Guam buildup reduction refuted by U.S., Japan - Military News | News From Afghanistan, Iraq And Around The World - Military Times

Guam buildup reduction refuted by U.S., Japan

HAGATNA, Guam — Within a few days of a Bloomberg news report saying the Obama administration was considering reducing the number of Marines being relocated to Guam by about half, another news agency reported out of Washington that Japan and the United Stated both denied the Bloomberg article.

The United States and Japan both are committed to moving the same number that has been discussed for years — 8,000 Marines — from Okinawa to Guam, according Reuters, quoting Pentagon officials.

Not only is the Guam move likely to stay intact, it also could speed up, according to wire reports.

Japan Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba said in Tokyo on Friday that the United States and Japan are in discussions to speed up the move of Marines to Guam.

“We are in talks with the U.S. side, with flexibility in our mind, to seek ways to advance the relocation of Futenma airbase and the shift of Okinawa-based Marines to Guam, while upholding the policy of reducing the burden on Okinawa in a timely manner,” Reuters quoted the Japanese foreign minister as saying.

In Washington, Reuters reported that Pentagon spokeswoman Leslie Hull-Ryde issued a statement that “no decisions have been made with regard to possible adjustments to the Guam relocation plan.”

The Pentagon spokeswoman said in the Reuters report the United States is committed to establishing a Marine Corps presence on Guam.

The Yomiuri Shinbun also reported that Japan and the United States are discussing moving Marines from Okinawa ahead of the resolution of issues surrounding the relocation of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma.

“This is a good thing for Guam,” territorial Sen. Judith Guthertz, chairwoman of the territorial legislature’s committee on the buildup, said Sunday.

In addition to the surge of Marines, it also means that contractors will build facilities before the Marines move to Guam, Guthertz said, resulting in an “economic shot in the arm” for Guam.

Mark G. Calvo, director of the Military Buildup Office at Adelup, said the administration hasn’t received official notice on whether the transfer of Marines from Okinawa to Guam will no longer be tied to the Futenma relocation.

“That would be one less contingency that we have to worry about,” Calvo said.

As for Futenma, the countries agreed in 2006 to move Futenma to a less crowded area on Okinawa. But successive Japanese leaders have yet to win support for the 2006 Realignment Roadmap from Okinawa residents, who want all U.S. troops pulled out of Okinawa. The Japanese foreign minister estimated about 18,000 Marines are in Okinawa.

Calvo said the Futenma relocation is expected to take a minimum of four to six months for the Okinawa government to give a go-ahead.

“If it is true that we’re not tied to Futenma, then that could speed up the buildup’s progress on Guam,” he said.