If it is indeed Jaluit Atoll in the late 30s, and as of now I've seen little reason to doubt that, then it would have been military intelligence of great value. Jaluit was one of several bases in the Japanese "Mandate" Islands of the Marshalls and Gilberts. And while the USN consistently suspected IJN activity at a number of islands info was very scarce. Even getting accurate maps of the Atolls could be difficult. The Mandates factored heavily into US war plans, with successive versions of War Plan Orange calling for a raid on them to boost morale and put the enemy off guard as soon as practical after fighting began.

Jaluit was indeed one of the bases developed. In 1941 it served as the home of a detachment of flying boats capable of searching hundreds of miles of ocean at a time. It was even selected as a target for the US's first real counterattack of the war. On February 1, 1942 aircraft from USS Yorktown attacked it and other nearby islands Makin and Milli, while the USS Enterprise struck others too.