Why the U.S. Military Is Reviving Abandoned WWII-Era Airfields | WSJ

To counter China, the U.S. is racing to upgrade a handful of remote airstrips in the Pacific Ocean. WSJ’s Niharika Mandhana traveled to Tinian Island, where the U.S. is working to clear overgrowth to unearth the runways of a vast World War II-era airfield.

WSJ explores how this construction is part of a wider strategy to combat Beijing’s ability to threaten the U.S.'s larger bases including those on nearby Guam.

Chapters:
0:00 Remote airways in the Pacific
0:48 Construction on Tinian Island
2:21 Tinian history
3:00 Hub and spoke
3:55 Guam’s role

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[ReasonableGuy-lo]

Fun fact. The northern airfields were constructed in late WW2 by US Navy SeaBee units. At the time (and maybe still holds the record?) is was the largest expeditionary airfield ever constructed. Six months after completion the war had ended and the Sea Bee unit was decommissioned. A couple of decades ago my Navy ship had a port call at Saipan and some friends and I took the ferry over to Tinian and biked around the island visiting WW2 sites. As we were taking selfies standing in the bomb pit (where Fat Man was uploaded to a B-29) a tourist bus full of Japanese arrived. This nice old man strode over to see us. That was an awkward moment.

[markeissler]

Interesting how at the beginning of the video the MSGT is describing how difficult it was to uncover the abandoned airfields. But could you imagine how difficult the work was without GPS and no previous runways to uncover back when they first built this stuff?

[TheModelGuy]

“The Guam Killer”

Well…that’s oddly specific.

[mauwalker]

You’ll know it’s really real when they reopen places like the old Japanese base at Truk, the Ulithi anchorage, and the base at Manas.

[jamesgunnyreed]

I spent 6 weeks on Tinian Island in 2002. Back then there was only 1 runway (Runway B) that could land C-130's. The old coral pavement took a toll on tires. We lived on Runway A at one end in tents and the other end is where we had all the helicopters and maint area.

[razorsedge]

My mother's cousin was killed on this island during WWII. He was so very young. His name was Raymond J. Gilmore. He was from McKeesport Pa. She told me about him and showed me his obit. when I was a kid in the 1950's and 60's. (I still have that obit.) I had a professional historical researcher give me info on him. It took him 2 years because of the covid limitations but I got way more than I ever thought. 10 pages and 1 picture of him. Even told where he lived in McKeesport. The researcher's name was Bill Beigel.

[jdestefa]

My 4th Marine Division father was in the amphibious landings against fortified Saipan and Tinian that were Japanese strongholds. I wish he was here today to see what is happening on Tinian, how the jungle covered the runways and how they were reclaimed for current and future usage.

[SmokingSevens]

So what you're saying is that we have 3 years until WW3...

[realamarica]

So many of today's youth has no idea the horrors of war. When history is forgotten, it is doomed to be repeated. These are not games. They are tragedies and unbelievable horrors in the making. The world leaders sit back in their protected environment and conscript the pawns sending them to their death. All because the 'leaders' can't lead at all. Following in the paths of their ancestors.

[tommysonnier]

This video proves WWII history is still relevant.

[LEARTY]

It really sucks that we all spend so much money, energy and beautiful land on war

[StuSaville]

“Japanese submarine slammed two torpedoes into her side, Chief. We was comin’ back from the island of Tinian to Leyte. We’d just delivered the bomb. The Hiroshima bomb. Eleven hundred men went into the water. Vessel went down in 12 minutes. Didn’t see the first shark for about a half-hour... " - Quint, Jaws

[maxsmodels]

The significance of it being Tinian cannot be lost on the CCP.

[frankroy]

Time to resurect those hard working, famous Sea bees. They always got the job done.❤ Thank you for your service.

[deadmeat]

Red Horse (Rapid Engineer Deployable Heavy Operational Repair Squadron Engineer) are the "SeaBees" (Construction Battalions) and Combat Engineers of the USAF.

[danjohnston]

This Is The Second Island Chain
" Third island chain begins at the Aleutian Islands and runs south across the center of the Pacific Ocean towards Oceania,
through the Hawaiian Islands, American Samoa and Fiji, to reach New Zealand.
Australia serves as the staple between the second and third chains." ( Everyone Learn " Waltzing Matilda " )

[ibk]

It seems that the dark clouds of war will become more INTENSE in the coming days instead of dissipating.

[loomsack]

The scale of those runways are insane. They can compete with some of the world largest airports if they were all in full operation.

[chrisneumann]

Interesting! I was in Palau on vacation in June 2024 and visited Peleliu Island, the site of one of the bloodiest battles in WWII. I ran into a group of SeaBees and USMC Marine engineers who were clearing out a WWII era runway on the island. Not only did they complete the job quickly but landed and launched a few C-130's a few days after I left. What's not talked about on this video is not only were they clearing out the area but they were also doing EOD clean up. A couple of the Marines showed me some pics of what they had found, there was a lot of "bang" left over from that era including old weapons cashes, land and sea mines and thousands of rounds of ammo. Being an ex Sailor I had a great time talking to the guys and gals who were working there. I offered to buy everyone some beer but the Gunny said, "no can do." "Sorry folks, I know better to go against the Gunny on this one!" Beer or not, we sat out on the hotel patio sharing stories, staying up way too late, and it was one of the best nights of my life and hopefully I'll never forget it.

On the other side I understand the motivation of doing these types of projects, but as a combat veteran I don't wish for another war, let alone a large scale one. Most vets will tell you that war, especially an unjust one is not something that any of us really want. We've seen what can happen and it's not pleasant. I wasn't on the line with a rifle but I did see on many occasions videos of what a 500, 1000, and 2000 pound bomb and other ordinance can do since part of my job was to review footage before sending it up to intelligence. So yeah, I wasn't an infantryman, but working on and loading ordinance on aircraft on a flight deck at night (which has its own element of extreme danger) and seeing people walk around and then watching them getting vaporized...not something I want to repeat let alone have anyone else do a job like that. All men and women in uniform must perform their duties, no job is more important than the other even in peace time, but the ugliness of war is something that I wish on no one regardless of their duty.

I hope it doesn't come to that but if it does I'm 100% behind our servicemembers, period, end of story.

[GarySpeight-cvsw]

As a student of military history I recognise these names. Absolutely insane.