Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana. (November 1, 2024): In this touching photo by Senior Airman Mary Bowers, Senior Airman Samuel Koopmans, an 819th Rapid Engineer Deployable Heavy Operational Repair Squadron engineer, reunites with his loved ones after returning from Tinian Island. He along with thousands of Airmen have been called back to the Pacific to reopen Tinian, the same airfield that was used in the first and only use of nuclear weapons in war. Members of the 819th RHS returned home from a six-month deployment where they teamed up with U.S. Navy Seabees to assess and prepare the WWI-era Tinian airfield for paving.

Tinian is part of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, an American territory north of Guam and about 1,500 miles east of the Philippines. The remote island is less than 40 square miles across and is one of three sparsely populated islets in the Western Pacific Ocean. Tinian forms the U.S.'s westernmost frontier, along with the major military hub of Guam some one hundred miles to the south. The island is a similar distance to China and other flashpoints in Asia.

It was from here that the Air Force launched bombing raids against Japan including the “Fat Man” and “Little Boy” atomic weapons. Since World War II, the island’s jungle has grown over the runways and its facilities are dilapidated. The Air Force has contracted $409 million to finish the project within five years. Under the Pentagon's Pacific Deterrence Initiative, which puts China at the forefront of U.S. defense planning, three projects will add airfield operations to Tinian for refueling, takeoff and landing, and parking, all in support of operations in the vast Indo-Pacific theater.

Tinian will form yet another “spoke” in the wheel of the Air Force’s Agile Combat Employment concept. Divvying up air assets in the Pacific into smaller groups makes it harder for enemies to target our bases and personnel. American planners believe Tinian will play an important role in any future fight with China.