Guam Buildup

[IlPadrino]

Dleg,

Any chance you'll end up working in Guam as part of the huge Marine Corps move from Okinawa? $10B (up to $3B/year) means a lot of employment opportunity!

 

[Dleg]

The figure that's been thrown around here is $17B.

I actually had two offers from Guam last fall, and turned them down. My wife and I agree that we are either going to stay in the Northern Marianas, or move to the mainland. Guam, in our opinion, has too much of the bad attributes of mainland living, and not enough of the good attributes to make up for it. And, frankly (and no disrespect to the Marine Corps), I see that only getting worse once the relocation actually takes place, and 7,000 + Marines and their families are crowded in with the other 150,000 or so residents. I like the relative peace and quiet of Saipan.

But I do foresee some spillover of work to the Northern Marianas, and I would like to get in on some of that. Word has it that the Marines want to build a training base (they're calling it a "warm base") on Tinian, which would mean some pretty big spending right next door to Saipan. But as long as I remain an employee of the commonwealth, I can't get in on anything. I would need to get out on my own if I'm going to make any money off of it. That's something that I am considering.

I've seen some pretty attractive DOD positions available over the last year, as well. You considering a move to Guam?

 

[IlPadrino]

The figure that's been thrown around here is $17B.
I actually had two offers from Guam last fall, and turned them down. My wife and I agree that we are either going to stay in the Northern Marianas, or move to the mainland. Guam, in our opinion, has too much of the bad attributes of mainland living, and not enough of the good attributes to make up for it. And, frankly (and no disrespect to the Marine Corps), I see that only getting worse once the relocation actually takes place, and 7,000 + Marines and their families are crowded in with the other 150,000 or so residents. I like the relative peace and quiet of Saipan.

But I do foresee some spillover of work to the Northern Marianas, and I would like to get in on some of that. Word has it that the Marines want to build a training base (they're calling it a "warm base") on Tinian, which would mean some pretty big spending right next door to Saipan. But as long as I remain an employee of the commonwealth, I can't get in on anything. I would need to get out on my own if I'm going to make any money off of it. That's something that I am considering.

I've seen some pretty attractive DOD positions available over the last year, as well. You considering a move to Guam?

$10B or $17B - it's a shitpile of construction!

I've been to Guam a grand total of maybe six days... but I saw enough to know neither I nor my wife and son would enjoy it too much. It's too damn hot and humid with lots of snakes and other creepy-crawlys. And I don't like Spam!

 

[Freon]

I spent a few weeks there a while back. Guam is not much different than Hawaii, just not as built-up. I think the plans are to re-open the old Naval Station, AKA "Big Navy". But with Anderson AFB on the other end of the island, life would not be so bad. But the non-DoD schools most likely make Mississippi look good!

Freon

 

[Dleg]

^Very true. I know many of the local residents are what you might call "extremely bitter" over the differences between the services provided to the military families and the non-military residents. I tend to agree with them, to a point. For the amount of money Uncle Sam is pouring into the DOD schools, the entire island could benefit enormously from combining that into their presently poor school system. I understand that's how itused to be, but the DOD got tired of the Guam school system squandering the money, as well as bullying issues between "local" kids and the military kids. And so the DOD school system became separate, and Guam PSS lost most of its funding.

 

[Dleg]

It's too damn hot and humid with lots of snakes and other creepy-crawlys. And I don't like Spam!

It's no more hot and humid than the southern US (probably a bit less, in fact). And the only snakes are the brown tree snakes that infested the island after WWII. They have a bad reputation, but in my experience, you really don't run into them. Even running through the jungles on the Hash. They come out at night and eat rats and birds and short out power lines. That's about it. The whole issue gets blown a bit out of proportion by the fish and birds people, who try to justify the millions of dollars from the feds to try to eradicate them.

There's far worse snakes and creepy crawlies in the mainland, particularly the south.

 

[PE-ness]

Boy, I sure had this thread wrong. I read "GUAM buildup" and I thought you were talking about something else entirely.

I had buddies who were in the Navy tell me what GUAM stands for. Any guesses?

 

[Katiebug]

Governed Under American Military is the one I've always heard.

My brother (Coast Guard) put Guam on the list for his next PCS. He really wants a specific type of cutter so he included a lot of locations that have one of those cutters homeported there, and Guam is one of them. Our mother cringes at the thought of him actually going there, due to the rather exotic wildlife.

He's young, single, no kids, so I tell him if there's any time in his career that he should feel free to up and move halfway around the world, it's NOW and not a decade from now.

 

[Freon]

Just tell him to be careful SCUBA diving on Guam; they have some serious currents and lots of things that will turn you into a hot lunch. Having been to both, I prefer Guam to Hawaii.

Freon

 

[IlPadrino]

Having been to both, I prefer Guam to Hawaii.

What is the Guam equivalent of the Hale Koa or Waikiki in general?

 

[Freon]

There is no deal quite as nice as the Hale Koa on Guam. Most of the resort hotels and tourist type things are around Tumon Bay. If you are looking for a low-cost, tropical getaway, the hostess house on Anderson AFB is nice. The dive locker at Big Navy is also great.

 

[Dleg]

PE-ness, you are well traveled. GUAM = Give Up And Masturbate, or so it is known around here.

I am not familiar with a Hale Koa on Guam. There are lots of nice hotels in Tumon, though, such as the Hyatt, Outrigger, etc. Nothing really in the way of an isolated, self-contained "resort", which I don't like anyway. There's plenty to do on Guam, the hotel should only serve as the place to sleep. (and there are plenty of decent budget options for that, too).

Scuba diving in Guam is no more dangerous than anywhere else in the real ocean. Just make sure you're with a decent dive master and you'll be fine. Running into a large shark like a tiger would be extremely rare, an attack even rarer. In fact, I've never heard of any shark attacks out here, with the rather large exception of people who get lost offshore, or lost during a dive. If you drift offshore into the blue water, and are not picked up within a few hours, then I am afraid the sharks are going to eat you. Maybe after you've drowned, or maybe before. But every body recovered from the sea around here (often in pieces) has usually been munched on. So don't get lost.

There's no other "wildlife" issues though. The notorious snakes are hardly even venomous, and don't attack adults or properly supervised children. Other than them it's just dogs and cats and rats and bugs. Despite what you've seen in the movies, the "jungle" on most of the central and west pacific islands is pretty benign.

 

[PE-ness]

^Well, I wouldn't have typed it out myself, but that is the definition I was thinking of. Which, of course, makes the title of this thread take on an entirely different meaning.

 

[mbparksPE]

Sadly, having been to Guam a few times and having lived in Key West; I'd much rather live in Guam the KW. It is a lot nicer and has many more amenities due to the catering to the Japanese tourist. I am guessing Guam is a bit more expensive, but KW wasn't no picnic either. The only flipside to this argument is that it is a heck of a lot easier to get back to mainland USA from KW.

P.S. This is my 100th post, what's a PE got to do to get his third star j/k.

 

[RIP - VTEnviro]

^The third star does not come easily.

 

[csb]

I had to flash the admins for that third star...

 

[RIP - VTEnviro]

I had to flash the admins for that third star...

I don't know about the rest of the admins, but I'm proud to say I printed that pic out on 'Arch D' sized paper and taped it to my ceiling. :bananalama:

 

[Flyer_PE]

^Ok. So now I'm curious to know what fraz did to get 4 stars.....

 

[RIP - VTEnviro]

Well, she did invite me over to watch the AFC and NFC title game at her house and fed me her hubby's kegged homebrew in the process. :true:

 

[csb]

I think you were overseas...