US military seeks to boost Tinian training capabilities, proposes to build two live-fire ranges

Revised draft EIS for defense projects released

By Pacific Island Times News Staff

The Department of Defense is proposing to build two live-fire training ranges and support infrastructure on Tinian to enhance the island’s military training capabilities.

“The purpose of the proposed action is to reduce joint training deficiencies for U.S. Armed Forces in the Indo-Pacific area of operations,” the department stated in a public notice posted today on the Federal Register.

“The development and operation of a realistic and instrumented training environment on Tinian would enable forward-deployed U.S. Armed Forces to meet evolving operational training requirements and support U.S. training with allied nations, changes in U.S. force structure and geographic repositioning of forces,” the department said.

The department’s notice announced the availability of the revised draft environmental impact statement, which analyzed the potential impact of military training on Tinian, specifically within the military lease area. The 75-day public comment period begins on June 6 and ends on Aug. 20.

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“New training infrastructure would create a physical and virtual training environment to include two live-fire ranges, improvements to North Field the development of landing zones, an expeditionary base camp at the former U.S. Agency for Global Media site, and a communications system using a combination of sensors, emitters and communication towers,” the department said.

The live-fire ranges would be located on the northern portion of the island, away from the village of San Jose, recreational beaches, tourism areas and cultural and natural resources.

Construction would include a biosecurity area at the port of Tinian and an aircraft shelter at the Francisco Manglona Borja-Tinian International Airport.

The defense said it would establish a Training Area and Range Operations Command to ensure the safety of training units and local residents during exercises, which would be coordinated with local officials and the public.

The department said the proposed projects would support land-based expeditionary warfare tactics and accommodate land-based training for all service components of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, including the U.S. Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Army, Special Operations Command and Space Command, as well as U.S. allies and partners.

“Much of the proposed training is similar to existing training in terms of types that have been conducted on Tinian in recent decades," the notice said.

The revised draft EIS analyzed several factors, including public access, land use and recreation, socioeconomics, biological resources, cultural resources, noise, air quality, public health and safety, utilities, groundwater and hydrology.

The proposed action was developed based on the Marine Corps’ evaluation of the changes in the way U.S. Armed Forces currently prepare for future conflicts, the draft document said.

Comments on the Draft EIS may be provided  at the in-person public meetings, electronically through the project  website at: www.CJMTJointMilitaryTrainingEIS.com or by U.S. mail to: CJMT Project Manager 415 Chalan San Antonio Road, Suite 112, Baltej Pavillion Building, Tamuning, Guam 96913.

The public can submit comments during the Revised Draft EIS public review and comment period at one of the in-person public meetings, electronically via the project website: www.CNMIJointMilitaryTrainingEIS.com

or via U.S. mail.

Public comments on the draft EIS must be postmarked or received online by Aug. 20, for consideration in the Final EIS.

Five in-person public meetings will be held as follows:

June 23 and 24, beginning at 5 p.m. Chamorro standard time (ChST) at the Tinian Junior/Senior High School Cafeteria, Canal Street, San Jose, Tinian;

June 25 and 26, beginning at 5 p.m. ChST at the Crowne Plaza (Hibiscus Hall), Coral Tree Avenue, Garapan, Saipan;

June 27, beginning at 3 p.m. ChST at the Rota Mayor's Office, San Francisco de Borja Highway, Tatachok, Rota.

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