Background:
After almost four decades under US administration as the easternmost part of the UN Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, the Marshall Islands attained independence in 1986 under a Compact of Free Association. Compensation claims continue as a result of US nuclear testing on some of the atolls between 1947 and 1962. The Marshall Islands hosts the US Army Kwajalein Atoll (USAKA) Reagan Missile Test Site, a key installation in the US missile defense network.
Marshall Islands Introduction 2011
https://theodora.com/wfb2011/marshall_islands/marshall_islands_introduction.html
SOURCE: 2011 CIA WORLD FACTBOOK AND OTHER SOURCES
