Tinian’s growing geopolitical relevance receiving mixed reactions

 By Bryan Manabat

Saipan—As the Department of Defense moves forward with its billion-dollar investment plan to transform the pristine island of Tinian into a strategic military hub for Indo-Pacific operations, residents are grappling with its implications. Is the promise of economic benefits and security brought about by the military development worth it?

Tinian became a large airbase and played a pivotal role in World War II, serving as the launchpad for numerous bombing campaigns, including the atomic bomb missions that ultimately ended the war in the Pacific. Eighty years later, the 34-sq.mi island will once again host U.S. military forces, advancing its capability to deploy and respond immediately to evolving conflicts in the region. 

Construction of the Tinian Divert Airfield is now 65 percent complete, and plans to improve Tinian’s harbor are underway. These developments represent a shift in how Tinian is being positioned within the U.S. defense framework.

But for some residents, this shift brings anxiety and uncertainty, revealing deep concerns about the long-term consequences of militarization on the island. From noise pollution and waste disposal to access to traditional fishing grounds and infrastructure strain, the community is voicing its apprehensions about the plans.

The DOD conducted public meetings on Tinian, Saipan and Rota in June, gathering comments on its proposed CNMI Joint Military Training, which would include live-fire ranges, the construction of a base camp, communications infrastructure, and a biosecurity facility. The military training plans have been significantly reduced from their initial 2015 proposal. 

Leading the public meetings is Mark Hashimoto, executive director for the U.S. Marine Corps Forces Pacific. Hashimoto acknowledged the importance of community feedback, saying that it “would be considered to develop a military training plan that works for everyone."

“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 stated in a notice posted in the Federal Register.

The DOD said it would establish a Training Area and Range Operations Command to ensure the safety of both the training units and 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.

Given the decline in tourism, the CNMI population generally welcomes military investments; however, some skeptics are wary of relying solely on military spending and federal funding.

However, advocacy groups, including Marianas for Palestine, Prutehi Guahan, and Commonwealth670, argue that the CJMT's proposal could attract hostility toward the Mariana Islands and make them a target in global conflicts. They say the military expansion on Tinian is linked to broader global conflicts, specifically the escalating Israel-Iran crisis. These assertions are fueled more by recent headlines about the U.S. military's reported use of Guam as a decoy in a strike operation against Iran. Tinian is located about 200 miles north of Guam, a 45-minute flight.

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