NAGO, Okinawa Prefecture–U.S. Marines in Okinawa Prefecture have begun moving to Guam under an agreement Tokyo originally reached 18 years ago with Washington.
The first batch of about 100 Marines is being relocated to the U.S. territory. But the timeline for the remaining 4,000 or so troops is unclear.
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani labeled the development, which is in line with the Roadmap for Realignment Implementation concluded in 2006, as a “significant milestone” when he met reporters after a meeting with local mayors here on Dec. 14.
Nago Mayor Taketoyo Toguchi welcomed the move as helping to reduce the burden of U.S. bases borne by Okinawa Prefecture.
But Atsushi Toma, mayor of Ginoza, said it is only “a step forward.”
He vowed to continue calling on the central government to achieve more tangible results in alleviating the bases burden in the southernmost prefecture.
The Japan-U.S. agreement in 2006 centered on the transfer of about 8,000 Marines in Okinawa Prefecture to Guam by 2014 and construction of a facility in Nago to take over the functions of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan, also in the prefecture.
However, the U.S. Congress removed the transfer-related outlays from the federal budget in 2011 after the U.S. Government Accountability Office pointed out financial problems.
Tokyo and Washington revised the agreement in 2012 to move about 9,000 Marines–more than 4,000 to Guam and the remainder to Hawaii and the U.S. mainland–independently of the relocation of the Futenma air base.
The transfer was further delayed because construction of related facilities in Guam stalled due to labor shortages and other reasons.
According to the Defense Ministry, the approximately 100 Marines being moved to Guam are logistic support personnel of III Marine Expeditionary Force.
It remains unclear when the remaining Marines covered by the revised agreement will be transferred.
The ministry was unable to say when the redeployment to the U.S. territory will be complete, or even when the second batch of troops will be relocated.
An artillery live-fire training area is planned on the Pacific island of Tinian for Marines to be stationed in Guam, but the plan has faced opposition from residents concerned about the impact on the environment.
A senior Defense Ministry official said there is still no prospect of the training area opening there.
The realignment project is estimated to cost $8.6 billion (1.31 trillion yen).
Japan agreed to shoulder up to $2.8 billion for the construction of the headquarters buildings, barracks and training areas for Marines redeployed in Guam.
About $2.75 billion, or about 98 percent of the maximum outlays, has already been disbursed.
(This article was compiled from reports by Nobuhiko Tajima, Mizuki Sato and Kazuyuki Ito.)
AloJapan.com