The Party's Over

[OCanadaOurHomeAndNativeLand]

It will be interesting to see what develops here, with the planned survey by the Japanese government, and now this...


U.S. military to be stricter on soldiers living off base


Friday, February 22, 2008 at 07:25 EST TOKYO — The top commander of U.S. forces in Japan told Japanese Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Thursday that he will apply stricter measures on soldiers living off base following the alleged rape of a junior high school girl by a U.S. Marine in Okinawa Prefecture, Japanese officials said. Lt Gen Bruce Wright was quoted as telling Ishiba the U.S. military has thoroughly examined the soldiers it allows to live off base, but will review its acceptance conditions.
http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/428856

[Asshat]

It will be interesting to see what develops here, with the planned survey by the Japanese government, and now this...


http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/428856

I wonder what this means? I could not figure out the context. Age requirements? Marital status?

It will not be an easy thing to get past the land owners. There are already many vacancies here, and this would result in more loss of revenue. The rental rates these people pay are many times that which they will receive from Okinawan or Japanese tenents.

[TheLastDon]

Where the heck are they going to live on base, GOJ in not constructing anymore new buildings on base unless it has to do with SACO.

[Asshat]

Where the heck are they going to live on base, GOJ in not constructing anymore new buildings on base unless it has to do with SACO.

It's all dead Don. No gov can afford a box of skillcraft pens anymore.

Pretty much down to housing rennovations that have already been funded.

[proudtobnotpc]

they are going to put everyone in a tent city located close to your base, then subsidize the land owners allowing the average Okinawan to rent their houses:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

[Asshat]

they are going to put everyone in a tent city located close to your base, then subsidize the land owners allowing the average Okinawan to rent their houses:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

lol! That would not surprise me!

[TheLastDon]

Just seems a little ironic(for lack of a better word), the barracks on Kadena, Foster and Torri are about 98% full. Now because a few get in trouble they will review who lives off base. Good luck with finding a place for them on base.

[OtisPMerriweather]

Well I worked for Billeting (USMC) for a long time, and it is already a stupid process to begin with - everyone has to go through Kadena Housing for some reason....but I think there needs to be serious reform. For example:

--> A Marine E2 and E3 both 18 years old who have only been on the island for 2 months decide to get married. They cannot even apply for on-base housing (which is where one would think the command would want them) but they can move out in town, which then means they need drivers licenses, gold cards, etc. This also applies for a female PFC who gets pregnant her first month here- no base housing, gotta move out in town.

--> A 29 year old Sergeant who has been in 8 years who comes here unaccompanied must live in the barracks, and even though he rates his own room, due to the special rules here on Okinawa, even if the barracks is overcrowded to the point where he has to share a room with one or two other people, he is not allowed to move out in town on his own right.

--> A 21 year old 2ndLT straight out of OCS can refuse to live on base and move into town the first day he arrives on island, a SSgt that has been in 14 years, as of mid-2007, is denied that privilege.

--> My personal case: When I PCS'd here I was already married, but my wife had her own apt. - brand new and in a nice area, and the rent was only 700 bucks or so a month (b/c she is Japanese). The gov't wouldn't give me OHA for that place b/c it wasn't on "the list", wouldn't inspect for over a month, and then almost immediately failed the brand new condo-style apartment (think Lion's Mansion) because it didn't have a fire escape in the apt! So we moved out and now the gov't has to give me 2000 bucks a month to live in Chatan. Smart.

These are just a couple of cases I know of that happen all the time and I can only speak for the Marines, although I do know single Navy E5s can move out in town without any justification whatsoever. So the system is really flawed and I hope they fix it soon. But instead of fixing the common sense stuff, they'll probably just make it harder to move off base and leave everything else broken.

[Asshat]

These are just a couple of cases I know of that happen all the time and I can only speak for the Marines, although I do know single Navy E5s can move out in town without any justification whatsoever. So the system is really flawed and I hope they fix it soon. But instead of fixing the common sense stuff, they'll probably just make it harder to move off base and leave everything else broken.

Otis, your post had me laughing my ass off. It is a perfect example of the type of thought pattern the USMC uses.

I tried like hell to get myself pregnant Otis, but no matter what I did, being male was an insurmountable problem.

But that female PFC who checked in pregnant, (because she was banging her A school instructor) moved into a cool pad on Uncle Sam's dime.

[Mintus]

Otis, your post had me laughing my ass off. It is a perfect example of the type of thought pattern the USMC uses.

I tried like hell to get myself pregnant Otis, but no matter what I did, being male was an insurmountable problem.

But that female PFC who checked in pregnant, (because she was banging her A school instructor) moved into a cool pad on Uncle Sam's dime.

ROFL ... hahah yeah totarry unfair.

[Asshat]

ROFL ... hahah yeah totarry unfair.

I'd a settled for an asshole baby! I'll do anything for off-base approval.

[P_chan]

Probably just simple restrictions like single people moving off base once they receive a certain rank. If your married, I'm sure you probably won't feel many restrictions. Hell, I'd like to see some of the single guys out of my building, they're too loud!

They better start building more dorms!

[OCanadaOurHomeAndNativeLand]

◆ U.S. to annually report on off-base military personnel, tighten rules
TOKYO, Feb. 22 KYODO

The U.S. military in Japan will annually report how many of its personnel and their families live off base, as part of bilateral efforts following a number of recent crimes allegedly involving U.S. servicemen, Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura said Friday.

The U.S. military will also review the screening criteria for allowing its personnel to live off base and will re-examine the so-called ''liberty card'' program for off-base activity.

Japan, for its part, will tighten security measures such as the use of surveillance cameras and joint patrols to try to prevent such crimes, Komura said.

The data on personnel residing outside of U.S. bases will be submitted to the Japanese government annually, which will in turn share the information ''in an appropriate manner'' with local authorities concerned, according to the Foreign Ministry.

The measures were decided after discussions among the Japanese government, U.S. Embassy in Japan, U.S. forces in Japan, as well as the Okinawa prefectural government and other local authorities concerned.

Of the total number of 94,217 U.S. military servicemen, civilian personnel, and their families, 44,963 -- or almost half -- were stationed in Okinawa as of Jan. 31. Of those, 10,748 resided off base, Komura said.

The two sides will launch discussions to enable local Japanese police and U.S. forces to cooperate on joint patrols in response to requests from the Okinawa prefectural government and local authorities, Komura told reporters.

Under the plan, which was officially finalized and announced Friday afternoon, the Japanese government will provide support to local authorities should they decide to install surveillance cameras in public areas for security reasons.

Tokyo is also urging the U.S. side to revise its education programs to reflect the concerns and viewpoints of Okinawa Prefecture, which hosts the bulk of the U.S. military presence in Japan.

The two nations will continue to discuss other measures deemed necessary to prevent such crimes.http://home.kyodo.co.jp/modules/fstStory/index.php?storyid=364360

[TheNoNamedOne]

Should do wonders for military moral here and on-island re-enlistment rates.

Tighten the screws and baton down the hatches!

[VWBOYAF1]

I thought 8,000 Marines are moving out anyway. That should free up some space in the barracks. :thumbup1: Plus, they are building new base housing pretty much everywhere stateside. The bases are leasing land on base to private contractors, who build new houses and then rent them out for whatever you BAH is. That is my current situation.

If the folks moral is low out there, let them come to New Mexico. We lock ourselves down everyday because there is nothing to do outside except play in sand. I swear, sometimes I feel like I'm back at Al Udeid. Wal-Mart is our main attraction.

[okisteve]

They should build a base near Las Vegas then. Clark Co. has the highest rate of repossessions in the US now, so there will be plenty of nice housing and entertainment for the troops.

[Boost]

I swear, sometimes I feel like I'm back at Al Udeid.

Al Udeid was an awesome base compared to Balad! Stopped over there on my way back from Iraq on my last deployment. Would've rather been there then Balad any day!

[Boost]

They should build a base near Las Vegas then.

The Air Force already has that covered! Nellis is quite the spot for a TDY, though Vegas does get old after about a week or two.

[OCanadaOurHomeAndNativeLand]

Nearly 1/4 of people connected to U.S. military in Japan live off base
TOKYO, Feb. 27 (Kyodo)—More than 90,000 people connected to the U.S. military were living in Japan as of March 2007 and nearly a quarter of the total were living outside military facilities (http://search.breitbart.com/q?s=%22military+facilities%22&sid=breitbart.com), according to a tally announced by the Defense Ministry (http://search.breitbart.com/q?s=%22Defense+Ministry%22&sid=breitbart.com) on Wednesday.

The Japanese ministry released the figures provided by the United States amid calls for a clarification of the number of U.S. service personnel (http://search.breitbart.com/q?s=%22service+personnel%22&sid=breitbart.com), nonmilitary staff and their relatives residing outside military installations (http://search.breitbart.com/q?s=%22military+installations%22&sid=breitbart.com), following the alleged rape (http://search.breitbart.com/q?s=%22alleged+rape%22&sid=breitbart.com) in Okinawa Prefecture earlier this month of a junior high school girl by a U.S. Marine (http://search.breitbart.com/q?s=%22U.S.+Marine%22&sid=breitbart.com) who was residing outside of Camp Courtney.

According to the tally, the total number of people connected to the U.S. military living in Japan came to 92,491, with 21,885 of them residing off base.

In Okinawa Prefecture, which hosts the bulk of U.S. military facilities in Japan, there were 45,403 in total, with 10,319 residing off base.

It is the first time that the United States has provided to Japan such a detailed tally of the number of people connected to the U.S. military, a ministry official said, adding, however, that the United States has yet to provide a breakdown of the figures into service personnel, nonmilitary staff and their relatives.

By municipality, the city of Okinawa had the highest number of people connected to the U.S. military with 13,333, with 2,705 living off base, according to the tally.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8V2LT380&show_article=1

[P_chan]

All this hoopla over people living off base is funny! It's not like it was some big secret that there are a lot of people living off base.

[uchinanchu]

It wouldn't be a bad idea to finally open up decent housing that is affordable to the average Okinawan.... The housing allowances/ ceilings are waay over priced anyways. I saw an ad for a condo near Torii ~it was gorgeous but let's get real was it worth over 4k a month?

Seriously, does anyone know how many of the towers and houses (not dorms/ barracks) are vacant on base? It would be interesting to see what the consolidated total vacancies is for all bases on Okinawa.

Why is it that approval is given to rent 3 bedroom houses offbase to unaccompanied, but not allow the same people to live in these vacant towers and houses on base? They are about the size of the houses/ apartments that I see so many single AD members living in off base....