Guam’s military presence is measured in people, land, facilities, equipment, and long-term construction plans. Fiscal year 2024 data counted 7,361 military personnel, 5,055 civilian employees, 480 contractors, and 9,212 military dependents on the island. Other Department of Defense reporting counted 11,616 DOD personnel in March 2023, while later planning documents projected substantial growth through the early 2030s.
Contents
- How many military-connected people are in Guam?
- Which military services have the largest presence?
- How is Guam’s military presence expected to grow?
- What land and facilities support the buildup?
- What are the key Andersen Air Force Base statistics?
- What do the munitions and fuel figures show?
- How do relocation plans affect housing, schools, and health care?
How many military-connected people are in Guam?
The most detailed fiscal year 2024 personnel figures in the Government Accountability Office report GAO-25-107453 separate several groups. Guam had 7,361 military personnel, 5,055 civilian employees, and 480 contractors. The same fiscal year included 9,212 military dependents. These categories describe different parts of the military-connected population, so they should not be treated as a single personnel count.
The Congressional Research Service report CRS R47643 gave a different, narrower snapshot for March 2023. The Department of Defense reported 11,616 total personnel on Guam, including active-duty personnel, reserve personnel, and civilian employees. Because the measurement month, fiscal year, and included categories differ, the March 2023 total is not a direct substitute for the fiscal year 2024 figures.
A separate fact sheet from the 36th Wing described a broader community supported by Andersen Air Force Base, Naval Base Guam, and Marine Corps Base Camp Blaz. Together, the three bases support 35,000 service members, civilians, dependents, and retirees on Guam. That figure includes groups beyond the personnel categories in the GAO and CRS snapshots.
Which military services have the largest presence?
The March 2023 CRS breakdown shows how DOD personnel were distributed by service and component:
| Service or component | Personnel in March 2023 |
|---|---|
| Navy | 5,352 |
| Air Force and Space Force | 3,333 |
| Army | 2,049 |
| Marine Corps | 144 |
| Other DOD components | 738 civilian personnel |
The Navy was the largest named service in this snapshot, with 5,352 personnel. The Air Force and Space Force together accounted for 3,333, while the Army accounted for 2,049. The Marine Corps accounted for 144. CRS separately identified 738 civilian personnel in other DOD components.
These are March 2023 figures, not a current staffing forecast. They also use the CRS report’s reporting structure, so they should be read alongside—not merged mechanically with—the fiscal year 2024 GAO categories.
How is Guam’s military presence expected to grow?
Planning estimates point toward a larger DOD presence. The Government Accountability Office report GAO-25-108187 said Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command estimated DOD personnel in Guam would double from about 10,000 in 2024 to 20,000 in 2033. This is an estimate, not a measurement of personnel already present.
Joint Region Marianas expected active-duty personnel and dependents to increase from 17,917 in fiscal year 2024 to 26,605 in fiscal year 2034. The two values cover active-duty personnel and dependents together and use fiscal-year endpoints.
The Missile Defense Agency projected 805 personnel for Guam Defense System operations by calendar year 2027 and 1,044 by calendar year 2031. Those are calendar-year projections for a specific defense-system operation, not totals for every military-related worker on Guam.
Other planning estimates identify possible Army growth. Joint Region Marianas estimated 913 Army personnel in Guam by fiscal year 2028, while the Defense Health Agency estimated 4,464 Army personnel in Guam by fiscal year 2028. The different estimates come from different agencies and planning contexts; the figures should not be combined without a common definition.
What land and facilities support the buildup?
The 36th Wing fact sheet said Andersen Air Force Base, Naval Base Guam, and Marine Corps Base Camp Blaz together account for nearly one third of Guam’s land area. Their combined footprint supports the 35,000 service members, civilians, dependents, and retirees identified by the same fact sheet.
In spring 2023, DOD negotiated a no-cost lease of about 113 acres for a new hospital on DOD property in Guam, according to GAO-25-107453. The acreage describes the planned land lease, not the size of the hospital building.
Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command Pacific awarded an $83 million contract for wharf improvements at Naval Base Guam on May 13, 2022. NAVFAC Pacific expected that work to be completed in September 2024. The award date and expected completion date are specific to that wharf project.
Marine Corps Base Camp Blaz is part of the relocation and construction picture. Its activation page said the base will be home to approximately 5,000 Marines. The earlier Guam and CNMI military relocation planning originally proposed moving more than 8,000 Marines and their dependents from Okinawa to Guam. The original proposal and the later Camp Blaz figure describe related but different planning statements.
The 2012 bilateral agreement committed Japan to contribute $3.1 billion for facilities and infrastructure in Guam and training ranges in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, according to the Marine Corps Base Camp Blaz reactivation page. That commitment concerns facilities and infrastructure funding, not a count of personnel.
What are the key Andersen Air Force Base statistics?
Andersen is a major operating and staging location in northern Guam. The 36th Wing fact sheet said the base hosts more than 8,000 joint service members, civilians, and contractors. It also includes 2,500 dependents and 22 tenant units. The base has two runways and two landing zones, with 7.5 million square feet of ramp.
The base was built in 1945 and has been in continuous use since then. Its listed location is about 3,800 miles west of Hawaii, about 2,800 miles north of Australia, and about 1,300 miles east of the Philippines.
Andersen’s base fact sheet listed 6.1 million square feet of building area and 326,000 square yards of taxiways. It listed jet fuel capacity at 66 million gallons. The same fact sheet described a five-year Air Force MILCON program with eight projects totaling $689.3 million, plus a five-year Other MILCON program with 24 projects totaling $1.8171 billion.
The fact sheet also listed eight current Air Force MILCON projects from fiscal years 2017–2021 totaling $472.2 million and eight current Other MILCON projects from the same period totaling $191.0 million. These are program and project figures associated with the fact sheet’s stated period; they are not presented as a current-year spending total.
Training events demonstrate the scale of temporary activity at Andersen. COPE NORTH 2021 featured 94 aircraft and 2,173 personnel. VALIANT SHIELD 2020 featured 39 aircraft, one Carrier Strike Group, and 1,100 personnel. Aviation Training Relocation at Andersen involved up to 20 aircraft and 1,000 personnel per quarterly event, while ongoing ATR support involved 20 aircraft and 500 personnel.
What do the munitions and fuel figures show?
The 36th Munitions Squadron said its operations cover 4,400 acres across two munitions storage areas. The squadron uses 143 storage facilities, nine operating locations, 15 sited storage pads, and one flightline munitions holding area.
The squadron valued Andersen’s munitions stockpile at more than $1.7 billion and said it included more than 8.8 million individual items. The stockpile covered more than 180 types of bombs, missiles, and countermeasures. Munitions handling trailers and associated equipment were valued at more than $830 million.
Andersen’s base fact sheet listed 17.5 million pounds of net explosive weight against a 45.7-million-pound capacity. The 36th Munitions Squadron described Andersen as having the Air Force’s largest conventional War Reserve Stockpile and JASSM cache. These statements describe storage and equipment capacity; they do not establish how much material was added during a particular year.
Fuel infrastructure was another major investment area. An Air Force Materiel Command article described a 2020 fuel project involving $96 million in repairs across 27.6 million gallons of fuel storage. The effort awarded 15 contracts to execute 25 infrastructure repair projects.
How do relocation plans affect housing, schools, and health care?
The DOD Education Activity reported that Guam’s military student population rose from 1,735 to 2,650 across the services. It estimated that Guam’s four DOD schools would exceed capacity by fiscal year 2027 and that four additional schools would be needed by fiscal year 2031. Those are education-planning estimates tied to projected demand.
Military growth also carries medical-support requirements. GAO-25-108187 said DOD would need about 208 additional medical staff to support the increased population across four military medical treatment facilities. The figure is a staffing requirement estimate, not a count of staff already hired.
Housing planning documents provide an earlier baseline. The Guam and CNMI Military Relocation environmental impact statement snippet estimated 2,787 likely available housing units at the start of project construction in 2010. It showed combined action total impact of 1,648 units in 2010, 3,972 units in 2011, 6,119 units in 2012, 7,465 units in 2013, and 9,431 units in 2014.
Those housing values are historical EIS figures and remain tied to the 2010–2014 measurement period. They should not be read as a present-day inventory or as a forecast for 2026. Together with the school, hospital, and medical-staff estimates, they show why Guam’s military statistics extend beyond uniformed headcounts to the island’s built environment and public-service pressures.