The base would used as part of the Marines Corps’ new prepositioning program in the Philippines.

by Jim Morris, President, Warrior  

It’s a place that plays a prominent role in the history of the US Navy, a base where hundreds of ships and thousands of sailors passed through over the course of nearly a century. 

   Now, more than three decades after the American flag was hauled down, the US is once again eyeing Subic Bay in the Philippines for a possible military installation. 

   The Navy wants to lease a climate-controlled facility that, according to solicitation documents, would be used to store vehicles, maintenance equipment, electronics and communications gear. The building could be as large as 355,000 square feet – roughly twice the size of the American Airlines cargo terminal at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport. 

   It would used as part of the Marines Corps’ new prepositioning program in the Philippines. US Naval Institute News points out that press releases on the storage facility say the warehouse will be used for humanitarian aid and disaster relief in the region. 

   Manila is seen as a valuable ally in helping ward off Chinese aggression and the US has taken more steps in the last year to build a stronger military alliance with the Philippines. That includes more and larger joint exercises, such as the recently concluded Balikatan war games. Plus, the US has been given more access to bases in the islands.  

  In the first few months of the Trump administration, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth flew to Manila to reassure the government the president stands firmly before the two countries’ military agreement signed after World War II. 

   “He (Trump) and I both want to express the ironclad agreement we have to the mutual defense treaty and to the partnership, economically, militarily, which our staffs have worked on diligently for weeks and weeks and months,” Hegseth said while meeting with Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.  

   In the last two years, there has been a forward-deployed US task force sent to the Philippines. Meanwhile, there are Marine Corps drones there, US Navy overflights of Philippine maritime areas that are also claimed by China and the deployment of a US Army Typhon missile launcher, which is compatible with the Patriot PAC-3 missile. 

   And while US forces permanently stationed at Subic Bay left in 1992, Americans troops and warships are still familiar sights there. Ships use the facilities for refueling, and US soldiers and Marines are offloaded there for exercises. Plus, Military Sealift Command ships have put in for repairs at Subic Bay.  

Jim Morris is the Warrior Vice President, News. Morris previously worked as an executive and senior producer and editor at ABC News and Bloomberg TV.