Unable to connect locally? Contact Military OneSource via secure live chat or call 800-342-9647.
Because most items must be flown or shipped in, the cost of living on Guam is quite high. Guam has a hidden tax that is included in the price of items or services. To assist with the cost of most items, Naval Base Guam and Andersen Air Force Base Exchange and Commissary will accept coupons 6 months past the expiration date.
Approximate monthly expenses for a two-person household (as of August 2024) As referenced on the Guam Chamber of Commerce website.
Guam is situated in a prime tropical cyclone formation area of the western Pacific and cyclones can and do occur. Typhoons can occur throughout the year but are more likely during June through December. Homes are built to be typhoon resistant and can handle the weather. Although recovery is sometimes long and difficult, Guam and its people are practiced in storm recovery and deal well with the situation. In order to increase your comfort during recovery it is recommended that you bring a generator as generators on the island are costly and hard to find when needed.
As of June 2025, active-duty military and their dependents stationed in Guam are exempt from obtaining local drivers licenses, provided they hold a valid license from another U.S. state or territory, following the signing of Public Law 38-22. Guam law requires all civilian employees and their dependents to obtain a Guam driver's license within 30 days of arriving in Guam. If they have a current U.S. state or territory driver's license, they are exempt from taking either a written examination or demonstration test but must surrender their current driver's license to obtain a Guam license.
If their stay is less than 30 days, they are not required to obtain a Guam driver's license. If their stay is more than 30 days, but less than 1 year, they can extend their current stateside license but must register their license with Department of Revenue and Taxation. Upon approval by Department of Revenue and Taxation, a registration fee is assessed, and a certificate of registration is issued with the licensee's name, age and the expiration date of the certificate and the current driver's license number.
For motorcycle licenses if the current stateside license has a motorcycle endorsement your Guam license will be endorsed by Department of Revenue and Taxation without the required written and road tests. Joint Region Marianas policy states that all naval personnel operating a motorcycle must attend a motorcycle safety course. Service members who have passed the course at other installations are still required to take the course here. Guam does not have a helmet law but Joint Region Marianas policy states that all military personnel stationed in Guam will wear a helmet when operating or riding a motorcycle on or off base. For more information on installation safety, please contact 671-339-SAFE (7233).
Guam's roads are not well lit or marked and roads tend to become very slippery when it rains. Drive with caution.
Guam is situated in a prime tropical cyclone formation area of the western Pacific and cyclones can and do occur. Typhoons can occur throughout the year but are more likely during June through December. Homes are built to be typhoon resistant and can handle the weather. Although recovery is sometimes long and difficult, Guam and its people are practiced in storm recovery and deal well with the situation. But in order to increase your comfort during recovery, it is recommended that you bring a generator, as generators on the island are costly and hard to find when needed.
Joint Region Marianas’ policy states that all naval personnel operating a motorcycle must attend a motorcycle safety course prior to operation. Guam does not have a helmet law but Joint Region Marianas’ policy states that all naval personnel stationed in Guam will wear a helmet when operating or riding a motorcycle. Guam's roads are not well lit or marked and roads tend to become very slippery when it rains. Drive with caution.
As of June 2025, active-duty military and their dependents stationed in Guam are exempt from obtaining a local driver's license, provided they hold a valid license from another U.S. state or territory, following the signing of Public Law 38-22.
Within 30 days of arriving, civilians and their family members with a valid driver's license from one of the 50 United States or a United States territory must obtain a Guam driver's license.
The following are required to apply for a Guam Driver's license:
Public Law 38-22 affects only active-duty and their dependent stationed in Guam. Civilians and their dependents must adhere to obtaining a Guam driver's license within 30 days of arrival in Guam. The dependent having all these documents will surrender their valid license; complete the driver's license application form, have their picture taken, and pay a fee of $25.00 for a valid Guam driver's license. This license is valid for three years. A $45.00 fee may be paid for a five-year license.
For those who are not staying in Guam for over a year but longer than 30 days, there is the option of an extension that will allow one to keep their out-of-state license longer, for a fee of $25.00 which will have to be submitted and paid for at the Guam Revenue and Taxation office in Barrigada.
Call the Department of Revenue and Taxation call center at 671-635-1840/1841/7651 for questions. Also, you can visit the website and download the application.
Defense Service Network Dialing Instructions
The DSN is the provider of long-distance communications service for the Department of War. Every installation has a special DSN number and the numbers vary by world-wide location. In order to place a call using DSN, the caller must be using a military phone on an installation. Cell phones cannot dial DSN numbers. When dialing a DSN number from a United States installation to another United States installation, it is unnecessary to dial the DSN 315 area code. When dialing a DSN number to/from overseas locations, the DSN area code must be included. The operator can be reached at commercial 719-567-1110. Please note that long distance charges may be incurred.
The mission of Naval Base Guam is:
The people of Guam and the Marianas archipelago are called Chamorros and archeologists debate the Chamorro presence here between 1,500 and 3,000 years. Linguistic and cultural similarities indicate the ancient Chamorros were of Indo-Malayan descent (Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines) who flourished as an advanced fishing, horticultural, and hunting society. Early explorers left documentation of the people’s intricate weaving and delicate pottery making skills, expert seamanship in unique canoes (proas) and of their skilled craftsmanship of unique houses (thatched houses atop solid coral foundations known as lattes unique to these islands). Theirs was and remains a matriarchal society that through the women’s power and prestige much of the Chamorro culture, language, music, dance, and traditions, have been able to survive.
The Spanish Era
The island's first known contact with the western world was on March 6, 1521 by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, sailing for the Spanish Crown in an attempt to circumnavigate the globe. Magellan stayed three days to replenish the much needed water and food for the crews of his three ships and in exchange offered highly prized iron. Sadly, cultural differences caused a conflict and the unnecessary death by Magellan’s angry men of some of the natives and the burning of villages, but Guam nonetheless became a life saving and most important watering stop in the Pacific.
In 1565 Miguel Lopez de Legazpi officially claimed Guam for the Spanish Crown and in 1668 a small band of Jesuit missionaries led by Padre Diego Luis de San Vitores arrived. Catholicism was introduced as well as the cultivation of maize (corn), animal husbandry and hide tanning (cattle) and the Chamorros were required to adopt western-style clothing. They rebelled and fought against the Spanish ways, but were cruelly subdued with a loss of the majority of the population.
A Spanish governor ruled the islands, and Guam became a regular port-of-call for the Spanish galleons that crossed the Pacific Ocean from Acapulco, Mexico, to Manila, Philippines for the next 250 years. The ships carried precious gold and silver mined in the New World that was exchanged for Chinese silks and spices and contributed to Spain’s and Europe’s golden years. Over the years scientists, voyagers, and whalers from the US, Russia, France, and England joined the growing visitor list providing detailed accounts of the daily life on Guam under Spanish rule.
Dawn of the American Era
The island was ceded to the United States following the Spanish-American War of 1898 after 333 years of Spanish rule. The American flag was raised in Apra Harbor by the Captain of the USS Charleston, Henry Glass, on 21 June 1898. A year later, in 1899, the U.S. formally purchased Guam and other Spanish-held territories for $20 million. The Department of the Navy administered Guam as per an executive order by U.S. President William McKinley. Under the U.S. naval government, many changes and improvements occurred, including agriculture, public health and sanitation, education, land management, taxes, and public works. The U.S. Navy continued to use Guam as a coaling and communication station until 1941, when the island fell to invading Japanese forces in an attack launched simultaneously with the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
Japanese Occupation 1941-1944
On December 10, 1941, Guam’s Naval Governor George McMillan surrendered to the Japanese
South Seas detachment forces after a valiant defensive struggle by the island's Insular Force Guard in front of the Governor’s headquarters in Agana. For 31 months, the people of Guam were forcibly subjected to the Japanese lifestyle. Guam was renamed 'Omiya Jima' or Great Shrine Island and was brought under Japan's Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.
Control of the island was eventually transferred to the Japanese Navy in 1942. Some measure of religious practice and business activities were permitted during this brief time period. But the Chamorro loyalty to the U.S. flag prevailed in spite of the danger that caused, and by July 1944 the American and Allied forces had retaken the Pacific islands until they arrive at Guam.
Birth of Naval Base Guam 1944
On July 21, 1944, now known as Liberation Day, American forces landed on Guam and after almost three weeks of bitter fighting that claimed 1,600 American servicemen and almost the entire 18,000 Japanese Army, not to mention the approximate 800 Chamorro lives lost throughout the occupation, the island was declared ‘secure’ and the American flag raised again amid the rubble of the former US Marine Corps barracks in Sumay, Apra Harbor.
Today’s naval base surrounds that same location and is the result of construction under Navy’s *“Lion Six” that landed on Guam within hours of the first Marine landing. A “Standard Lion” consists of a group of components intended to furnish everything needed for the complete operation of a large base. It is assembled elsewhere, in this case in the US mainland in April/May 1944 and shipped to location.
The area was officially named “Naval Operating Base” in October 1944 and was the largest single element of WWII Fleet support in the Pacific. It was nicknamed “The Pacific Supermarket” and built to support the ongoing Pacific campaign against Japan. Navy Seabees molded jungle and mangrove swamp into a self-contained Navy supply base housing 50,000 personnel and complete with an expanded harbor and repaired and expanded airfield, new docks, ship repair facility, submarine base, 3,000 Quonset huts and more than 1000 major structures. Where there is open space today, in 1944 Quonset huts and buildings stood jammed together. This base was the largest of more than 100 smaller installations constructed around the island manned by another 150,000 Sailors. Guam’s local population was estimated at 20,000.
An area within today’s base, once Sumay village, like other island villages on the west side of Guam, had been destroyed by American pre-invasion bombardment and due to its location was absorbed into the new base. With the help of the Navy the Sumay residents, who the Japanese had already evicted in 1941, were permanently resettled in newly established Santa Rita village in the hills above nearby Agat.
Return of Naval Government 1945-1950
With the war’s official end in September 1945 and until 1949 the island was under Naval government rule, with a Navy captain serving as Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Marianas (COMNAVMARIANAS) and headquartered at Fonte Plateau dubbed Nimitz Hill because it was the first headquarters and home of Adm Chester W. Nimitz, Commander-in-Chief of the U. S. Pacific Fleet, in 1945. The region’s naval headquarters have been on Nimitz Hill ever since except in 1997 – 2007 when the building was made the temporary Guam High School. Today it is the Admiral is Commander, Joint Region Marianas.
In 1950 the U.S. Government transferred the island’s Navy oversight to the Department of the Interior when President Harry Truman signed the Guam Organic Act which made Guam an unincorporated territory with limited self-governing authority and gave island residents American citizenship. In July 1975 U.S. Naval Station, Guam was placed under the overall control of Commander, Naval Logistics Command, U.S. Pacific Fleet.
U.S. Naval Base Guam Today
Slowly over the years this Navy base evolved, expanding and contracting with various conflicts such as the Korean and Vietnam conflicts. Naval Base Guam today is home to numerous U.S. Navy commands supporting the fleet in this part of the world. Many significant historic sites spanning numerous eras are located on the base making Naval Base Guam unique among Navy bases. Approximately 6,300 active-duty Navy members and 6,900 family members live on Guam as well as a significant population of retired military personnel.
Post WWII Island Growth
(courtesy of Guam Visitor Bureau)By 1962, President John F. Kennedy lifted the World War II security clearance requirement for travel to and from Guam, allowing Guam's economy to flourish. Since the advent of Guam's tourism in 1967, when Pan American Airways inaugurated service from Japan, the islands' economy continued to diversify and expand. In addition to increased military expenditures, tourism, and related businesses, construction, retailing, banking and financial services-a revamped economy played a significant role in providing jobs for local residents, while offering business options our cosmopolitan society has come to expect.Magnificent luxury hotels, a wealth of fine restaurants, and fabulous duty-free shopping have established Guam as the Premier destination in the western Pacific, international and commuter airlines make the Antonio Borja Won Pat Guam International Air Terminal a bustling hub of activity.Presently, regular flights connect Guam with numerous Asia/Pacific countries, including Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Australia, the Philippines, the neighboring Micronesian islands, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands, and the United States.Each year, Guam receives a record number of visitors, in the early 1990s more than one million. Throngs of leisure-seeking visitors come to experience the island's warm beautiful seas and tropical lifestyle, the same tropical lure our military families find so satisfying and a true bonus to their time spent on island.
As referenced on the https://jrm.cnic.navy.mil/ website.
Approximately, 24,000 DOW personnel and their families.
Guam's population is 168,000 to over 180,000 according to the website World Population Review.
Per the 2020 Census, Guam has a population of 153,836 residents.
According to the website Worldometer, Guam has approximately 169,882 as of March 24, 2026.
Guam has approximately, 24,000 DOW Personnel and their families.
Welcome to Guam!
The island of Guam is located approximately 3,300 miles west of Hawaii, and 1,500 miles east of the Philippines and south of Japan. Guam is a territory of the United States and its residents are US citizens. The island is about 36 miles long, 6-12 miles wide and in many ways Guam is an all American community. But its multi-cultural ethnic mix offers a microcosm of the world. Guam's own rich Chamorro culture and heritage draws visitors from Japan, other Asian countries and Europe. As referenced on the https://jrm.cnic.navy.mil/ website.
Guam is located at 13.28° N, 144.47° E in the western North Pacific Ocean. Guam is a tropical island and is the largest and southernmost island in the Marianas Archipelago, which consists of Guam, Rota, Tinian, Saipan and ten other smaller islands. Guam is about three-quarters of the way from Hawaii to the Philippines and is across the International Dateline from mainland United States. From Guam many exotic ports are within a three to five hour flight such as: Japan, China, Philippines, and Singapore just to name a few. Because most items must be flown or shipped-in the cost of living is quite high. Guam is known worldwide for its friendly and patriotic community, beautiful sunsets, and warm clear ocean waters which are ideal for scuba diving.
Guam is 212 square miles in area, about 32 miles long and 8 miles at the widest part of the island. The Department of War owns about one-quarter of the 212 square miles of the island. On the northern end of the island is Andersen Air Force Base which houses the Navy's Helicopter Combat Support Squadron Twenty-five (HSC-25) and on the southern end of the island is Naval Base Guam. NBG is the Navy's most developed base on Guam and is about 38,000 square acres. The phone number for Joint Region Marianas call center is 671-355-1110 or DSN 315-355-1110.
Because Guam is a United States territory, Guam falls under the United States country code. When calling, dial 1 before the area code; refer to your phone provider to check if additional charges apply. To call Guam from the mainland, dial 1, the area code 671- and the seven-digit number - like making a long-distance call in the states. Guam's DSN country code is 315. Dial 315 and the regular seven-digit phone number. Andersen and Navy's commercial prefixes, minus the area code, are also DSN prefixes.
From A.B. Won Pat International Airport to Naval Base Guam (Joint Region Marianas)
The best way of getting from the airport to your temporary living quarters is by having your sponsor or the command duty driver meet you at the airport. Guam has a mass transit system, but services are very limited with an unreliable bus schedule and commercial taxis are quite expensive. To get around you may want to rent a car until your privately owned vehicle arrives or you find a more permanent mode of transportation. Many of the national brand rental car agencies are available on Guam, although rental rates are expensive.
If you are renting a car from the airport, exit the airport by taking a left onto Route 10A West. You will pass Home Depot, located on your right; at the next traffic light take a left onto Route 1, Marine Corps Drive. Follow Route 1 South for approximately fourteen miles from the airport to the Main Gate of Naval Base Guam; Route 1 South runs directly into Naval Base Guam.
If you are staying at the Guam Navy Gateway Inns and Suites (NGIS), call 671-339-5259/5139.
The Guam USO locations are not located in the airport. The USO on Naval Base Guam is located at Building B-521, Camp Covington. For more information on this site, please call 671-563-4876. There is also a USO location on Andersen Air Force Base in Building B-26006. For more information on this site, please call 671-654-4876. A third USO location is in the tourist district of Tumon. USO Tumon Bay is located at Dusit Hotels-Plaza, 1275 Pale San Vitores Road, Suite 292. For more information on this site, please call 671-647-4876.
If you are traveling with pets and you have the proper paperwork, documents and entry permit, you may be able to pick up your pet at the Guam airport customs office upon arrival. If your pet is to stay at a quarantine facility until all required tests and vaccinations are complete, your pet will be transported directly from the airport to the pre-arranged quarantine facility.
After Hours
You should have a sponsor assigned to you by your gaining command. Your sponsor should pick you up at the airport or arrange for your pick-up. If for some reason you are not met at the airport, go to the Discover Guam Welcome/Information Center at the arrivals area of the airport. This desk is manned during peak arrival times, usually from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. A phone is available to use when the desk is not manned. You may call your command quarterdeck or the Naval Base Guam CDO (Command Duty Officer), 671-488-7147.
Please Note: Contact your sponsor to make transportation arrangements or plan accordingly. This will ensure the transition into your new command will be smooth and pleasurable.
Naval Base Guam and Joint Region Marianas does not have a base shuttle or on-base taxi. Guam has a mass transit system, but services are very limited and unreliable. Off base taxis and rental cars are quite expensive. It is difficult to get around Guam without a personally owned vehicle. Please make temporary transportation arrangements with your Sponsor or Command. Do your research and plan accordingly.
Naval Base Guam has a base operator and can be reached at 671-355-1110 or DSN 315-355-1110.