HAGATNA, Guam — The United States plans to fortify Guam, upgrading its military infrastructure on the island into a strategic staging post that would allow rapid access to potential flash points in the Pacific region.
More service members, including 9,182 marines, soldiers and their dependents from Okinawa, will be relocated to this island, as will more than 9,000 transient service ranks, mainly from navy carrier strike groups.
The "overarching purpose" of beefing up Guam as a military fortress is "to provide mutual defense, deter aggression and dissuade coercion in the Western Pacific region, according to a draft impact report recently released by the U.S. Defense Department.