Naval Base Guam is a strategic

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

naval base A naval base, navy base, or military port is a military base, where warships and naval ships are docked when they have no mission at sea or need to restock. Ships may also undergo repairs. Some naval bases are temporary homes to aircraft that usu ...

located on

Apra Harbor Apra Harbor, also called Port Apra, is a deep-water port on the western side of the United States territory of Guam. It is considered one of the best natural ports in the Pacific Ocean. The harbor is bounded by Cabras Island and the Glass Breakwat ...

and occupying the

Orote Peninsula The Orote Peninsula is a four kilometer-long peninsula jutting from the west coast of the United States territory of Guam. A major geologic feature of the island, it forms the southern coast of Apra Harbor and the northern coast of Agat Bay. Its t ...

. In 2009, it was combined with

Andersen Air Force Base Andersen Air Force Base (Andersen AFB, AAFB) is a United States Air Force base located primarily within the village of Yigo in the United States territory of Guam. The host unit at Andersen AFB is the 36th Wing (36 WG), assigned to the Pacif ...

to form

Joint Region Marianas Joint Region Marianas' mission is to provide installation management support to all Department of Defense components and tenants through assigned regional installations on Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands in support of training in the Marian ...

, which is a Navy-controlled

joint base A joint base (JB) is a base of the armed forces of the United States utilized by multiple military services; one service hosts one or more other services as tenants on the base. In most cases, joint bases have interservice support agreements (ISSA ...

. The Ship Repair Facility, Guam, was located next to Naval Base Guam, along Apra Harbor. It was closed in 1997, due to the recommendation of the

1995 Base Realignment and Closure Commission The 1995 Base Realignment and Closure Commission preliminary list was released by the United States Department of Defense in 1995 as part of the Base Realignment and Closure Commission. It recommended closing 32 major United States military bases. ...

. Naval Base Guam is home to Commander

Submarine Squadron 15 Submarine Squadron 15 (also known as SUBRON 15) is a squadron of submarines of the United States Navy based at Naval Base Guam. Fleet Ballistic Missile squadron 1963–1981 Submarine Squadron Fifteen was established on 1 September 1963 at Pear ...

, Coast Guard Sector Guam, and Naval Special Warfare Unit One, and supports 28 other tenant commands. It is the home base to dozens of Pacific Command, Pacific Fleet,

Seventh Fleet The Seventh Fleet is a numbered fleet of the United States Navy. It is headquartered at U.S. Fleet Activities Yokosuka, in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is part of the United States Pacific Fleet. At present, it is the largest of th ...

, and

Seabee United States Naval Construction Battalions, better known as the Navy Seabees, form the U.S. Naval Construction Forces (NCF). The Seabee nickname is a heterograph of the initial letters "CB" from the words "Construction Battalion". Dependi ...

units. is stationed in Guam to tend the submarines of the Seventh Fleet, and changed from

Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia, abbreviated NSF Diego Garcia, is a British Ministry of Defence facility leased to the United States Navy, located on the atoll Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, for an initial period of 99 years after the ex ...

to Naval Base Guam to fulfill the same role. Coast Guard Sector Guam ships include and including , '' USCGC Oliver Henry'', '' USCGC Frederick Hatch'', and .

History

On July 21, 1944, also known as

Liberation Day Liberation Day is a day, often a public holiday, that marks the liberation of a place, similar to an independence day, but differing from it because it does not involve the original creation of statehood. It commemorates the end of an occupation ...

, American forces declared the island secure from the Japanese Army. The construction was started by the Navy's Lion Six.

Seabees United States Naval Construction Battalions, better known as the Navy Seabees, form the U.S. Naval Construction Forces (NCF). The Seabee nickname is a heterograph of the initial letters "CB" from the words "Construction Battalion". Dependi ...

from the 5th Naval Construction Brigade built the base on the site of the destroyed US Marine Corps barracks in Sumay, Apra Harbor. The Navy code named the type of base the Seabees built for its size and purpose, i.e. Oak, Acorn, Lion and Cub. A Lion was a main base for the fleet. Naval base Guam was the first named Naval Operating Base and later nicknamed The Pacific Supermarket. In recent years, expansion of the base has been opposed by many locals in Guam.

Homeported submarines

On 26 November 2024, ''USS Minnesota'' arrived at her new home port, Naval Base Guam, the first forward-deployment of a submarine. * * * * *

Sub-installations

Sub-installations aboard Naval Base Guam include Camp Covington. Camp Covington is one of the three main body deployment locations for the Navy Seabees. Currently, Camp Covington is a deployment site in the rotation of the three Seabee battalions making up the 30th Naval Construction Regiment. The 7th Fleet's Navy Expeditionary Forces Command Pacific is also headquartered here. The camp has a gym, a cardio hall, and a mini-mart. It has its own barracks for Officers, Enlisted, and Chief Petty Officers; a galley, an armory, dental clinic, and various HQ buildings and warehouses.

Other commands

Military Sealift Command The Military Sealift Command (MSC) is an organization that controls the replenishment and military transport ships of the United States Navy. Military Sealift Command has the responsibility for providing sealift and ocean transportation for all U ...

Ship Support Unit Guam * Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Mobile Unit FIVE * Navy Munitions Command East Asia Division Unit Guam * Naval Airborne Weapons Maintenance Unit 1 *

Naval Computer and Telecommunications Station Guam Naval Computer and Telecommunications Station Guam (NCTS Guam) is a United States Navy communications facility on the U.S. territory of Guam. It is located on the Naval Base Guam North Finegayan Telecommunications Site along Guam Highway 3 in D ...

* THIRTIETH Naval Construction Regiment

Services

Naval Base Guam has amenities and services including a

library A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

, visitor's quarters, theater, and bowling lanes. In regards to the

Department of Defense Education Activity The Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) is a federal school system headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, responsible for planning, directing, coordinating, and managing prekindergarten through 12th grade educational programs on beh ...

(DoDEA), the base is in the school transportation zone for McCool Elementary and McCool Middle School, while Guam High School is the island's sole DoDEA high school. Non-DoDEA public schools are operated by the

Guam Department of Education The Guam Department of Education (GDOE), formerly the Guam Public School System, is a school district that serves the United States territory of Guam. The school district can be thought of as analogous to the school districts of other cities a ...

References

External links

Official website
(''closed''). GlobalSecurity.org. Retrieved 2010-02-19. *

Historic American Engineering Record Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) is a division of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS). It administers three programs established to document historic places in the United States: Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American E ...

documentation: ** ** ** {{United States Navy shore installations Historic American Engineering Record in Guam

Guam Guam ( ; ) is an island that is an Territories of the United States, organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. Guam's capital is Hagåtña, Guam, Hagåtña, and the most ...

Military installations of the United States in Guam United States Navy installations Apra Harbor Orote Peninsula Santa Rita, Guam Guam Highway 1 1944 establishments in Guam