About

Spanning 212 square miles, Guam is the largest and southernmost island in the Mariana Archipelago. Its location in the western Pacific Ocean is critical to the Department of Defense’s (DOD) joint combat and contingency-response capabilities. The Guåhan Sentinel Landscape is essential for maintaining American sea power and deterring aggression from the forward edge of the Indo-Pacific. Andersen Air Force Base, Naval Base Guam, and Marine Corps Base Camp Blaz provide operational functionality to enhance warfighting capabilities and strengthen partnerships and joint region relationships across the Pacific region. These installations are the primary point for the DOD’s logistical operations across the Pacific and are home to critical assets, including the USS Frank Cable (AS-40), USS Emory S. Land (AS-39), and a Los Angeles Class submarine. Guam supports diverse ecosystems, including coral reefs, grasslands, scrub and disturbed forests, ravine forests, and limestone forests. These varied terrains, unique to the island, support specialized military training while providing habitat for imperiled species. DOD’s mission on Guam faces significant threats from natural disasters, ecological instability, coastal flooding, and heightened fire risk, which impact training operations and natural resources. The Guåhan Sentinel Landscape is focused on interagency collaboration and resource sharing to meet partners’ needs. Local, Federal, and military resource managers are working collaboratively to conserve marine and terrestrial resources, sustain military readiness, and improve community well-being across the island. These efforts also conserve threatened and endangered species, including tree snails and endemic orchids, by creating wildlife corridors between larger conservation sites.

Read the full Joint Region Marianas Press Release