Air Force Official Visits Guam, But Snubs Leaders

THURSDAY, 08 SEPTEMBER 2011 01:43 BY JANELA BUHAIN | MARIANAS VARIETY

LOCAL leaders weren’t notified about a visit U.S. Air Force Secretary Michael Donley made last month to Andersen Air Force Base for an Airmen’s Call.

Donley was touring the Pacific region to reconnect and thank Airmen serving in the area, according to an article posted on the USAF website. He was on Guam Aug. 29.

The apparent snub has caused frustration among local leaders, particularly Senator Judi Guthertz.

“We’ve repeatedly emphasized the need for harmonious relationships between the Guam civilian community and all branches of the military operating in Guam as the buildup and related work goes forward,” Guthertz said. “This insensitive handling of the visit by Secretary Donley doesn’t help matters.”

Guthertz said she was disappointed with the protocol and general handling of the visit, and hopes 36th Wing Commander Brig. Gen. John Doucette will reconsider the relationship between the base and the civilian community in light of this.

In the article, Donley was quoted as saying, “As the farthest western piece of sovereign territory in the U.S., Guam is critically important to the United States. This is a great wing, and it plays a very important role in this region, and for our nation and our Air Force.”

Apart from encouraging the men and women in uniform and applauding their efforts, Donley also spoke in-depth about the ongoing and future challenges the Air Force faces in light of the “expected reductions” in the Department of Defense budget.

Donley said: “We're in a time of great financial volatility and fiscal crisis at home. The need to get our fiscal 'house' in order has become a national priority. In the last couple of years, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Michael Mullen identified the national debt as the single biggest threat to our national security.”

According to the Air Force public affairs office, a response to Guthertz from Secretary Donley’s office is forthcoming.
Donley also reportedly visited Singapore and Australia in the following days.

Meanwhile, Guthertz, chairperson of the Committee on the Guam Military Buildup, questioned the leadership of the new Joint Guam Program Office director, Capt. Daniel Cuff, who replaced Col. John Jackson, (USMC Ret) in June. Guthertz has yet to meet the new director and wondered if policies have shifted in dealing with the Guam community.

“Director Cuff is most welcome to visit my office at any time to share views on the status of the buildup,” Guthertz added.

Clinton makes brief visit to Guam

BY BRETT KELMAN • PACIFIC DAILY NEWS • OCTOBER 30, 2010

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stood in front of a star-spangled backdrop yesterday and told hundreds of military troops that their crucial role in the Pacific is growing.

Clinton, who embarked on a two-week tour through Asia, stopped on Guam briefly yesterday afternoon and gave an address at Andersen Air Force Base. About 400 service members from the various military branches packed into the Global Hawk hangar to hear her speak.

To begin, Clinton called on each branch to make some noise.

"I can barely hear you all," she taunted, with her hand cupped at her ear. "Who's here from the Navy?"

In response, a mass of sailors in blue and brown camouflage stood up and roared. Next to them, at least 200 airmen sat silent, waiting for their turn to roar back.

"All right. And what about the Marines?" Clinton asked.

One woman in the middle of the crowd stood up with a "oorah," then peered around and realized she was alone.

"Well, I don't think you'll be lonely for too long," Clinton said, smiling and laughing.

So there it was, even when the Secretary of State was rallying troops and joking around, the footsteps of fast-approaching military buildup were inescapable.

The buildup will transfer about 8,000 Marines from Okinawa to Guam, and that shift is expected to trigger a total growth of about 41,000 people to Guam by 2016, and about 14,000 by next year, so the population boom alone has the power to reshape the island. So do the billions of dollars of buildup funds headed to Guam.

Before she spoke yesterday, Clinton met with Gov. Felix Camacho, Lt. Gov. Mike Cruz, Speaker Judith Won Pat and Vice Speaker Benjamin Cruz, each of whom brought concerns about the buildup to the table. Won Pat presented a legislative resolution that details senators' concerns with the buildup process.

During the speech yesterday, Clinton didn't talk much about the buildup directly, but she spoke about the general increase in federal government activity and energy on this half of the globe. This is her sixth trip to the Asia-Pacific region as secretary of State, she said, since this region is "the center of much of the change and challenges of the 21st century."

"We are engaging ever more actively in this region," Clinton said. "With our allies, our partners, with emerging powers, with institutions that are being built in order to keep the peace, advance prosperity and stability."

Clinton added later in her speech that one of the goals of the President Obama's administration was to "re-assert" the American presence in Asia.

"You can see we are paying a lot of attention to what's going on in the Asia-Pacific region because the United States is both an Atlantic and a Pacific power ... Everywhere I travel on your behalf, I hear from leaders and citizens alike that they are glad America is back."

From Guam, Clinton will head to Vietnam, where she said the United States is building relationships that were "unthinkable" only a decade ago.

Buildup Talks

Journalists were not permitted to interview Clinton during her time on Guam, but Camacho made himself available for interview when her speech was done.

Camacho said he spoke with Clinton for about 15 minutes and most of the discussion was spent on buildup concerns and Japan politics. The Japanese government is helping to pay for the relocation of Marines from Okinawa to ease the presence of military troops in Japan.

A gubernatorial election in Okinawa could potentially alter the current path of the buildup, Camacho said.

The governor said Clinton told him she believed Okinawa would stay "on the right track."

Guam and Okinawa share many of the same buildup concerns -- such as the construction of a new military base -- Camacho said, and what happens in Okinawa has a direct impact on what happens here.

"She said, you know, that they were in discussions with the leadership -- the prime minister of Japan -- with regards to this, and there is a commitment to move forward," Camacho said. "But there is a bit of a conflict, in that, on the one hand, they recognize the concerns of the Okinawan people and the nation of Japan with regards to the building of additional military bases. On the other hand, they recognize the value and the need for America to remain as a resident power in this part of the world, as a deterrent to aggressive neighbors. It's conflicting, and they are caught somewhere in the middle."

China

Clinton spoke about one of those neighbors, China, during a speech in Hawaii on Thursday, before she flew to Guam.

In Hawaii, she said the military would remain "forward deployed" in this region, and urged China to work with the United States instead of against it.

"It is not in anyone's best interest for the United States and China to see each other as adversaries," she said.

Yesterday, Camacho said he also spoke to Clinton about a visa waiver program for Guam, which could allow tourists from China to infuse more tourism dollars into the local economy.

If a visa waiver wasn't possible, at least a "Marianas-only waiver" should be considered.

"Japan is a declining market ... and we see China as a growth market," Camacho said.

The governor said Clinton said the idea of a "Marianas-only waiver" was interesting, but she made no promises.

Gates Stops Over on Guam, No Korea Troop Buildup

Gates stops over on Guam, says no troop buildup in Korea
Sunday, 31 May 2009 23:25 by LARA JAKES The Associated Press
The Marianas Variety

(AAFB) -- While worrisome, North Korea’s nuclear and missile tests have not reached a crisis level that would warrant additional U.S. troops in the region, U.Dr. Robert M. Gates, Secretary of Defense | Photo courtesy of ww.defenselink.mil
S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said.

Gates, flying to Singapore to meet with Asian defense ministers, said he has not seen any moves by North Korea’s military that would prompt the United States to add to the roughly 28,000 troops already in South Korea. He said any military actions would need to be decided upon, and carried out, by broad international agreement.

“I don’t think that anybody in the (Obama) administration thinks there is a crisis,” Gates told reporters aboard his military jet early Friday morning, still Thursday night in Washington.
“What we do have, though, are two new developments that are very provocative, that are aggressive, accompanied by very aggressive rhetoric,” he said. “And I think it brings home the reality of the challenge that North Korea poses to the region and to the international community.”

Gates appeared to try to tamp down some of the tough rhetoric that has flown between Washington and Pyongyang this week, since North Korea said it successfully detonated a nuclear device in its northeast on Monday and followed with a series of short-range missile launches.

Gates also cited a silver lining of the situation: an opportunity to build stronger ties with the Chinese government.

“Just based on what the Chinese government has said publicly, they're clearly pretty unhappy about the nuclear test in particular, and they weren't very happy about the missile test either,” Gates said. “And my impression is they were surprised by the nuclear test. And so, as I say, I think there may be some opportunities here.”

He added: “I don’t want to put the burden solely on China, because the reality is that while China has more influence than anybody else on North Korea, I believe that that influence has its limits.

But it is important for the Chinese to be a part of any effort to try to deal with these issues with North Korea.”

Gates suggested that diplomatic talks among six countries -- Russia, China, Japan, South Korea, North Korea and the U.S. -- to get rid of all nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula have not worked. He said that while the discussions should continue, the nations other than North Korea now need to focus on what he described as “where do we go from here?”

“I think that they clearly have not had the impact in North Korea that any of us have wanted,” Gates said of the talks. “That doesn’t mean they are useless by any means, and we are still committed to the six-party talks. But I think that we need to figure out a way to try and move forward with North Korea.”

Gates said direct talks between the U.S. and North Korea are, for now, at least, “not the way to go.”

In what the Pentagon called a first for a U.S. defense chief, Gates was to meet with his Japanese and South Korean counterparts at the two-day Singapore conference. He also was to meet briefly with the head of China's military.

Gates said North Korea would likely dominate the Singapore discussions and hinted that additional economic or military sanctions might be put on Pyongyang as punishment for the tests. But he said that any sanctions should impact the communist government and not its citizens, whom he said have already suffered “enough damage” by their leaders.

He cited North Korean exports of missile and nuclear technology as a top worry, and said the United Nations, and Russia and China in particular, need to be part of any efforts to curb them.

BREAKING NEWS: Guam Wildlife Threatened By Andersen Air force Base

Written by Patti Arroyo, Pacific News Center - Guam, Saipan, CNMI, Asia-Pacific

Guam - Scathing allegations have been lodged against Andersen Air Force Base today:

A complaint filed with the Department of Defense Inspector General says Andersen Air Force Base for years has turned a blind eye to poaching of deer by base "volunteers", and are sponsoring questionable construction projects that are harming rare bats, birds and sea turtles, among other native species.
That allegations are listed in a whistleblower disclosure filed by “PEER”, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility that was released today through the website Common Dreams.org.

Nancy Mitton has been the Natural Resources Specialist at Andersen since 2006 and filed that disclosure with the DOD Inspector General. Mitton wants the I-G to immediately review widespread environmental violations at the base and the complicity of base command.

She cites rampant poaching by base Volunteer Conservation Officers, including illegal trapping of coconut crabs and resale of trophy deer. She complains that half of the endangered fruit bats on the base have recently disappeared. A flock of extremely rare Mariana crows has been virtually wiped out by hunters. Yet, in both cases base command refused to take recommended protective steps; and she also says the Andersen is paving beaches and stripping vegetation used for nesting by endangered hawksbill turtles and threatened green sea turtles. Among the questionable shoreline projects pushed by base officers are dog trails to allow their pets to run unleashed on sensitive wildlife tracts.

"The air force program for protecting Guam's natural resources has utterly broken down" stated PEER Senior Counsel Paula Dinerstein, who today filed Mitton's complaint with the Defense Inspector General. "Officers are treating sensitive wildlife habitat like their personal beach resort."



Many of the issues identified by Mitton involve unrestricted hunting by local volunteers who are allowed to enter and leave the Air Force Base without their vehicles being searched, in violation of security rules. In addition, the disclosure describes a variety of unsafe ordnance detonation practices.



"Andersen is so remote that there is a feeling of invulnerability reported by staff about the command - a sense that rules do not apply on the island," Dinerstein added. "Until our Defense agencies start holding officers to account for environmental violations, the vast trove of vital natural resources in military custody can never be secure."