United States to deploys 18 F16s to Guam

ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam, May 24 (Reuters) Washington will deploy 18 F16 fighter jets to Guam, a US Pacific territory within striking distance of regional hotspots, for four months from May 30.

''It's not an aggressive measure. It is not in response to any particular situation,'' Master Sgt Arthur Webb said today. ''It is an adjustment that shows our flexibility in maintaining an appropriate deterrent posture.'' He declined to say whether the deployment, a first for Guam, would be extended or become permanent. The F16s, along with 400 personnel and support equipment, will come from a fight squadron in New Mexico.

The United States plans to move 8,000 Marines and 10,000 dependents from the southern Japanese island of Okinawa to Guam by 2014 as part of a global realignment of US forces.

Guam has had a US military presence to varying degrees since 1898, when US naval forces captured it from Spain.

The Japanese occupied the island during World War Two but the Americans then built up an air base, which saw heavy action for bombing runs during the Korean and Vietnam wars.

Andersen Air Force Base has had a bomber presence since March 2004. B-52s, B-2s and B-1s deploy on rotation from bases in the US mainland.

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