Panel: Move U.S. Marines from Okinawa to mainland Japan

[rangerrebew]

Panel: Move U.S. Marines from Okinawa to mainland Japan

THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

March 25, 2020 at 17:10 JST


NAHA--The U.S. Marine Corps based in Okinawa Prefecture should be decentralized and deployed in smaller units to the Japanese mainland, according to a draft proposal of an expert panel.

The proposal also includes joint use of the Self-Defense Forces’ bases.

The panel, called “Bankoku Shinryo Kaigi” and consisting of university professors and former bureaucrats, was set up by the Okinawa prefectural government in May 2019 to discuss how to reduce the U.S. military presence on the island prefecture.

http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/13243316

[sneakypete]

They were really active during the VN war,and I am GUESSING during the Korean War
because of the US bases on Okie,including USAF bases with B-52's,army bases
including the 1st Special Forces Group,and I THINK,a regiment of the USMC.

I was stationed on Okie for almost 3 years,and it seemed like once a year the commies
would get their people fired up for protests and riots.

A couple of times this happened my job was to ride around the hot spots on my motorcyle
while wearing a helmet with a face shield so they couldn't tell I was an American,and
report back using a hand-held radio if I identified any hot spots,and their general
movement and activity.

The Okinawan police were the first responders,and if the riots got out of hand,various
US Military police units would come in as backup.


If it looked like it was going to become critical in any area of concern to the US
military,they would send the 1st SFG in,and we were authorized to open fire if attacked
by the mobs or fired on. No one was ever fired on while I was there. What happened the
one time the rioting and property destruction was getting out of hand was group guys
showed up in trucks,and when they pointed their weapons at the crowd and announced they
would open fire if the mob advanced any further,they just got quiet and went home.

The truth is the Japanese don't think much of the Okinawans,even though the Okinawans
consider themselves to be Japanese,and and the people in Japan pretty much don't
care what happens on Okinawa as long as it stays on Okinawa.

There is no way the US military can move all their bases and operations from Okinawa to
Japan because they would lose all the valuable jungle and beach training areas that
are NOT available in Japan. Hell,it would be hard to find the room to just have the bases
to house them,never mind run training operations. Japan is a VERY crowded place
already.

The only training we ever did in Japan that I can remember was some lucky guys on designated
teams went to Japan for ski training.

[Maj. Bill Martin]

@sneakypete

When I was there with 12th Marines in the mid-80's, the local commies would come out and protest at the fence every time we did a live fire shoot.  A few hundred of them chanting slogans, etc..  The rule was that if they jumped the fence and rush the gun line, we were to let the JP's handle them.  But if they made it under a gun net...they were all ours.

The JP's generally did a good job, but there was one shoot where two local commies made it under a gun net.  I saw one of them and sprinted from my Fire Direction Center to get to that gun as quickly as possible, because I knew the crew would be beating the hell out of that guy.

I wasn't wrong.

 

[sneakypete]

@sneakypete

When I was there with 12th Marines in the mid-80's, the local commies would come out and protest at the fence every time we did a live fire shoot.  A few hundred of them chanting slogans, etc..  The rule was that if they jumped the fence and rush the gun line, we were to let the JP's handle them.  But if they made it under a gun net...they were all ours.

The JP's generally did a good job, but there was one shoot where two local commies made it under a gun net.  I saw one of them and sprinted from my Fire Direction Center to get to that gun as quickly as possible, because I knew the crew would be beating the hell out of that guy.

I wasn't wrong.

 

@Maj. Bill Martin


Fun times in furrin lands......