Posted on 06/09/2005 6:37:49 PM PDT by Righty_McRight
HAGATNA, Guam - Guam and Hawaii are lobbying to be the Pacific homeport for a Navy aircraft carrier, eyeing the thousands of local jobs and millions of dollars it could bring to one of the islands' economies.
The Pentagon is considering moving one of its carriers — it has 12 total — to either Guam or Hawaii to be closer to potential flashpoints in Asia. The pending decision pits two tropical economies heavily dependent on tourism and the military in direct competition for more defense dollars.
Activists in both places have estimated an aircraft carrier would create more than 4,000 local jobs as the ship's 5,500 sailors and their families move to the community. Millions, if not billions, of federal dollars to upgrade roads, schools and other infrastructure also would likely accompany a carrier.
The military has said only that it is considering both locations.
The U.S. territory of Guam, the largest of the Northern Mariana Islands, is a mostly rural island of 160,000 people. Located just a few hours by plane from the Korean peninsula and the Taiwan Straits, Navy and Air Force land covers a third of its 212 square miles.
Adm. Arthur J. Johnson, commander of the U.S. Naval Forces Marianas, said the Navy's presence on Guam provides a powerful deterrent to terrorists.
"If you were a week away or two weeks away, that provides an opportunity to do something," Johnson said. "Just by having the capability in the neighborhood, it forces people, transnational terrorists, to redo their calculus."
This year, the Air Force started rotating F-15s to Guam from Idaho and B-2s to the island from Missouri. Three attack submarines have been based here in the past three years.
But Guam is no shoo-in. Hawaii, about 3,700 miles to the east, is headquarters for the U.S. Pacific Command, whose territory spreads from the West Coast to the Indian Ocean.
The Pentagon also has been expanding its presence in Hawaii, which has more than 1.2 million people, to take advantage of the state's proximity to Asia. The Army plans to move 800 soldiers to the isles for a Stryker brigade, while millions of dollars in infrastructure upgrades are in the pipeline.
Democratic Sen. Daniel Inouye (news, bio, voting record), a ranking member of the Senate Defense Appropriations Committee, has led Hawaii's campaign for the aircraft carrier, stressing its strategic location to Pentagon officials. He said the state's extensive roads, including three interstate freeways linking Oahu's major bases, and an Army hospital give it advantages over Guam.
"I think policy-makers will decide Hawaii is the place," he said.
Lee Webber, chairman of the Guam Chamber of Commerce's armed forces committee, said he and other community leaders have met congressmen, senators and their staffs in Washington over five years to lobby for Guam, which has an unemployment rate just under 8 percent.
"We're a bunch of little island boys ... saying 'Hey, this is what we think. Here's what we have. Come visit us, we like you. And you're welcome here," said Webber, also the publisher of Guam's largest newspaper, the Pacific Daily News.
At least one sailor's vote is going to Hawaii's legendary sun and surf. Lt. Joe Mitzen, a 26-year-old Navy engineer from Nesquehoning, Pa., said he would make a Hawaii-based carrier his first choice for assignment.
"This would just be fantastic — it's a tropical paradise," Mitzen said as the carrier USS Nimitz called on Pearl Harbor a few weeks ago. "How many people can say they live here?"
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On the Web:
Government of Guam: http://ns.gov.gu/government.html
State of Hawaii: http://www.hawaii.gov/portal/
Guam is the future of PACOM and the infastructure issue is exactly why it should be placed there and built up.
Should be a no-brainer.
Hawaii. Guam could not absorb the impact of a carrier and it's support mission.
Hmmm...This might help recruiting. It will REALLY help retention. ;->
The only downside I can think of to Guam is the prevelance of typhoons. Anderson could easily handle the air wing although there would probably be a need for some infrastructure improvements.
A misleading number, since one is always out of service for a major overhaul, and the navy has already announced that they will permanently reduce the number to 11 by taking the Kennedy out of service prematurely.
I think the key thing is to be able to say to China that we know Asia.... WE ARE ASIA.
Put it to Guam, HI voted for Kerry and I think Guam has been trending Republican lately. Guam for 51th State!. Puh, yeah right.
I bet Hawaii.
1) The Guam infrastructure SUCKS. Bad water, bad power (planned blackouts are announced in the paper daily), bad communications, awful governance.
2) Hawaii has representation in Congress to push for the base. Guam doesn't.
3) Carriers spend most of their time at sea. It doesn't matter how close Guam is...a carrier won't be there anyway.
4) Guam is in quick striking distance of North Korea. North Korea is in land-based striking distance of Guam. It's a tradeoff.
5) Whether a port is carrier-ready matters. And Guam can't handle them right now, to my understanding. That infrastructure would have to be built. Hawaii can handle it, and does.
6) Typhoons hit Guam at least every other year, and usually more often...which would mean the carrier would have to leave port if it were in and a typhoon hit.
Guam's real advantage is location, and that's only so much of an advantage, given that it's in competition with Puerto Rico and the A.V.I. for 'most likely to have its legislature indicted' every year. If the military wanted to do Guamanians a big favor it'd take the island back. If the military wanted to Guamanians a bigger favor, it'd leave entirely and let the government of Guam go broke, and then maybe Guam would clean itself up.
Guam does have other advantages--ready military contractors, eager population to do the work, love for the military. But those are outweighed by the above.
Guam ping
3-2 Guam thus far.
What is the "...infrastructure issue..." you are addressing in your post?
Hawaii, hands down.
Good post!
People are arguing the Guam can't be built up and can't provide adequate infastructure. I believe that as nation we should invest more in Guam because this next century will be the Asian century and Guam can play an important role.
Thanks. And now you know the infrastructure issue mentioned above...Guam's basic roads, schools, power supply, water supply, hospital, communications, etc.--they are nowhere near up to Hawaii's standards (at least, not Hawaii's standards where the carrier would be based).
It'd be nice to have Guam fixed, it's a fun place to visit. But the problem is once Uncle Sam fixes something in Guam, Guam's legislature doesn't keep it up. They just wait for Uncle Sam to fix it again, and keep spending money on huge bureaucrat job makers for their families. Hell, their government can't even tell you what its BUDGET is--it just takes the money in and appropriates it without caring whether it gets where it's supposed to go.
Home Ports are where Navy folks leave their families arent they? I sure wouldnt want my family left on Guam.
Hawaii does not have a lot of room, and a CVW, with over 70 airplanes, takes up a lot of space when the carrier is in port.
They closed Barbers point in a BRAC years ago. They could expand Hickam AFB, but that uses Honolulu International's runways which would not work for the training a CVW does when in port.
Perhaps MCAS Kaneohe Bay on the northeast side of Oahu would work.
If basing of the aircraft in Hawaii can be resolved, I say Hawaii wins. If not, I say Guam wins. Anderson AB Guam is huge. It could easily handle two or three CVWs.
Well, the Navy actually isn't having retention problems but people are going to be much more enthused about living in Hawaii than in Guam. I don't see Guam having any realistic chance at this CV.
The Typhoon issue is pretty big, Guam gets hit unbelievably often, Oahu might get hit by a hurricane once every 20 years, if that.
I don't fit your bill, but I need to respond to your comment. See, I'm not arguing it can't be built up and can't provide adequate infrastructure. I'm arguing its government WON'T build it up, and WON'T maintain that infrastructure. Guam would be an ideal location. But its government pays lip service to essential services. And the military knows it, or Guam wouldn't be the only station on American soil that has DODEA schools for military dependents. The military actually stopped funding Guam schools, and built its own, because its kids were getting so shafted by the shoddy school system. Heck, from what I understand, the Navy is even the primary provider of fresh water to Guam in some parts of the island--even though Guam has its own aquifer--and Guam's legislature refuses to pay for it.
The investment Guam would demand for the limited benefits it provides are simply not a fair tradeoff. And I LIKE Guam. Hawaii will help the Navy pay for and maintain improvements. Guam, all the money is gonna be put up by the Navy.
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