A Force Reconnaissance Marine with 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit jumps from an MV-22B Osprey during a reconnaissance and surveillance exercise over Okinawa, Japan, Feb. 12, 2025. (Skilah Sanchez/U.S. Marine Corps)

The Marine Corps may finish runway repair work in the fall at an offshore airfield at the center of a dispute with Okinawa prefecture over parachute training at Kadena Air Base.

The prefecture had expected repair work at Ie Shima Auxiliary Airfield to finish at least two months earlier, and parachute training now held at Kadena to resume at Ie Shima as a result.

Construction at the auxiliary airfield is now scheduled to begin in March and finish in November, with the airfield expected to be fully operational in December, Okinawa Defense Bureau director Shinya Ito told Kadena town assembly members Wednesday, according to a bureau spokesman.

Ie Shima, a 9-square-mile island a few miles off the Motobu Peninsula, is also a parachute training site for the Air Force and Marine Corps.

Pending repairs to the island airfield, the Air Force’s 18th Wing since December 2023 has made its training drops about once a month at the Ridout drop zone at Kadena Air Base over objections from the prefecture. The Marine Corps held drop training at Ie Shima this month, according to a Marine spokeswoman Thursday.

Ito told assembly members that construction materials have been moved to the airfield since December and equipment is expected to arrive this month, the bureau spokesman said by phone Friday.

“We will cooperate, support and continue working closely with the U.S. side to finish construction at the Ie Shima runway and restart operations as soon as possible,” the spokesman said.

Marine Corps Installations Command spokesman 1^st Lt. Grant Hoel declined to answer questions on Thursday about airfield repairs, citing security concerns, in an email to Stars and Stripes.

In October, command spokeswoman 2^nd Lt. Kelsey Enlow said contractors were scheduled to move construction material to the island in November or December, with repairs to begin this month.

Work at Ie Shima was previously expected to finish sometime between June and September, a spokeswoman with Okinawa’s Military Base Affairs Division said in October.

Eight Kadena assembly members on Wednesday visited the bureau, part of Japan’s Ministry of Defense, to deliver a letter to Ito asking the Air Force to halt parachute training at the Ridout drop zone, an assembly spokesman said by phone Thursday.

The letter states that the U.S. military has conducted parachute training at Ridout 11 times since December 2023, most recently on Jan. 28. It states that drop training is a danger to the local community.

Some Japanese government officials may speak to the press only on condition of anonymity.

The 18^th Wing acknowledged questions about the training emailed by Stars and Stripes on Thursday but did not immediately provide responses.

The wing held parachute training twice, in August and September, spokeswoman Maj. Alli Stormer said by email Oct. 3.

The 31^st Marine Expeditionary Unit held parachute training at Ie Shima between Feb. 10 and Friday, III Marine Expeditionary Force spokeswoman 1^st Lt. Isabel Izquierdo said by email Thursday.

Kadena town’s letter also went to Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, Defense Minister Gen Nakatani and Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki.

A copy was sent to U.S. authorities, including the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo; U.S. Forces Japan commander Lt. Gen. Stephen Jost; III Marine Expeditionary Force commander Lt. Gen. Roger Turner and 18^th Wing commander Brig. Gen. Nicholas Evans.