A $46 million hangar project at Andersen Air Force Base is under way on Guam, part of the Air Force’s overall $1.8 billion investment to bolster intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets on the island.
The hangar, slated for completion next year, will be home to four Global Hawks, according to Stephen Wolborsky, head of the Andersen Development Office. Global Hawks are high-flying, long-range drones that collect information from the air.
This week, a team of Air Force officials were on Guam to assess the project and assure that construction and planning deadlines are being met, said Wolborsky, a retired colonel overseeing the growth.
The four airplanes likely will mean the addition of up to 200 personnel on the base, said Wolborsky, who began working on buildup issues in 2005 when he was the vice commander of the 36th Wing at Andersen.
The drones’ scheduled arrival in 2009 means Andersen will once again have its own fleet of aircraft.
Since 2004, the Air Force has sent to Andersen back-to-back rotations of bombers, B-52s, B-1s and B-2s. That rotation, along with rotations of fighters and tankers, will continue, Wolborsky said.
The Air Force investment on Guam is part of the military’s overall buildup on the island, including the move of 8,000 Marines and their families from Okinawa. Other growth includes adding an Army air defense unit on the island and improvements to the Navy’s pier to handle stopovers from aircraft carriers. All told, the number of servicemembers and civilians on the island is expected to grow from 14,000 to an estimated 40,000 by 2014.
The arrival of the Global Hawks is part of a larger Air Force effort called Intelligence, Surveillance Reconnaissance Strike Task Force, Wolborsky said.
Other changes include updating the base’s Northwest Field to create a training area for airmen preparing to deploy. Andersen also, for now, is the preferred location for Marine aviation units that will move from Okinawa, Wolborsky said.
Wolborsky said no specific Global Hawk unit has been identified to move to Guam.
