Bars and nightclubs catering to U.S. military members are open for business on Koza Gate Street, also known as Gate 2 Street, in Okinawa city, Okinawa, July 27, 2024. (Brian McElhiney/Stars and Stripes)
CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — U.S. Forces Japan is still working out details for a forum and joint patrols between U.S. military and Okinawan police announced last week to address anger over recent indictments of two service members for alleged sex crimes.
Over the weekend, the topic edged into a broader, high-level discussion between the two allies of tighter bonds and increased military capability to counter an assertive and sometimes coercive China.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with their Japanese counterparts — Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa and Defense Minister Minoru Kihara — at the U.S.-Japan Security Consultative Committee, or “2+2,” meeting Sunday.
At a press conference following the meeting, the four welcomed measures taken by the U.S. military to deter misconduct by U.S. service members on Okinawa.
The measures, so far, include increased gate sobriety checks on weekends at Marine Corps bases throughout Japan and courtesy patrols in Okinawa’s top nightlife spots.
USFJ is “in close consultation” with the Japanese government to create a “framework for the forum and joint patrols,” according to an email Monday from USFJ spokeswoman Lt. Col. Mindy Yu to Stars and Stripes.
The “forum of cooperation” with the Japanese and Okinawan governments and the joint patrols were announced by USFJ commander Lt. Gen. Ricky Rupp on July 22.
“This effort is complex and may take some time to jointly coordinate,” the email said.
Yu said no decisions have been made about anticipated changes to liberty rules for U.S. troops in Japan. Rupp, U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel and III Marine Expeditionary Force commander Lt. Gen. Roger Turner have called for consistent liberty policies for all services.
“Lt. Gen. Rupp’s meetings with leadership in Okinawa last week provided valuable feedback for conduct policy discussions,” Yu wrote.
Austin on Sunday said the U.S. “has put measures in place to ensure that these kinds of things don’t happen again in the future,” according to a press conference transcript posted on the State Department website.
Kihara and Kamikawa asked in the meeting that the U.S. “steadily implement the measures,” they said at the press conference.
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. Marine Lance Cpl. Jamel Clayton was charged in May with attempting to sexually assault a woman in Yomitan village.
The indictments led Okinawa prefecture to deliver formal complaints to the U.S. Embassy and the Japanese government calling for changes to the status of forces agreement for U.S. troops on the island.
The director of the Okinawa Prefectural Police Criminal Affairs Division, Hitoshi Asato, said he “was not aware” of the joint patrol proposal before Rupp’s statement. Asato, speaking Thursday at a special committee meeting of the Okinawa Prefectural Assembly, also expressed concern about U.S. military police exercising authority beyond their gates.
Joint patrols were last held on Okinawa in 1974, he said.
A spokesman for the III Marine Expeditionary Force, First Lt. Owen Hitchcock, referred questions about the 2+2 meeting and policy changes to USFJ.
The police patrols and weekend gate checks, including near-100% breath tests for personnel leaving bases, have been “effective,” Marine Corps Installations Pacific spokeswoman 2nd Lt. Kelsey Enlow said Friday.
“If there is a possible alcohol related incident, the Marines at the check points contact the Provost Marshal’s Office who will follow their standard protocols by investigating the situation and respond accordingly,” she told Stars and Stripes by email Monday.
