MILITARY: Building Back Stronger

The base from where the U.S. launched its nuclear strikes to end World War II is being revived to counter the growing Asia-Pacific threat posed by China

- RYAN CHAN

AN OVERGROWN AIRFIELD ON A small island in the Pacific, once instrumental in America's role in ending World War II, is being reclaimed by the U.S. Air Force as it prepares for a future fight with China.

The remote island of Tinian, which is less than 40 square miles, is one of three principal islands in the Northern Mariana Islands, a string of sparsely populated islets in the Western Pacific Ocean that make up the U.S.'s westernmost frontier, along with the major military hub of Guam some 100 miles to the south by hardstands that supported up to 265 B-29 Superfortress bombers.

In August 1945, North Field launched two of these bombers, Enola Gay and Bockscar, that carried out the first and only wartime use of nuclear weapons in human history. The dropping of atomic bombs "Little Boy" and "Fat Man" on Hiroshima and Nagasaki respectively ended the war with Japan and spared American troops from a bloody and costly invasion of the Japanese mainland to force the empire's surrender.

Tinian was known for its strategic value during the war. Due to its proximity to Tokyo-less than 1,500 miles-it later became a staging base to launch bomber attacks on mainland Japan.

The island is a similar distance to China and other flashpoints in Asia, with a U.S. Defense Department plan costed at nearly $500 million now preparing it to help the United States deter, or defeat, the Chinese military.