William Anderson, USAF’s assistant secretary for installations, and B.J. Penn, Navy installations guru, visited Guam last week to judge for themselves plans to increase military presence on the US territory. Anderson says joint basing efforts on Guam are progressing well, with the Air Force and Navy on “the right track of doing what is best for the taxpayer” but “not in any way limiting” military effectiveness. During a visit to the island last fall by Air Force Lt. Gen. Daniel Leaf, deputy commander for US Pacific Command, Leaf talked with local officials about plans to move some 8,000 marines from Okinawa and to add permanently assigned aircraft to Andersen Air Force Base.
Three B-1B Lancers from the 7th Bomb Wing flew over the Indo-Pacific alongside F-16s from the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force as part of a joint large force exercise. The mission began and ended in the continental U.S. The bombers flew 31 hours and landed Jan. 11.