Kwajalein

Micronesia (Marshall Islands)

Kwajalein Atoll

Nowhere in Micronesia is the US military presence so ominous as on Kwajalein Atoll, a missile testing range operated by the US Department of Defense. The world's largest coral atoll, Kwajalein includes 97 islands with a total land mass of just 17 sq km (6.5 sq mi) that surround an immense 2850 sq km (1100 sq mi) lagoon. The lagoon, sometimes called 'the world's largest catcher's mitt,' is the target and splashdown point for intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) fired from Vandenburg Air Force Base in California, 6700km (4200 mi) away. The tests generally occur at night, often lighting up the sky with a brilliant display of explosions, burning debris and sonic booms. About 3000 American civilian contract workers and their families live on Kwajalein Island, a kind of all expenses paid summer camp for the workers. The whole subsidized suburbia of an island is, however, off limits to unofficial visitors except as a transit point to neighboring Ebeye Island. Ebeye, to the contrary, is home to about 1500 Marshallese laborers who work on Kwajalein but aren't allowed to live, shop or play there. The workers are shuttled by boat between their meager homes and their affluent work sites, where they can glimpse the good life all day long, so long as they don't touch. Needless to say, neither island is a big tourist draw, though their popularity with WWII wreck divers is increasing. Maps