You ready to go back to Subic Bay?

2015-09-09T13:17:41-04:00

The government will station new fighter jets and two frigates as it reopens the former US naval base in Subic Bay to military use in a further response to Chinese expansionism in the disputed South China Sea.

One of the biggest US naval facilities in the world, Subic Bay was shut in 1992 after the Senate terminated a bases agreement with Washington at the end of the Cold War.

Manila converted the facility, which was never home to the Philippine military, into an economic zone.

Defense Undersecretary Pio Lorenzo Batino said the military signed an agreement in May with the zone’s operator, the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, to use parts of the installation under a renewable 15-year lease.
http://www.msn.com/en-ph/news/national/phl-reopens-subic-bay-as-military-base/ar-AAd4TUC?ocid=mailsignout

Phl reopens Subic Bay as military base

Response by Capt Seid Waddell made Sep 9 at 2015 1:20 PM

2015-09-09T13:20:52-04:00

I think we need more government assurances of cooperation before we do that.

Response by 1stSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 9 at 2015 1:22 PM

2015-09-09T13:22:38-04:00

We will end up spending a ton of money updating this obsolite base. I wonder if Magsaysay will return to its former glory.

Response by LCDR Rabbah Rona Matlow made Sep 9 at 2015 1:35 PM

2015-09-09T13:35:31-04:00

The Philippines are really quite an important area, given the high concentration of Islamic radicals in Indonesia and the Philippines. Further, we have forgotten the lessons of WWII in managing Pacific Islands, clearly.

So, no matter one's thoughts on liberty in Subic City, this is probably a wise move. In reality it's not a huge number of people as the Frigates (LCS) will no doubt have rotated crews, so the families will remain elsewhere, and the fighter squadrons will rotate as well...

Response by PO1 William "Chip" Nagel made Sep 9 at 2015 1:37 PM

2015-09-09T13:37:44-04:00

I'll go back. I loved it. I just want it in writing that Pinatubo wont blow up in my face again.

Response by SN Greg Wright made Sep 9 at 2015 1:38 PM

2015-09-09T13:38:41-04:00

Good. Sign me up. PI should have accepted statehood when we offered it back in the 50's. Things would be very different if they had.

Response by MCPO Roger Collins made Sep 9 at 2015 2:08 PM

2015-09-09T14:08:06-04:00

Only if there is a time machine that takes me back to the late 50s-early 60s era. Hopefully, with my age reversed also. It would kill me today. NO BALUTS!

Response by PO1 Glenn Boucher made Sep 9 at 2015 2:28 PM

2015-09-09T14:28:34-04:00

Its good because US ships would really deter China's move deeper into the South China sea and eventually exerting its influence over all the shipping lanes.
Subic Bay has prospered fairly well for itself, we pretty much left everything in tact when we left and the Gordon family although corrupt as hell knows how to keep a profitable economy running.

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Sep 9 at 2015 2:57 PM

2015-09-09T14:57:46-04:00

I wonder how much the lease costs. Some countries are nonchalant about the US Military until they scream uncle!

Response by LCDR Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 9 at 2015 3:08 PM

2015-09-09T15:08:15-04:00

BTW guys I don't think this is a US lease but the Philippine military leasing the facility and moving two frigates and some fighter jets there. But I do see it as a stepping stone to more US ships visiting the old port.

Response by LCDR Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 9 at 2015 4:16 PM

2015-09-09T16:16:10-04:00

Absolutely!

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 9 at 2015 6:23 PM

2015-09-09T18:23:26-04:00

I think it is very predictable that we are back in there. Guam and Okinawa are nice, but not even close to the facilities and capabilities Sunoco Bay had. We will be there to stay, undoubtedly.

Response by PO1 Michael Fullmer made Sep 9 at 2015 6:33 PM

2015-09-09T18:33:58-04:00

Fun while it lasted, but, I left nothing behind. After they kicked us out, back in '91 I think it was, volcanic eruptions and tropical storms wrecked a lot of our old infrastructure. Now they want to re-open bases with the Japanese? I don't think so...Nothing against Japan.

Response by PO2 Steven Erickson made Sep 9 at 2015 10:36 PM

2015-09-09T22:36:55-04:00

Get behind me, Satan! I rebuke thee!!!!

7:^D

Last time I stumbled the streets of Olangapo, I was a 24-yr old boy with too much money, too much testosterone, too much love of MoJo and too few morals.

Like MCPO Roger Collins said, it'd kill me today!!!!

I honestly don't think I'd survive my first Jeepney (sp?) ride to the barrio!

Hey... maybe I could just stay on the boat, take everyone's duty and make a little ka-ching while babysitting the tractor!

THAT I could probably handle!

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Sep 15 at 2015 8:40 PM

2015-09-15T20:40:53-04:00

The Philippines need to decide Sovereignty of the Philippines or opening up Subic Bay for our Navy as a permanent base.

Response by PO1 Scott Cottrell made Sep 17 at 2015 5:56 PM

2015-09-17T17:56:22-04:00

Subic is not the only place in the Philippines they are looking at. They are wanting to build a base in Palawan also.

The Philippine military's top priority is to build a naval base on the country's western coastline, opposite the disputed Spratly islands, although the plans have been delayed by funding bottlenecks, the Philippine armed forces chief told Reuters.

General Gregorio Catapang said U.S., Japanese and Vietnamese naval vessels would be allowed to make port calls once the facility at Oyster Bay on the Philippine island of Palawan was finished.

Developing the island paradise into a military facility could exacerbate tensions with China, which claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, including the Spratlys. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also claim parts of the vital waterway.

Palawan, part of the main Philippine island chain, is about 160 km (100 miles) from the Spratlys, where China's rapid land reclamation around seven reefs is causing alarm among some Asian countries and drawing increasing criticism from Washington.

"We feel this is the number one priority because of the emerging security situation," Catapang said in an interview late on Monday at a military base in the Palawan capital, Puerto Princesa City, after taking reporters to a Philippine-held island in the Spratlys.

"As soon as we have the money, we will pour resources there," he said.

China last month offered a detailed defense of its reclamation in the Spratlys, saying the new islands would provide civilian services such as weather forecasting and search and rescue facilities that would benefit other countries.

Catapang said 800 million pesos ($18 million) was needed for the initial development of the naval facility and then 5 billion pesos to turn it into a major operating base.

While plans had been drawn up, they were stalled by a lack of funds, he said.

"There is nothing there yet, we are still constructing an access road and upgrading the water and oil depots that would service ships. There's still much work to do," he said.

Japan, which is helping Manila boost its maritime capabilities, might fund infrastructure around the base but not the facility itself, a Japanese source with knowledge of the plan said earlier this year.

Washington has asked for access to Philippine military bases in eight locations to rotate troops, aircraft and ships for training as Washington shifts more of its forces to Asia, Catapang said last month.

Security ties between the Philippines and Vietnam are also growing in light of China's assertiveness.

The Philippine navy has said it planned to base two former U.S. Coast Guard cutters at Oyster Bay, a sheltered cove within the much larger Ulugan Bay, once the facility was finished.

New naval base is Philippine military's top priority: armed forces chief

The Philippine military's top priority is to build a naval base on the country's western coastline, opposite the disputed Spratly islands, although the plans have been delayed by funding bottlenecks, the Philippine armed forces chief told Reuters.

Response by SCPO Morris Ramsey made Mar 7 at 2021 11:47 PM

2021-03-07T23:47:33-05:00

I would go back.

Response by SSG Samuel Kermon made Mar 8 at 2021 7:18 AM

2021-03-08T07:18:09-05:00

Good news. Wonder how long the lease will be renewed by the O'Biden administration.

Response by PO1 Paul Wilson made Dec 7 at 2021 11:27 PM

2021-12-07T23:27:58-05:00

What time does the plane depart?