Commonwealth status deals ceded Pacific island territory for military live-fire ranges

Evidence

When the Northern Marianas negotiated with the U.S. government in the 1970s to end its UN trust territory status and become a U.S. commonwealth (like Puerto Rico), part of the deal involved giving the military full use of FDM and two thirds of the island of Tinian. Much like at Puerto Rico’s Vieques, the military then used FDM for years as a live-fire range to test two-thousand-pound bombs, precision-guided munitions, and various other large guns, cannons, mines, and missiles. In 2002, several environmental groups successfully sued to stop the bombing, but the Pentagon found exemptions to environmental regulations and was allowed to resume testing. — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 383

Categorization

• XREF: Directly parallels the Vieques case in Puerto Rico and connects to the Spain-based base harm theme of the book.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 383