Air Force plans thousands of training flights out of small islands near Guam

The Air Force is looking to use four airfields on small islands in the Northern Marianas as training grounds for dispersed warfare, proposing more than 6,000 aircraft operations a year to prepare for conflict without relying on large, vulnerable bases.

The Air Force wants to use the Northern Marianas for 6,000 training operations a year to prepare for conflict without relying on large, vulnerable bases. Adm. Samuel Paparo, head of U.S. Pacific Command, forefront, tours North Field, a historic World War II airfield on Tinian in the Northern Mariana Islands on June 28, 2026. (Angel Heraldez/U.S. Army) The Air Force wants to use four airfields on three Pacific islands near Guam as training grounds for dispersed warfare, proposing more than 6,000 aircraft operations a year to prepare for conflict without relying on large, vulnerable bases. The service announced plans on Oct. 28 to prepare an environmental impact statement for expanded training on Saipan, Tinian and Rota in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

The proposal calls for as many as 6,080 aircraft operations each year at the international airports on Saipan, Rota and Tinian, and at Tinian North Field. Each airfield could support up to 1,200 fixed-wing and 320 rotary-wing aircraft operations annually. The training would support Agile Combat Employment, or ACE, an Air Force strategy that disperses aircraft, personnel and equipment among smaller airfields rather than concentrating them at large, permanent bases vulnerable to attack. The Northern Marianas offer a mix of developed commercial airports and austere operating locations, according to an Air Force website dedicated to the