forces: commander

Kyodo News

Published Dec 18, 2022 08:20 AM PHT

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Updated Dec 18, 2022 08:22 AM PHT

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