Bombs Away

GUAM – It’s not the kind of item people expect to find when digging a foundation.

A military project on this island, involving Martin Garage Doors, took a unique turn when builders unearthed a 1,000 pound World War II bomb, during excavation for the project. 

A backhoe uncovered the projectile while digging near houses and offices at a U.S. Naval Base in June of 2010.  The bomb’s fuse was eventually removed without incident, and after delays the project site was eventually cleared for future development.

High wind-load rated Martin Garage Doors will be installed on the base as part of phase three of the North Tipaleo project. Twenty-six Martin Garage Doors will be part of the latest installation.  It is the third major installation of Martin Doors on base on the island.

Guam is an island known for its heavy winds and military buyers pursued high wind load standards in specifying doors for the project.  In many cases winds have been known to regularly top 110 miles per hour. Winds reaching as high as 150 miles an hour have also been recorded on the island. Specialty Martin Garage Doors can be built to reach very high wind standards.  All of the garage doors are also powder coated.

Besides meeting high wind standards, Martin Door’s ability to match unique colors was also one element military officials liked as they pursued doors for the military installation.  Martin offers 81 regular powder coat options but can source any color, as long as a sample of that color can be provided.  In the case of the first installation on the base, Martin was able to source and provide a color option, which was not then part of its regular color palette.  It has since been added.

The island has a long military history.  In World War II the island was invaded and occupied by the Japanese until 1944, when U.S. forces recaptured the island as part of the Pacific campaign. 

Guam was later converted as a forward operations base for the U.S. Navy and Army Air Force.  The island became a strategic naval base for the United States in the early 1990s when Naval and Air Force bases in the Philippines were closed.

The base provides waterfront, berthing, munitions and other logistical services to various fleet units and operational forces that support US Pacific Command, US Pacific Fleet, 7th Fleet and 5th Fleet. It is also a base for three Los Angeles-class submarines and several surface warships.