Absolutely 0 tolerance for this, but Okinawa can shut the f up unless they want to fight China alone.
I love it when we teach by punishing everyone. Sorry, kids, Dad’s not going to be able to go anywhere this Thanksgiving, he’s gotta sit in his room and think about not drinking alcohol.
I’m not a fan of this policy; it implies guilt on everyone in uniform.
25,000 marines on an island the size of Okinawa...of course there are problems once in a while, and every one of them is reported as the crime of the century.
Of course they want the gaijin off the island, but for no noble reason. It is racism, pure and simple.
I remember during my 2 years in Sasebo, Japan about 2 guys who were riding a motorcycle. They were young kids out of the nest a year or so and just having fun. They drove through a culvert pipe at a fairly high rate of speed. Unfortunately, there was a pipe hanging down at the end which only the driver saw. The passenger was killed.
During the remainder of my tour there. No one could ride a motorcycle double which to us young guys (teen agers) making 22 bucks a week was a REAL burden.
My point: This is a textbook illustration of what is commonly referred to as the “military mind” at work. No alcohol in the Navy will not work at all period. Such a rule will only get more good sailors in more trouble and lower morale for an already tough job for the lower ranks. In my opinion, the top brass are in full cya mode following the McCain and Fitzgerald incidents.
Disproportionately often, when a U.S. serviceman does something wrong in Okinawa, it turns out to be a black man.
And so here we are again. https://www.facebook.com/nicholas.jamesmclean
I was stationed in Okinawa for a year back in 77-78. The last few times I was there in 2004 and 2005 I never even left the base. One of those times was right after a serviceman had raped a local girl. Tensions were just too high.
I was USAF at Yokota AB 1984-1985. Locals were very friendly. We heard about the trouble Marines would get into on Okinawa, but it was not a nation wide issue yet.
I was a communications type, we got the official news before anyone else. I even read about my selection for E-5 before my commander.
The Japanese are very hard on drunk driving these days. 10 years in jail first offense. They’ve manage to lower the rates of death from drunk diving almost to zero.
4+ years in Yoko. Was legal officer (non-JAG) as a collateral duty on my first ship and spent 6 months TAD with the base legal office between commands.
More guys got in trouble at the E-Club at the gate then anywhere else. After I left all military was eventually prohibited from going to Roppongi which was a big club district in Tokyo. That came due to a shift in problems from the base club to Roppongi - which created a lot of bad PR. There was at least one murder (early 90s) there.
The proportions were exactly in line with age and rank. Younger and lower the rank more problems. We always ended up with at least one drunk watch every weekend when we were in port.
My first CO was an alcoholic and I know for sure that he had an on-base DUI scrubbed from the logs by Desron. The double standard, especially due to his harsh punishments at NJP did not go well for him later in his tour. His last year (after I was gone) his wardroom and Chief’s Mess basically collapsed.
I had to go on a couple of accident calls while TAD - it’s customary in Japan to give a token of monetary gomenasai (I’m sorry) money to the other party involved in an accident. This in no way implies who is at fault nor is it used in court - it’s just a standard custom.
So I would go with the Japanese lawyer (working for base command as a go-between with the local DA) and make the call on the families as the Navy rep when something like that happened. If there was a death or serious injury involved then a much more senior officer was expected to make the call.
Mine being usually fender benders resulted in a very cordial call where they were excited to meet a foreigner.
They have ruled out rum, but can they rule out sodomy in this LGBTXYZ world?
Mainland too....that sucks. They usually have all sorts of problems. Glad this wasn’t in effect while at Yokota. Not like it would have stopped anyone.
I believe the legal limit in Japan is 0.04 so this guy was at 0.12.
Ban trucks!
Prayers for the man and his family. The US serviceman deserves punishment. The entire base does not deserve punishment for what one did unless this is an ongoing problem.
The military rapes in Japan are almost always black dudes.
The Japanese drink like fish.
Alcohol abuse is common in that country, where you can buy beer and whiskey from vending machines on the street.
That doesn’t excuse American servicemen from driving drunk, but the permissive atmosphere in Japan contributes to situations like this.
Overreaction?
I was stationed at Kadena, Okinawa in 1968-1969. The Okinawans were the craziest drivers I ever saw.
Hopefully the 9th circuit will over turn this.