Print

Mail

wiki links

Guam, Hawaii try to land US contract

Guam and Hawaii are lobbying to be the Pacific homeport for a US 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.

infrastructure funds

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 US 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.

Admiral Arthur Johnson, commander of the US 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 continuously rotating F-15s to Guam from Idaho and B-2s to the island from Missouri. Three attack submarines have been based there in the past three years.

proximity to asia

Hawaii, about 6,000km to the east, is headquarters for the US 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 Senator Daniel Inouye, 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 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 lobbied in Washington over five years for Guam, which has an unemployment rate of 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.
This story has been viewed 2095 times.