Modifications were completed by 1 August, however the group was not deployed to the Southwest Pacific Area (SWPA) of operations until mid-September as its planned airfield on Angaur in the Palau Islands was not yet constructed due to ongoing combat on the island.
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The first elements of the 494th arrived on Angaur on 16 October, being strafed by Japanese forces still on the island as the battle of Bloody-Nose Ridge was still ongoing.
With this strong support, Rememgesau thus came in first in the primaries; out of 9,221 votes cast, he took almost 43% (4,000 votes), against just 22% (2,050) for second-place Sugiyama, with the rest distributed among minister of education Billy Kuartei, senator Santos Olikong, and Angaur governor Ben Roberto.
In April 2010 the Palau Senate passed a resolution asking the President to offer Angaur airstrip as a site for the relocation of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma on Okinawa.
In the meantime, in order to secure the flank for U.S. forces preparing to attack Japanese forces in the Philippines, in September, 1944, U.S. Marine and Army forces landed on the islands of Peleliu and Angaur in Palau.