Posted on: Thursday, April 1, 2004

Guam still a rival for carrier group

Associated Press

The commander of U.S. Pacific Command told a delegation from Guam that the U.S. territory still is being considered for possible placement of an aircraft carrier strike group, Guam's congressional representative said yesterday.

Rep. Madeleine Bordallo's office said in a news release that Adm. Thomas Fargo was responding to her question on the status of discussions to homeport a carrier in the Pacific.

Pacific Command officials said last year that an aircraft carrier strike group might be moved to Hawai'i or Guam, so the Navy could respond more quickly to a crisis in North Korea or elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region.

Representatives from Guam and Hawai'i, citing the economic boon that the increased military presence would give their economies, have lobbied for the carrier group.

Bordallo addressed Fargo at an Armed Service Committee hearing yesterday that also was attended by a four-member delegation from the Guam Chamber of Commerce. The delegation traveled to Washington to present a position paper supporting an increased military presence in the U.S. territory, about 3,700 miles southwest of Hawai'i.

"The chamber's visit to our nation's Capitol demonstrates the wide community support that exists in Guam for an increased military presence," Bordallo said in a news release.

"It is important that all of Guam's leaders, both in the public and private sector, work together to present Guam as an attractive destination for military assets."