Tuesday, May 21, 2013

VIDEO: CSIS Report Seen As "Positive"; But Hints at Limited Deployment Needs

Guam News - Guam News

Washington D.C. - Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo’s office has released 109 pages of unclassified material from the report done for the Pentagon by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank.

Dim lights Embed Embed this video on your site

READ the unclassified portions of the CSIS report HERE

HEAR Matt Kaye's report HERE>>>7-27 csisdetails.mp3

Overall, Bordallo’s office says the Congresswoman sees the report as positive for Guam.

The document highlights the strategic importance of the island, as the U.S. ‘pivots’ its forces toward the Pacific.

The study gives a short history of Guam and points out that Guam “hosts the headquarters for the Joint Region Marianas, covering both Guam and the CNMI.”

It adds that Guam has been “home to many different military units over the past 60-years.”

It points to the presence of the Navy, which has a squadron of three attack submarines, and the Air Force’s Andersen Air Base that hosts a rotational unit of  B-52 bombers and squadron of remotely piloted reconnaissance aircraft.

The document also stresses the importance of recent military training exercises on Guam and nearby Tinian.

But the CSIS study also has a cautionary side.

Bordallo’s office says there’s a “vague suggestion” for the need for fewer than 5-thousand Marines to be realigned to Guam, even though that seems to be in keeping with the realignment roadmap agreed to with Japan earlier.

And the study says construction of new facilities in Guam is “challenging” and “basic infrastructure is outdated”,  adding that environmental impact assessments on Guam have “historically been long and drawn out.”

A section on Guam concludes: “until training ranges are built or better utilized, stationing ground troops on Guam will mean their readiness and needed skill sets will be diminished.”

The House Armed Services Readiness SubCommittee on which Bordallo is ranking democrat, will hold a hearing on the CSIS study next Wednesday.

Banner
Banner
Banner
Banner
Banner
Banner