Air Force Adding 3,000 To Guam Base

The Air Force plans to add as many as 3,000 Airmen and their families to ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE in Guam beginning next year. The extra personnel are part of an expansion that will increase U.S. reconnaissance, deployment and training capabilities in the Asia-Pacific region, said Maj. Richelle Dowdell, a spokeswoman at Andersen Air Force Base.Although the move has long been in planning, it comes amid heightened tensions with North Korea since the nation tested a nuclear weapon Oct. 9. The Air Force has begun in recent years to continuously rotate a fleet of long-range bombers to Guam, well within range of any target on the Korean peninsula. Airmen likely will relocate from areas including South Korea, Japan and the United States. The expansion, which includes plans for unmanned Global Hawk surveillance planes and tanker operations, will take place in phases through 2015, Dowdell said.