Military buildup to cost Guam $11.7B in infrastructure and service requirements in 8 years, governor says
By Pacific Island Times News Staff
The government of Guam is projected to incur $11.7 billion in infrastructure and service costs—or more than $415 million a year—by 2034, resulting from the rapidly expanding military footprint on island, according to Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero.
Meeting with federal officials in San Francisco, the governor asked the U.S. government to assist Guam in lifting the looming financial burden associated with the military buildup.
Guam is seeking a shared responsibility, not a dole-out, the governor said, arguing that the fiscal liability is a direct consequence of a national mission to reinforce homeland defense.
The territory, often billed as the “tip of the military spear,” will host a $2 billion missile defense system to deter China’s growing aggression in the region.
“We have held up our end of the commitment,” Leon Guerrero said, noting that the largest U.S. military buildup in the Pacific since World War II is expanding faster than the civilian infrastructure required to sustain.
The governor listed the areas that require federal attention, such as the population explosion associated with the military buildup.
In the next two years, the military population is projected to grow from 26,000 to 34,000, exceeding 45,000 by 2034 and adding to the island's population of 170,000.
The governor noted that absorbing the rapid influx is the equivalent of dropping an entirely new community into a fixed space, a shock that would destabilize any mainland military city of similar size.
Guam currently has 51,000 housing units, with limited capacity for expansion that forces generations of local families to leave the island, the governor said.
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Guam is also facing cybersecurity and gray-zone threats, the governor said, noting that civilian infrastructure is in the crosshairs of modern warfare and therefore requires protection.
Also calling federal attention to Guam's vulnerable port facilities and utility infrastructure, the governor noted that over 90 percent of the island's logistical needs move through a single seaport, while the civilian power grid remains exposed to typhoons and single points of failure.
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Leon Guerrero reiterated her demand that the federal government immediately convene the Economic Adjustment Committee and implement a "synchronized, whole-of-government ‘One Guam’ approach" to address the impact of the buildup.
“Guam is a living American community with finite land, aging infrastructure, and limited capacity. There is no other place under the American flag where national strength and national risk meet so directly,” she said. “Protecting Guam is a critically important national priority, and the tip of the spear is only as strong as the community behind it.”
“The federal government already has the authority, the programs, and the tools to act. It is time to use them,” the governor said.
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