Perspectives

Relocating USAF training flights out of Okinawa unlikely to lessen burden on prefecture

The government's plan to relocate U.S. flight training at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa out of the prefecture has raised questions as to whether it will be effective in reducing the burden of hosting U.S. bases.

Residents of Kadena have long suffered serious noise pollution from the base, which is home to 60 F-15 fighters and 15 KC-135 airborne refueling aircraft and also plays host to training missions for aircraft from other bases. The Okinawa Prefectural Government has strongly urged that drills conducted at Kadena base be moved to other areas.

Under the 2006 Japan-U.S. Roadmap for Realignment Implementation, training at Misawa base in Aomori Prefecture and Iwakuni base in Yamaguchi Prefecture as well as Kadena must be relocated to six Air Self-Defense Force (ASDF) bases on the mainland and conducted jointly with ASDF troops.

In accordance with the agreement, the sites for 21 training sessions, including 10 at Kadena, have already been relocated. In the latest case, six F-15 fighters stationed at Kadena flew to the ASDF's Hyakuri base in Ibaraki Prefecture for a joint drill with eight ASDF planes from Jan. 29 to Feb. 5.

However, a survey conducted by the Kadena Municipal Government has shown that there is still frequent noise pollution from the base even after the partial relocation of training flights. Noise around Kadena base exceeded the upper limit set by national government standards on 39,357 occasions in fiscal 2008, according to the survey results.

Moreover, the government needs to solve operational problems involving the relocation of training sites even though such relocation only requires the construction of barracks for U.S. troops and improvements to runways used for drills. First of all, it is difficult to coordinate the training schedules of U.S. and Japanese forces. Moreover, an increase in the frequency of joint drills will decrease the number of exercises that the ASDF can conduct on its own.

Despite these hurdles, the national government is under mounting pressure from Okinawa to step up efforts to substantially reduce the burden on local residents.

When Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama visited Okinawa on May 4, Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima demanded that crimes and accidents involving U.S. servicemen be decreased, that environmental protection clauses be incorporated in the bilateral status-of-forces agreement, that U.S. bases be integrated and reduced, that the land used for live fire ranges on Kumejima and Torishima islands as well as part of Area Hotel-Hotel training zone east of Okinawa be returned to civilian use, and that the air defense identification zone on Yonaguni Island be eliminated.

The government must seriously consider whether to comply with these demands, as Hatoyama promised in his meeting with Nakaima to reduce the burden on Okinawa residents as much as possible. (By Tadashi Sengoku, Political News Department)

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