| <home>
-- <press releases> --
<October 31, 2005>
USS BUFFALO TO HOMEPORT IN GUAM FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – October 31, 2005– Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Madeleine Z. Bordallo announced today that the U.S. Navy has assigned the USS BUFFALO (SSN 715), a Los Angeles class submarine, to Guam effective in September of 2006. The assignment of the USS BUFFALO to Guam will return the number of submarines homeported on the island to three. In August of 2005, the USS SAN FRANCISCO was reassigned to Bremerton, Washington to undergo long term repairs. The USS BUFFALO will join the USS CORPUS CHRISTI and the USS HOUSTON, both which are currently homeported in Guam. “The assignment of the USS BUFFALO to Guam reflects the Navy’s continued recognition of Guam’s strategic location and importance in the Pacific,” Bordallo said. “Upon arrival, the USS BUFFALO will become an important part of our island’s increasingly central role in U.S. national security efforts in the Pacific. I look forward to welcoming the sailors and families of the BUFFALO’s crew when they join our community.” The USS BUFFALO has been homeported in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii since 1984. The submarine was the Navy’s 25th Los Angeles class submarine when commissioned in May 1982. Los Angeles class attack submarines have as their hallmark stealth, speed, endurance and flexibility. The USS BUFFALO, like other Los Angeles class submarines, is powered by a safe, reliable and powerful nuclear reactor. Moving to Guam with the submarine will be a crew of 14 officers and 129 enlisted sailors and their families. “Guam continues to be well positioned to host an increased military presence including air, land and sea forces. The upcoming release of the Quadrennial Defense Review is expected to lead to additional forces coming to Guam, some of which will complement the new Marine presence planned for our island,” Bordallo said. Because of Guam’s strategic location, studies have shown a submarine on Guam can achieve nearly three times more operational time on station in East Asia than a submarine homeported in the United States. Homeporting submarines on Guam also reduce costly transit time required of submarines homeported on the West Coast or in Hawaii.
|
