US Air Force plans more than 6,000 yearly training flights from Saipan, Tinian and Rota airfields

The US Air Force wants to turn four airfields on Saipan, Tinian and Rota in the Northern Mariana Islands into regular training grounds for dispersed air operations, proposing up to 6,080 aircraft operations a year across the islands, Stars and Stripes and Defense News reported this week.

The plan is set out in a notice of intent that the Department of the Air Force published in the Federal Register on Oct. 28. The notice opens an environmental impact statement covering Saipan International Airport, Tinian International Airport, Tinian North Field and Rota International Airport, and says the Federal Aviation Administration and the Commonwealth Ports Authority will be invited to take part as cooperating agencies.

Under the preferred proposal, each airfield could host up to 1,200 fixed-wing and 320 helicopter operations a year, counting each takeoff and landing. A second option would allow up to 1,400 fixed-wing and 384 helicopter operations per airfield, and the study will also weigh a no-action alternative. Each site could receive up to 550,000 gallons of aviation fuel and up to 1,000 personnel, along with temporary expeditionary infrastructure and the handling of chaff and flares.

Stars and Stripes reported that the Air Force describes three sizes of event. Small deployments of fewer than 100 people would run for one to two weeks throughout the year, medium events with up to 250 people would take place each quarter, and large exercises with up to 1,000 people would be held two or three times a year for two to three weeks. No single airfield would hold more than 1,000 personnel at once.

The training is meant to support Agile Combat Employment, the Air Force approach of spreading aircraft, people and supplies across smaller airfields so an adversary cannot halt operations by striking one large base. Defense News noted that the concept grew largely in response to the expanding reach and missile arsenal of the Chinese military. The notice adds that the airfields could also be used by other US services and by allied and partner forces.

The three islands lie within a few dozen nautical miles of each other and less than 100 nautical miles north of Guam, home to Andersen Air Force Base, which would allow forces to stage from Guam and shuttle aircraft, fuel and equipment between nearby sites with short transit times.

The proposal follows several years of work on Tinian, where the Pentagon is spending about 800 million dollars to upgrade two airfields, according to Stars and Stripes. North Field was built and heavily used in the Second World War and sat abandoned and overgrown until rehabilitation began in late 2023. Defense News reported that the work has raised questions among Air Force leaders about funding as the war with Iran places new demands on the service.

The Air Force says the plan involves no new construction and no change to existing airspace. Public meetings are scheduled on Saipan on Nov. 18, on Tinian on Nov. 19 and on Rota on Nov. 21, with written comments due by Nov. 29. A draft environmental impact statement is expected in the autumn of 2027 and a final version in mid-2028.

Local reaction has been mixed. Marianas Press reported that the community group Our Common Wealth 670 asked for the 30-day scoping period to be doubled, while the islands' delegate in Congress, Kimberlyn King-Hinds, welcomed their role in military readiness and urged residents to comment. The chair of the Commonwealth Ports Authority told the outlet that commercial flights would not be affected.

Taken together, the reports show the Air Force building a routine training pattern around several small island airfields close to Guam rather than relying on Andersen alone, a shift Defense News linked directly to the growth of Chinese missile forces in the region.