Lt. Gen. Benjamin Watson, commander of III Marine Expeditionary Force, speaks to the Okinawa Area Coordinating Committee about tandards and discipline at Camp Courtney, Okinawa, Nov. 5, 2026. (Shannon Doherty/U.S. Marine Corps)
The U.S. military has extended its midnight-to-5 a.m. curfew for junior enlisted service members on Okinawa for another month and will ban alcohol for all troops outside their homes during the same hours.
III Marine Expeditionary Force commander Lt. Gen. Benjamin Watson ordered the new restrictions to take effect after the current “Period of Reflection” ends at noon Sunday, according to a Thursday news release on III MEF’s website.
It will continue through noon Dec. 7, said a memorandum Watson issued on Friday.
The original period, imposed by Watson on Oct. 8, required all U.S. service members on Okinawa to remain in their assigned quarters on base or at their off-base homes between midnight and 5 a.m.
The restrictions were announced after Okinawa police arrested Lance Cpl. Devin Jacob Ballard, 20, on suspicion of killing and robbing Anna Yagi, 39, early Oct. 3 at a hotel in Naha, Okinawa’s capital.
He was indicted Oct. 25 on charges of robbery causing death. He has denied the allegations, according to police.
The new order extends the curfew for ranks E-1 through E-4 in all services, the release states.
Between midnight and 5 a.m., those ranks must be in their assigned quarters on a U.S. military installation; in a private, off-base residence; in a hotel; transiting between an airport and their residence or hotel; or traveling to a hospital for emergency care, according to the memo.
All service members, regardless of rank, are prohibited from “purchasing or consuming alcohol outside their primary residence” between midnight and 5 a.m., according to Watson’s order.
“Commanders retain the ability to establish more restrictive liberty policies within their respective commands when conditions warrant and are encouraged to clearly communicate those decisions to the force,” the release said.
The new Okinawa order was based on “a detailed analysis, feedback from joint and interagency leaders, and with concurrence from U.S. Forces Japan,” according to the release. The order followed a meeting between Watson and the Okinawa Area Coordinating Committee on Thursday.
An “analysis of data across the joint force shows that roughly 70% of all significant liberty incidents came from the E-1 to E-4 demographic,” III MEF spokesman Maj. Jordan Fox said by email Friday.
The new order is effective at 12:01 p.m. Sunday and ends at noon Dec. 7.
“In the coming weeks, the Okinawa Area Coordinator will forward the results of the broader assessment and recommendations developed during the Period of Reflection to U.S. Forces Japan for consideration,” the release said.
During the Period of Reflection, 18th Wing commander Brig Gen. John Gallemore prohibited ranks E-1 through E-4 in all services at Kadena Air Base from consuming alcohol and required them to remain on base from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.
Those restrictions end at noon Sunday, and the wing will then adhere to the new order, it said in an unsigned email Friday.
The measures reinforce the U.S. commitment to the U.S.-Japan alliance’s “shared values of trust, accountability, and mutual respect,” U.S. Ambassador to Japan George Glass wrote Friday on X.
AloJapan.com