Guam at the eastern edge of the
philippine sea is within easy range of
the south china sea, where the united
states and china are engaged in a global
rivalry. The 96th bomb squadron last deployed a
task force there in december 2018, the
air force said.
A bomber task force last deployed to
guam in october with 200 airmen from the
ninth expeditionary bomb squadron out of
dyess air force base texas. Task foss missions help maintain global
stability and security while enabling
units to become familiar with operations
in different regions, according to the
air force.
The task force will train with and
support other us forces in the region as
well as those of allies and partners, according to the air force. It did not specify how long the squadron
would remain on guam. Deploying as a bomber task force
exercises our ability to produce agile, combat power in any location we are
needed, squadron Commander Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Duff said in the
statement. "We remain ready to deploy to reach
anywhere in the world at any time," he
added.
The air force last year ended its
15-year practice of keeping a continuous
bomber presence on guam in favor of a
less predictable deployment system using
bomber task forces. The change aligned with the 2018
national defense strategies call for
strategic unpredictability. Bomber task forces based in the us
deploy cyclically to guam. Adversaries watch us come and go, said
pacific air forces commander general
kenneth wilsbach in a september 9th call
with reporters.
Last year the air force rotated B-52s, B-1 Lancers and B-2 spirit bombers
through guam putting them to work on
exercises with the navy and the japan
air self-defense force. Bombers in the indo-pacific project u.s
air power in a region ripe with tension. To the west u.s and chinese forces
crisscrossed the south china sea, conducting exercises and demonstrating
resolve on the u.s part to maintain open
seas by china to defend territorial
claims or test those of japan and taiwan.
The state department in july formally
rejected china's claims to islands and
reefs in the south china sea, claims that
china just as forcefully maintains
historic rights. Strategic bomber missions validate the
credibility of our forces to address a
diverse and complex global security
environment, the air force said in its
statement.
Washington regularly sends
reconnaissance aircraft to the south
china sea, chinese sources say. From march to november last year the u.s
sent three civilian contractor
surveillance aircraft to monitor the
south china sea among other waterways. The chinese government-backed research
website south china sea strategic
situation probing initiative says. The civilian planes are backing up eight
types of military reconnaissance
aircraft, the database says.
The US Military sent strategic bombers
to the south china sea last year. Reconnaissance aircraft flew over the
south china sea three times in february, beijing state monitored global times
reported.
