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US plans $80 M repair in Andersen Air Base
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Posted on Jun 01 1999
The US government will undertake improvements in its key Pacific military facility next year, pumping in over $80 million for the expansion of a school and a fuel storage at the Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, an air force commander said yesterday.
The constructions at Andersen demonstrates the facility’s importance in Washington’s defense network in the Asia-Pacific region, especially at this time when the US military is engaged in the war in Kosovo, as well as the growing tension with China.
Col. Mark J.D. Gehri, commander of the 36th Air Base Wing based in Guam, said improvements will cover expansion of the existing school inside the base to better serve the children of enlisted men. This alone would cost $44 million, he said.
Over $25 million will be earmarked for the fuel storage facility, one of the largest outside the mainland that is run by the military, Gehri said.
Gehri said such move underscores the importance of Guam in the military strategy of the US, being located in the westernmost point in the region.
“The Andersen Air Force Base is…the stepping off point for aerospace forces to project power in the Pacific. It’s America,” he said. “And to maintain an air force base takes a great deal of investment.”
While he emphasized the crucial role played by the entire Marianas in the US defense, Gehri did not mention if money will be pumped into the Commonwealth for using the Farallon de Mendinilla for the bombing exercise of American troops.
Gehri acknowledged the importance of FDM, which he said provides the best training opportunities for its troops that “cannot be duplicated anywhere in the world.” He cited that B-2 crew that trained two months ago on the island have been deployed to Yugoslavia and Kosovo.
But several local officials have repeatedly sought for compensation for the damages caused by bombings in FDM, while some environmental groups have called for a stop of such trainings because of its adverse impact on the coral system.
Despite environmental concerns, live bombing exercises are conducted in FDM periodically by US soldiers, and Gehri said that more trainings at FDM have been scheduled.
