"We continue to welcome members of our military to Saipan and hopefully, we will continue to see these visits in the near future," CNMI Gov. Arnold Palacios told media on Tuesday. 

The USS John Finn making its first port visit to Saipan this week amid liberation day festivities. The new Commander of Joint Region Marianas Rear Admiral Gregory Huffman also on board, speaking with local media for the first time on Saipan.

Rear Admiral Gregory Huffman, the new Commander of Joint Region Marianas, said, "I think the CNMI is absolutely a critical portion of the entire region. How we are posturing our forces, how we are able to both protect the U.S. territory and get a chance to expand what we are going throughout the region. The John Finn is one of our newest ships forward deployed to the area. They will be operating in this area for the next 7 or 8 years and the chance to bring them out here on their very first patrol is really incredible."

KUAM asked the commander for his response to community members who are critical of the military’s presence and concerned about the environmental impact in the region. Huffman said, "I have been here for just a short time. I have been to this region many times in the past. As we are changing our posture and improving things we are working closely with all of the communities. We are working closely with our environmental partners to ensure that anything that goes on is taking all those things into account. I think it is really important that we have a robust military presence throughout the region."

He said port calls are a “visible sign” of the importance of the region. Huffman also supports the administration’s call for more ship visits to Saipan. He said he will work with Pacific fleet commanders to make it happen. 

"The U.S. is setting up its posturing here. It is going to be a different world, but we continue to support our military," Gov. Palacio said. "We are Americans and Saipan and the CNMI is just one part of the overall strategies of the region for the U.S. and our allies."