The military is eyeing Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, to be its Pacific hub for a force of intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, strike and aerial refueling assets.
Base officials announced last week that the Air Force would prepare a draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to evaluate the impact of standing up a Global Strike Task Force at Andersen.
The proposal to be studied calls for basing three Global Hawk unmanned aerial intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft at Andersen, as well as 12 aerial refueling tankers, according to a Notice of Intent posted online Wednesday on the Federal Register. Also, 48 fighter and six bomber aircraft would rotate to Andersen from bases in the United States. The plan would require about 2,400 additional military, civilian and contractor personnel, and facility construction to support basing and operation.
Andersen officials said the study does not guarantee the projected buildup.
“Plans for growth at Andersen have not yet been finalized,” Col. Steve Wolborsky, 36th Air Expeditionary Wing vice commander, said in a written statement. “This environmental study simply paves the way for future growth, by enabling us to take any potential environmental impacts into account.”
Maj. Kris Meyle, 36th Air Expeditionary Wing spokeswoman, added, “Whenever we do an EIS, we address the largest possible scope of a project,” and the proposed numbers and components of the plan could change.
A contractor based in the United States was hired by Pacific Air Forces to complete the study, Andersen officials said.
No timeline for a decision has been determined, officials said. Meyle said the draft EIS could take a year or more to complete.
The study will take into account “any potential environmental impacts” on natural resources and people, Meyle said, including wildlife, water, air quality, land use and noise. She also said any areas that would be impacted are already part of the main base.
According to a June 2002 Air Force Magazine story, the Global Strike Task Force concept emerged in 2000 as a way of “circumventing or breaking through an enemy’s anti-access theater defenses.”
It provides the ability to “strike rapidly and effectively anywhere throughout the Pacific,” Meyle said. “It would take maybe 13 hours flying time from the West Coast of the United States and probably another eight hours from Hawaii to reach some of the potential hot spots in the Pacific region, where for us it could be four or five hours.”
Meyle noted that part of the plan being studied calls for Global Hawk to be up and running at Andersen in fiscal 2009, and the building of the infrastructure to support the aircraft to start in 2007. About 50 personnel would accompany the three aircraft according to the current proposal, she said.
The tankers, it’s proposed, also would be based at Andersen permanently, while fighters and bombers would rotate through the base.
Currently, about a dozen F-15Es from Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho; four B-2s from Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., and four tankers from Nebraska Air National Guard are temporarily basing out of Andersen.
“It’s been a good opportunity for everybody all around to demonstrate we have the capability to do all of these things,” Meyle said.
Proposal open to comments
The Air Force is drawing up a draft Environmental Impact Statement on its proposal to establish a Global Strike Task Force at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam. People can provide input two ways:
A public scoping meeting will be held in early June, with time and meeting location to be announced one week prior; also, comments will be accepted in writing until June 30.Written comments may be sent to Scott Whittaker, Environmental Flight Chief, Unit 14007, APO AP 96543-4007.Relevant concerns that are identified through this process will be addressed in the EIS, according to Air Force officials. The government’s Notice of Intent to draft an EIS for the strike task force may be read online.
— Stars and Stripes
