A Japanese gate guard checks a Marine’s indentification at Camp Foster, Okinawa, March 1, 2017. (Kensie Milner/U.S. Marine Corps)
CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — The Marine Corps plans to continue outgoing sobriety checks Friday and Saturday at all Japan installations and increase off-base patrols as a response to discontent on Okinawa over two service members’ indictments for alleged sexual crimes.
The service is expected to announce Friday that it will continue at least one more weekend of “enhanced” gate checks that began July 12 and 13. Those checks include Breathalyzer tests for service members and civilians leaving Marine bases in Japan by vehicle or on foot, Marine Corps Installations Pacific spokesman Capt. Brett Dornhege-Lazaroff said by phone Thursday.
Breathalyzer tests may be randomized if traffic delays grow too long, he said.
Gate sentries will check for liberty tier cards and liberty buddies where required and make sure people understand the liberty orders, Dornhege-Lazaroff said.
Random incoming and outgoing gate checks will increase throughout the week, along with patrols in popular nightlife areas such as Gate 2 Street outside Kadena Air Base and Kokusai Street in Naha, he said.
The commander of III Marine Expeditionary Force, Lt. Gen. Roger Turner, is working to make liberty rules for Marines on Okinawa apply to all service branches on the island, Dornhege-Lazaroff said Tuesday. Turner and U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel wrote in a July 12 opinion piece that the U.S. military will “introduce one set of liberty time rules” across all service branches.
No change in liberty policy has been announced, thus far.
“At this moment there is nothing to share publicly; things are still being worked on,” U.S. Forces Japan spokesman Gunnery Sgt. Jonathan Wright said Thursday by phone.
Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki and other prefectural officials delivered formal complaints to Emanuel, U.S. Forces Japan commander Lt. Gen. Ricky Rupp, 18th Wing commander Brig. Gen. Nicholas Evans and the Japanese government over two recently disclosed indictments, calling for changes to the status of forces agreement governing U.S. troops on the island.
Senior Airman Brennon R. E. Washington, 25, of Kadena’s 18th Logistics Readiness Squadron, pleaded not guilty July 12 in Naha District Court to charges of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a minor in December.
In a second case, Japanese prosecutors on June 17 charged Marine Lance Cpl. Jamel Clayton, 21, with attempting to sexually assault a woman in Yomitan village on May 26.
Brandon Shippee, a Marine veteran and shift manager at the Camp Kinser shoppette, said he was required to take a breath test before leaving Camp Kinser at 11 p.m. July 12. The procedure delayed him five minutes, he said. But he said his wife waited up to 30 minutes to leave Camp Foster.
“It’s not a bad thing for them to do I guess; I just don’t think it should be every car, all the time,” Brandon Shippee said while waiting for a ride at Foster on Thursday.
Cpl. Dominic Mahon, 26, of the 9th Engineer Support Battalion at Camp Hansen, said his experience leaving Hansen at 8 p.m. July 12 “wasn’t that bad.”
He was not required to take a breath test, but checks began just after he returned to base at 2 p.m. Saturday, he said.
“I think everybody was scared of what was going to happen, but they did (it) like, ‘Hey, we’re going to see how it goes right now,’” Mahon said while shopping Thursday at Foster’s exchange. “I think they should do that more, because then it would prevent future instances from happening.”
