Navy Capt. Steven Stasick, of Marine Corps Marianas, discusses various building projects with members of the Guam Chamber of Commerce at Camp Blaz, April 20, 2022. (Rubin Tan/U.S. Marine Corps)
The Navy awarded $250 million in contracts for construction at Camp Blaz, the new Marine Corps Base on Guam, over the past month and another $236 million for work at other bases on the island.
The Blaz contracts include $73 million to Black Construction Co., of Guam, for support facilities, according to Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command Pacific. Gilbane Building Co., of California, was awarded $75 million for support facilities; $40 million for an infantry company headquarters; and $62 million for a Marine expeditionary brigade facility.
The newest contracts bring the total spent on Blaz since October 2020 to approximately $1.75 billion. The base is part of an agreement between the United States and Japan to relocate some Marine assets from Okinawa. Under the Defense Policy Review Initiative, Japan is paying $3 billion of the estimated $8.6 billion need to build the base and surrounding infrastructure.
Blaz is the first new Marine Corps’ base activated since 1952 and is expected to accommodate 5,000 members of the III Marine Expeditionary Force who are set to arrive over the next five years from Okinawa.
Components slated to move there include the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade’s command element, the 4th Marine Regiment headquarters, Combat Logistics Battalion 4 and elements of Marine Air Control Group 18 and 3rd Marine Logistics Group, according to Marine Corps headquarters in April.
The base will also host two infantry battalions, an aviation logistics detachment and a wing support detachment, along with a mix of rotary wing, tilt-rotor and fixed-wing aircraft, according to the Corps.
“The current program of record develops Guam as a strategic hub that, combined with the Marines stationed in Japan and Hawaii and rotating through Australia, will allow the Marine Corps to maintain a forward presence in the Indo-Pacific region,” Camp Blaz spokesman Capt. Anthony Ramos told Stars and Stripes by email on April 19.
Navy contract awards for Guam’s Andersen Air Force Base include $27 million to Caddell Construction, of Alabama, for an airfield repair facility; $43 million to Reliable Builders Inc., of Guam, for munitions storage facilities; and $48 million to Black Construction for a Marine aviation building.
Contracts for Naval Base Guam and Joint Region Marianas include $83.7 million to Black Construction for wharf improvements, and $35 million to Granite Construction Co. Guam, of California, for hardened roof structures.
