Record of decision: Guam missile defense system set to begin this year

By Pacific Island Times News Staff

The Department of Defense has officially released the record of decision that paves the way for the implementation of its plan to build a missile defense system for Guam, which is anticipated to begin this year amid the escalating tensions in the region.

“The commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command has identified the need for a comprehensive, persistent, 360-degree layered integrated air and missile

 defense capability on Guam to address the rapid evolution of missile threats from regional adversaries,” reads the record of decision issued by Lt. Gen. Heath A. Collins, director of the Missile Defense Agency.

The $1.5 billion defensive architecture, according to the decision, will protect Guam from advanced cruise, ballistic and hypersonic missile attack and “must be adaptable to expand capability and capacity as the threat evolves.”

The record of decision, which completed the environmental impact assessment process, came on the heels China’s massive showcase of its new military hardware last week. Marking the 80^th anniversary of its victory over Japan during World War II, Beijing paraded its anti-ship missiles, undersea drones, air-defense lasers and robot dogs.

“Within the context of homeland defense, an attack on Guam would 

considered  a direct attack on the U.S. and  would be met with an 

appropriate response,” the decision states.

The project, led by MDA and the U.S. Army, consists of mobile components including missile defense radars, sensors, missile launchers and missile interceptors and command and control systems, which will be strategically located and integrated across 16 sites on Guam.

“Site preparation could begin late in calendar year 2025.  Following

construction, testing and final system check, the EIAMD system

would become operational,” the decision said.

The decision, which references the final environmental impact statement, identified the project’s impacts on Guam’s ecological resources, housing and health care systems. However, the proposed mitigation measures are yet to be authorized and funded.  

“No subsequent decision is required to proceed with the mitigations described in the biological opinion or the construction, deployment, operations, and maintenance of any of the sites described in the final EIS,” the document states.

Guam leaders, however, said the decision did not address the impacts they have identified.

“We appreciate MDA’s continued engagement with our administration and their acknowledgment of our concerns.  We are taking the MDA’s record of decision very seriously,” Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero said.

“As governor of Guam, I disagree with the decision not to convene the Economic Adjustment Committee at this time.  This committee convenes 22 federal agencies to coordinate a whole-of-government response to the local economic and infrastructure impacts of DOD’s actions, ensuring that communities like Guam are not left to shoulder the burden of national defense missions alone.”

“The Department of Defense must also address the cumulative impact that all planned military programs will have on our island, and not just the Guam missile defense program exclusively,” Lt. Gov. Josh Tenorio said.

In the record of decision, Collins said the MDA and the U.S. Army took into consideration the concerns raised by Guam leaders in an Aug, 15 letter following the release of the final environmental impact statement.

“The letter indicates the final EIS does not sufficiently address cumulative impacts on Guam's infrastructure, public services, economy, and natural and cultural resources, noting two reports issued in 2025 by the U.S. Government Accountability Office,” Collins wrote.

He said the letter “does not constitute substantial new circumstance or information on the proposed action or its effects that would require supplementation of the EIS.”

Highlights of the project's impacts on Guam:

• Approximately 5,459 individuals of the federally listed threatened plant Cycas micronesica will be removed from five locations where the project components will be built.

  
  

• There would be significant and long-term, but mitigable, impacts on the 

  threatened Mariana fruit bat due to the loss of 235 acres of limestone forest habitat. 

  
  

• Construction would require an average of 400 construction workers annually and would span approximately 10 years, with approximately 240 workers, or 60 percent, expected to be in-migrant laborers originating from Guam.

  
  

• The 2020 Guam Housing Needs Study identified a need for an additional 9,908 housing units between 2020 and 2025 to meet community demand. In-migrant workers accommodated within the local housing market would further impact housing availability on Guam.

  
  

• The U.S. Army plans to phase the deployment of EIAMD system personnel arriving on Guam to minimize the initial need for housing for EIAMD

  system personnel and limit the impact on Guam's housing market.

  
  

• Beginning in 2031, approximately 2,300 permanent military and civilian personnel and their dependents, and 44 contractors supporting the EIAMD

   system, would reside on Guam. 

  
  

• An estimated 20 percent (469 individuals) would require off-base housing. 

  
  

• Given the subsequent increase in population, impacts on medical and health care services were determined to be long-term and  significant

   based on Guam's status as a medically underserved area.

  
  

• The DoD is also examining medical services holistically and plans to address these needs before the arrival of dependents in 2031. Military personnel would receive general health services at military treatment facilities, which would minimize the impacts on Guam.

  
  

Subscribe to

pour digital

monthl edition