Military buildup oversight office ends mission on Guam, CNMI amid mixed signals about Marines' relocation
By Mar-Vic Cagurangan
The Guam Program Management Office, which oversaw military infrastructure development in the Marianas, has capped its mission amid the Pentagon’s vague plans for implementing the Marines' relocation from Okinawa to Guam.
The program office, a unit attached to the Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command, managed military projects, environmental tasks and other military buildup-linked activities on Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands under the Pacific Command’s Defense Policy Review Initiative.
“GPMO translated high-level bilateral policy into tangible infrastructure across Guam and CNMI,” Capt. Brent Paul, Navfac Pacific’s vice commander, said at an Oct. 14 ceremony marking the official termination of the program office’s mission. “Its people did not simply manage construction; they helped engineer a lasting strategic capability for the joint force."
Navfac said the program office’s functions have transitioned to permanent entities within Navfac Pacific, Navfac Marianas and Marine Corps commands.
The program office spearheaded the planning, environmental compliance, stakeholder coordination and infrastructure delivery for an extensive portfolio of facilities supporting the U.S. Marine Corps posture in the Marianas.
The office oversaw the development of Marine Corps Base Camp Blaz, which was commissioned in January 2024. It also managed the Mason Live-Fire Training Range Complex project and infrastructure at Andersen Air Force Base and waterfront facilities at Naval Base Guam.
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Camp Blaz was built to accommodate the Marines, who were to be relocated from Okinawa to Guam as part of Washington's 2006 agreement with Japan. The troop realignment plan was revised in 2012 to scale back the Marines' deployment, cutting the number from 9,000 to 5,000.
Under the original plan, the Marines' transfer was scheduled to be completed by 2014.
Construction delays, local opposition and regional security concerns have pushed the timeline back, with officials estimating it may take another decade to complete the transition.
In December 2024, the Navy began deploying a vanguard of 100 troops to assess the needs at Camp Blaz and support the activation of the marine base.
However, there have been no follow-up arrivals since the 2024 deployment.
During a visit to Guam in October 2025, Undersecretary of the Navy Hung Cao said the U.S. Department of the Navy is "constantly reevaluating" its posture regarding the Marines’ relocation.
In a report released in February this year, a U.S. foreign policy think tank urged Washington to renegotiate the relocation agreement with Japan, recommending that the 5,000 Marines be kept in Okinawa.
The Atlantic Council pointed out that the initiative weakens U.S. deterrence in the Indo-Pacific, which faces growing threats from China.
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The Government Accountability Office, in its November 2025 report, noted that the Pacific Deterrence Initiative had not received any supplemental or dedicated appropriations from Congress.
“Officials from the military services said that without supplemental appropriations, PDI is implemented primarily as an accounting tool for congressional reporting and is not used to prioritize resources or programs in the Indo-Pacific,” the report says.
Citing U.S. Army Pacific officials, GAO said the military buildup on Guam was still in the early stages of infrastructure development.
According to Navfac, the abolished program office—previously known as Joint Hua Program Office—“helped establish the infrastructure foundation for MCBCB” and “supported training-range development, aviation and logistics infrastructure, ordnance storage, embarkation capabilities, medical facilities and amphibious-support infrastructure.”
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Florence Ching, the office's former director, noted the program’s scale and complexity, which require coordination among federal, military, and government of Japan agencies, as well as local and community stakeholders, while operating across Guam and CNMI.
“The program’s accomplishments reflect years of disciplined planning, engineering expertise and close coordination among partners,” Ching said.
Garret Fong, former program manager, said the program office “created a legacy of engineering rigor, integrity and respect for the Guam community.”
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