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JRM: Tinian ranges OK’d in Guam buildup deferred until CJMT completed
Joint Region Marianas has clarified the status of Tinian firing ranges that are included as part of the military’s “Guam buildup” project that was approved in a Record of Decision late last month.
“Although the four ranges on Tinian were addressed in the 2010 [environmental impact statement] and [the Record of Decision] and are not affected by the 2012 Roadmap Adjustments, they remain deferred pending the outcome of the CNMI Joint Military Training EIS,” JRM public affairs officer Lt. Tim Gorman told Saipan Tribune.
Gorman was referring to the 2010 environmental impact statement that finalized “small-arms” firing ranges on Tinian. These plans were part of the Guam buildup project, but that project in Guam did not move forward until the supplemental impact review in 2012 was completed last month.
The 2010 Record of Decision laid out that “four live-fire training ranges will be built on Tinian: a platoon battle course; an automated combat pistol/military police firearms qualification course; rifle known distance range; and a field firing range.”
But the “CNMI Joint Military Project” came a few years after the 2010 Guam EIS was approved, in 2013, essentially expanding the small-arms scope of the Tinian ranges into four range complexes inclusive of artillery, grenade, and high-impact zones. The CJMT project, as it is called, also proposes leasing the entire island of Pagan for live-fire training there.
Gorman was also asked if any of the Guam buildup funding—which was approved by Congress and also backed by reported billions of dollars from Japan—could go to construction of ranges in the CNMI, but no clear answer could be had as of press time.
The Guam project entails the relocation of thousands of U.S. Marines from Okinawa, Japan, to Guam.
The U.S. Department of Navy says the purpose and need for the proposed action is to ensure that the relocated Marines are organized, trained, and equipped to satisfy individual live-fire training requirements. The Navy says they also need to establish an operational U.S. Marine
Corps presence in Guam is set by April 2012 military “realignment” agreements with Japan.
