A Marine takes a breath test in 2013 in Quantico, Va. (Antwaun Jefferson/U.S. Marine Corps)
CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — Sobriety checks at Marine Corps installations in Japan begin at 8 p.m. Friday and will continue through Saturday, the service announced, part of a response to Okinawa prefecture’s discontent over two recent alleged sex crimes.
The checks will be in place across all Marine Corps bases through 11:59 p.m. Saturday, Marine Corps Installations Pacific spokesman Capt. Brett Dornhege-Lazaroff said by phone Friday. This includes 100% Breathalyzer tests for all drivers and walkers leaving bases between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m.
During the day, breath tests may be randomized if 10 or more cars are in line to exit, he said.
Incoming gate checks for licenses, registration and random sobriety tests will be in place, but the service is aiming to avoid adding to off-base traffic.
“We want to keep it on our side of the fence line,” Dornhege-Lazaroff said.
“Several” people with blood-alcohol content over Japan’s 0.03% legal limit were stopped July 12 and 13, he said. The exact number of people or their statuses were not available Friday.
“We did prevent several DUIs, but I don’t have an official number,” he said. “It was not all service members, either.”
Two recent indictments of service members on sexual assault charges led Okinawa prefecture to deliver formal complaints to the U.S. and Japanese governments calling for changes to the status of forces agreement for U.S. troops on the island.
Senior Airman Brennon R.E. Washington pleaded not guilty July 12 in Naha District Court to charges of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a minor in December, while Marine Lance Cpl. Jamel Clayton was charged in May with attempting to sexually assault a woman in Yomitan village.
Discussions are still underway to make the current Marine Corps liberty policy on Okinawa apply to all troops on the island, Dornhege-Lazaroff said.
Current liberty rules for Marines on Okinawa have been in place since Dec. 11. The rules updated the policy released in December 2022 due to an increase in misconduct by military personnel in Japan.
Marines ages 19 and younger must be on base or in their off-base residence between 1 and 5 a.m. No Marine regardless of age is allowed to be in an off-base drinking establishment such as a bar or izakaya between 1 and 5 a.m., nor may they drink in public off-base during these hours.
These also are the baseline rules for all U.S. troops in Japan.
Where the rules for Marines on Okinawa differ: sergeants and below must carry liberty tier cards, and corporals and below must have a liberty buddy with them.
Lance Cpl. Nick Gonzalez on Friday called the enhanced gate checks “annoying,” but also said they were justified.
“We’re in someone else’s country; we’ve got to respect it,” he said.
Gunnery Sgt. James Faught, of the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, said Friday that changing liberty rules won’t necessarily help solve the problem.
“It’s probably a bigger issue to tackle, and the simpler issue is just putting restrictions on access to alcohol,” he said. “So, I get it, but I don’t know if long-term that that’s going to fix the bigger problem.”
