Navy undersecretary: Guam footprint will shrink - Marine Corps News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Marine Corps Times

Navy undersecretary: Guam footprint will shrink

HAGATNA, Guam — When the military buildup is over, the Defense Department will control less land on Guam than it does today, Undersecretary of the Navy Robert Work promised on Thursday.

Work, the second highest official in the Navy, made the bold-but-vague commitment after a 90-minute closed-door meeting with Gov. Eddie Calvo. The meeting was the main focus of Work’s one-day trip to Guam.

“The last thing I want to commit to you is that, at the end of this buildup, there will be less acreage under U.S. government control than there is now,” Work said.

When questioned, Work admitted he couldn’t be specific about what year actually signified the “end” of the buildup, nor was he ready to explain what military lands might be transformed into civilian lands.

Work said he could provide those answers in a few months, after negotiations with the Guam government, Calvo and the Guam Legislature had ironed out the details of a land exchange. Work added that the speed at which the buildup is completed also relies heavily on the decisions of Congress, who must allocate money for many projects.

“What we can commit to is, at the end, there will be less acreage under control of the U.S. government. That’s one thing I can certainly state,” Work said. “Exactly when that happens will be determined through the negotiations over the next several months.”

Work’s promise of a land exchange was the fourth of “four pillars” that he said the Defense Department had made priorities for buildup progress.

The others, Work said:

• The Defense Department is “absolutely committed” to a “One Guam” approach.

• The military is committed to a green-friendly approach.

• The military says plans for a firing range along the east coast of Route 15 will not impede access to the culturally sensitive sites of the Pågat village site and Pågat Cave — a reversal of a previous position.

In a news release, Calvo said Work’s promises on a land exchange and Pågat were “unprecedented concessions,” which showed that local leaders had true influence over major buildup decisions.

Calvo said earlier in the day that his meeting with Work was a positive step towards a buildup that benefited everybody.

“We are for this buildup, as long as it is a Guam buildup,” Calvo said. “As in, both the strategic interests of the United States are adhered to, and we have a safer nation and a safer world. And, at the same time, in this little corner of the Pacific, that our best interests are also taken into account. ... “

If the Defense Department is going to live up to Work’s promise about “net-negative land,” large tracts of military property could become civilian land in the future.

The military currently controls large tracts of land in six locations — Andersen Air Force Base; Naval Base Guam; Naval Computer and Telecommunications Stations; Andersen South; Naval Magazine; and Naval Hospital.

Currently, the military’s buildup plans include the absorption of two other chunks of public land for a Marine Corps base in Finegayan and a firing range off Route 15.

The base needs about 680 acres of public land and the firing range needs about 1,090 acres of public land, according to the Final Environmental Impact Statement.

Based on Work’s commitment, the Defense Department would have to find about 1,770 acres of military land to give up. Or buildup plans could change.

The military is also considering housing some incoming Marines on Andersen, which would allow for the Marine base planned in Finegayan to shrink, said Rear Adm. Paul Bushong, commander of the Joint Region Marianas.

On Thursday, Bushong told the panel of Guam territorial senators that the military could use strategies like building vertically or increasing “housing density” to minimize the size of the Marine base.

After Bushong announced this possibility, Sen. Judith Guthertz sent out a press release stating that she had suggested the military use Andersen land to house Marines more than a year ago.

Shortly after Work held his closed-door meeting with Calvo, he held an open meeting with the Guam Legislature, although it was nowhere near as positive.

Senators questioned the military officials for about two hours, and were not as impressed with the commitment to “four pillars” that Work had announced earlier.

Vice Speaker Benjamin Cruz, an open objector to the buildup, said senators didn’t feel the military was listening, just as he felt the military tuned out public comment on the draft Environmental Impact Statement.

“It would help, since you ignored 10,000 comments, that the letters we send to you are responded to,” Cruz told Work.

Sen. Rory Respicio said Work needed to add a “fifth pillar” to the Defense Department’s priorities — settling Guam’s “historical injustices,” such as war reparations.

Respicio said lawmakers had made it clear through two resolutions that they will oppose the buildup unless these injustices are tackled.

“We haven’t decided yet to what extent we are going to hold this military buildup in abeyance,” Respicio said. “It’s probably beyond us, but that doesn’t mean we are not going to try.”

Work said the Defense Department had been a staunch advocate of Guam war reparations, but Respicio and Sen. Frank Blas Jr. argued that the military hadn’t tried hard enough, because Congress had left the debt unpaid.