The US military tends to twist the English language the same way they defaced Eugene Stoner’s design for the AR-15 to create the badly flawed M16.

The word “behoove”, for example, seems to exist only so that noncommissioned officers can chew up junior military personnel for their various failings. Similarly, no Supreme Court decision has been written in which one of the justices “leaned on” the opinion of another. And no one ever asked their date if they wanted to come in to spend the “dark period”.

Today an Air Force general officer showed that the military has found a new and creative way to twist the word ‘rugged’, which in the civilian world is most often used as an adjective to describe something or someone as “strong” or “capable”. ”

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Air Force Lt. Gen. Joseph Guastella recently told lawmakers the service wants to ‘strengthen’ military facilities in Guam, though he didn’t provide any specific information about the military’s plan. air for the island.

Guastella was testifying Tuesday about Air Force modernization when Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) asked him how the Air Force budget request would support military installations in Guam.

“Obviously Guam and the cluster is a critical capability for us,” Guastella replied. “This is also a core operational area that we will always want to strengthen and ensure it is viable at varying threat levels. On top of that, we need other operating sites – and that’s something I talked about with the agile combat job. This is a combination of strengthening the Guam cluster and investing in sites in part of the Pacific region. »

While Guastella pulled off a feat of grammatical gymnastics, his answer shows that all military jargon inherently hides more information than it provides.

It is possible that Guastella was unwilling to publicly discuss the details of specific Air Force plans for Guam. When Hawley asked if Guastella would feel more comfortable briefing Guam lawmakers “in a different environment,” Guastella grew older.

The reason the Air Force is planning a stronger presence in Guam has to do with China’s growing power in the Pacific region. China’s military has ballistic missiles capable of conducting precision conventional strikes and nuclear attacks against Guam, home to Andersen Air Force Base, according to the Defense Department’s latest report on China’s military might.

That means a war with China could mark the first time US territories in the Pacific have been attacked since World War II, when the Japanese struck Pearl Harbor, invaded the Aleutian Islands and captured Guam as well as Wake Island. The Japanese also launched thousands of explosive balloons against the continental United States, one of which killed a woman and five children in Oregon.

The Defense Department’s Missile Defense Agency has asked Congress for $539 million in next year’s budget to develop radar and weapons systems that could protect Guam from Chinese cruise and ballistic missiles as well as hypersonic weapons, Defense News reported.

“Current forces are capable of defending Guam against today’s North Korean ballistic missile threats,” Missile Defense Agency Comptroller Dee Dee Martinez told reporters in March. “However, the regional threat to Guam, including from China, continues to evolve rapidly.”

The United States has also planned for years to move about 5,000 Marines from Okinawa to Guam, prompting Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) to worry in 2010 that the island could capsize if too American troops were sent there – for which he was widely ridiculed.

Much of the Army’s future footprint on Guam will be determined by future budgets and contractual agreements. Navy Admiral John Aquilino, head of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, told lawmakers on Tuesday that the military must complete a military construction plan for Guam.

“Guam’s strategic importance is difficult to overestimate,” Aquilino wrote in a statement to the House Appropriations Committee-Defense. “The department committed more than $11 billion for military construction projects in Guam in fiscal year 22-27 to fulfill our commitment with Japan under the Security Policy Review Initiative. Defense (DPRI), underscoring the importance of the island to maintaining the Joint Force as our primary operating base and home to 130,000 Americans.

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