There is a line in the Pacific, going from the North Pole to the South Pole and that is US conquered territory which no other nation can threaten. That line is through Guam, or more accurately, Fort Guam. Guam is the fortress on the front lines of the Pacific conflict. The Philippines kicked the US Navy out of Subic bay after independence and the volcano took care of the Air Force base. The Air Force has to lease Diego Garcia, so there is no permanent presence there. 20 years ago, there was no worry, China was barely a coastal navy power. Now, they routinely shadow US Navy war games near Hawaii. Guam is the only stop towards the front for the Navy, Marines, Army and Air Force.  The Chinese engineering giant artificial islands as defining forward territory is an asymmetric approach that is catching the lumbering sloths in the Pentagon off guard.  Most of the attention was being focused on needing to make a first strike on North Korea, much more conventional and familiar. Wake up call.