Marines show serious brass during July's Guam Liberation Day parade
The groundwork to support the move of 4,000 Marines now based on Okinawa to Guam within the next decade continued with a major contract award required for the effort.
The Watsonville, California joint venture Granite-Obayashi received a $164.89 million firm-fixed price contract from Naval Facilities Engineering Command to design and build “utilities and site improvements” for the future Marine Corps Base Guam on the Naval Computer and Telecommunications Site Finegayan, a Navy statement said.
The contract is funded by the Japanese government under terms of an agreement between the two nations.
The move is in part a response to years of protest on Okinawa of the American military presence there.
“This effort is a big step in strengthening Guam, as part of the Marianas strategic hub, ensuring the Marine Corps’ ability to sustain a forward presence within the Indo-Asia-Pacific region,” Marine Corps Forces Pacific commander Lieutenant General David Berger is quoted as saying in the statement.
Under the contract, the 400 acre site at NCTS will contain operational, administrative and bachelor housing structures, including utilities, roads and other infrastructure.
Other requirements are that unexploded World War II and later ordnance be cleared and that historic properties and conservation for threatened and endangered species follows environmentally friendly waste and stormwater management procedures.