The 2006 Guam buildup moved Okinawa forces while expanding all military branches’ footprint.

Evidence

In 2006, Pentagon officials announced a major multibillion-dollar buildup of new base infrastructure on Guam. The buildup would accommodate up to nine thousand marines and tens of thousands of family members and civilians moving from Okinawa in the face of continued protests against the U.S. base presence. Around the same time, the Air Force announced plans to increase its presence on the island by naming it one of four major global hubs for its strike forces, which it called “Guam Strike.” Meanwhile, the Navy made plans to expand Apra Harbor’s ability to host nuclear aircraft carriers and submarines; the Army National Guard planned new construction to accommodate its planned force expansion; and the Pentagon selected Guam as a key site for its ballistic missile defense system. — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 244

Categorization

Category: Factual Claims

• XREF: Shows the whack-a-mole pattern of moving bases rather than closing them, core to the book’s argument.

Related

• Guam hosts the military’s most advanced weapon systems. (similarity 0.88)
• The Guam buildup would add nearly fifty percent to the island’s population (similarity 0.87)
• Grassroots and congressional opposition forced a major scaling back of the Guam build-up. (similarity 0.85)
• The Guam buildup planned a nearly 50 percent population increase in four years. (similarity 0.83)
• Military facilities occupy roughly thirty percent of Guam’s land. (similarity 0.82)
• Guam is regarded as among the world’s most important military bases. (similarity 0.82)
• The buildup planned military infrastructure while leaving civilian water and utilities underfunded. (similarity 0.82)
• The US announced Okinawa troop reductions while simultaneously increasing local forces (similarity 0.81)
• Navy environmental impact assessment covered the Guam Marine relocation (similarity 0.81)
• Scholars documented resistance to the US military buildup on Guam (similarity 0.80)
• EPA formally rejected the Guam buildup plan as environmentally unsatisfactory. (similarity 0.80)
• The Pentagon’s Guam buildup budget massively understates true relocation costs by more than half. (similarity 0.80)
• Pentagon cost estimates for the Guam buildup are grossly unreliable (similarity 0.80)
• Young Chamorros formed opposition to expose the buildup’s infrastructure strains (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• The EPA deemed the Guam buildup plan environmentally unsatisfactory. #corroborates (0.70) — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 249