General William Begert, commander of US air forces in the Pacific, said no decisions have been made yet but discussions were underway within the military about the Iraq occupation's impact in a region where North Korea poses a tough military challenge and China is pressing ahead with a military buildup.

"We talked about that -- How do you buy down risk when one service is overly subscribed, or in a surge situation?," he told defense reporters here.

"Obviously, again, places like Guam become very important. You can move places very quickly if you need to buy down risk, or to deter somebody from taking advantage of a situation," he said.

No US air forces are permanently stationed at Guam's Andersen Air Force Base, but in recent years it has been used as a hub for long-range bombers deployed to wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as for bombers deployed to deter potential adversaries in the Asia Pacific region.

It also has emerged as a leading candidate for basing forces as the US military realigns its forces in the Pacific.

"The importance of rotational bombers going in there would be very practical," Begert said. We've talked about the possibility for the future of perhaps a fighter wing, tankers, Global Hawk."

"It is an active proposal. We are looking at options. No decisions have been made. But people have talked quite openly, not just me, of the importance of doing that," he said. "The examples I gave are only examples of the kinds of things that we can do."

A US territory, Guam lies within 1,500 miles of the Korean peninsula and Taiwan, two potential flashpoints in the region.

About 150 B-52 bombers were based at Andersen Air Force Base during the Vietnam War. Over the past decade, the air force has invested heavily to maintain the base.

The base has a typhoon-proof hangar that can accommodate B-2 stealth bombers. Construction is expect to being soon on a second typhoon-proof hangar for which 36 million dollars has been appropriated, he said.

"The basic structure of the base -- the taxiways, the runways, the fuel systems, the capacity of the base to either absorb airplanes stationed there or airplanes that pass through is really very, very good," Begert said.

WAR.WIRE