US defence secretary in Guam
Updated
The American defence secretary, Robert Gates, is in Guam ahead of an Asian tour featuring an annual regional security conference in Singapore.
Guam is the base for about 6,000 military personnel, but will soon become an even more important US base, with the relocation of about 8,000 Marines from Japan's Okinawa island by 2014.
A Pentagon spokesman has told the Marianas Variety that will more than double the US military presence on the island.
He says Guam is an operating hub from which US forces can project strength throughout the Pacific.
The troop transfer is part of the US military's worldwide realignment of bases and was meant to ease opposition to the US presence in Okinawa, which now hosts half of the 40,000 US troops in Japan.
