ASAN, Guam – Guam Gov. Lourdes Leon Guerrero; Commander, Joint Task Force-Micronesia (JTF-M) U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Josh Lasky; and Commander, Joint Region Marianas U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Brett Mietus convened the Civil-Military Coordination Council (CMCC) in the Joint Region Marianas headquarters building on Nimitz Hill, Jan. 28.
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Gov. David Apatang, Edward Camacho, special assistant to the CNMI governor for military affairs, and key staff members were also in attendance, marking a historic first time representatives from the CNMI participated in the CMCC as special guests, promoting unity throughout the Marianas.
U.S. Department of War officials from the Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard attended alongside representatives on behalf of various government of Guam agencies to include the Guam Homeland Security Office of Civil Defense and the Guam Department of Labor.
Attendees received updates on a variety of topics, to include the Defense of Guam plan, joint exercises planned between the DoW and Guam Homeland Security, issues related logistics and processes around military Permanent Change of Station moves, capacity building for Department of Defense Education Activity schools, and housing initiatives being pursued to alleviate undue strain on local real estate markets.
Attendees also discussed pathways for coordination and partnership on priority projects for civilian and military readiness throughout the region.
Leon Guerrero thanked the group for their participation and reaffirmed the significance of collaboration fostered through the CMCC.
“It’s a historic moment with CNMI taking part, at least as an observer of the CMCC,” she said. “The work that we do here has been substantial for Guam, productive toward our mutual goals, and that’s the purpose of this meeting; to come to the table, discuss how to work through issues, how to mitigate impacts, and how else we can further our united front for the defense of our island. Many of the issues that we discuss here also apply to our brothers and sisters in the CNMI, and I hope they can take part in future meetings.”
Apatang thanked Leon Guerrero, JTF-M, and JRM for including the CNMI in the meeting, which was held around the same table as a historic U.S.-South Vietnam delegation meeting in 1967.
“President Johnson was sitting here,” Apatang remarked as he looked at the nameplate embedded into the hardwood table in front of him. “Back here in the picture,” he motioned to the large photograph hung behind him. “I said, that’s [U.S. Army Gen. William] Westmoreland, he’s the guy who pinned a Bronze Star on me in Vietnam back in ‘67. That’s a good memory.”
“I would like to take a lot of this information back so we can work to apply it to the Commonwealth. We’ve been engaged in discussions about our issues in the Commonwealth, and I have my staff back here to take notes and get smart so we can bring growth to the CNMI. Like brothers and sisters, we want to do as well as our siblings [Guam], and we want to continue the buildup on Saipan, Tinian and Rota. I know today we’re going to be talking about the Defense of Guam; we’re prepared to build defense for the Commonwealth.”
Mietus emphasized the importance of partnership, transparency, communication and the coordination through the CMCC.
“It’s really about how we align on the really important issues so that we can present a consolidated voice as best as we can to the folks back in Washington D.C. who do want to help, sometimes they just don’t know how,” Mietus said. “I think this partnership is foundational to helping them understand how, and aligning all the right people. I’m also reminded that the system is busy, the system is complex, and for each of us it’s about sharing information so that we can hustle to get some things done, so I look forward to hustling with you guys as we move forward to the next CMCC.”
Lasky thanked the combined team for their tremendous teamwork, and highlighted the progress made from past meetings.
“When I zoom out and look at the agenda today, I think you’ll see at least two big things – one, during the last CMCC, we laid out a way for the Defense of Guam Working Group, and I’m really pleased with the way that team effort is coming together,” he said. “Thanks both to the Government of Guam and the Guam National Guard for that participation so we can make sure, as the governor asked us to do, that Department of War plans for the Defense of Guam are well coordinated and synchronized with GovGuam response plans. I also want to share my appreciation to JRM for a really well structured plan over this year to continue to refine and clarify everybody’s sense of investment and infrastructure growth, so that we can make sure we are well synchronized with the government here and with the Department of War.”
The CMCC was established in 2010 to foster collaboration among the DoD, local government, and federal agencies to share information, discuss, and provide recommendations for construction activities for the U.S. Marine Corps relocation to Guam. These meetings have expanded to include all DoD items of interest and military construction on Guam. The next CMCC meeting is scheduled for late Spring.
U.S. Indo-Pacific Command with support from JTF-M and JRM hold similar executive-level coordination meetings in the CNMI on a quarterly basis as the CNMI Executive Stakeholders Meeting. CNMI Stakeholder meetings were established in 2017 to address coordination needs during the development of the Tinian Divert Airfield and CNMI Joint Military Training Project.