TOKYO (AP) — The partial transfer of U.S. Marines from Okinawa to Guam began on Saturday, 12 years after Japan and the United States agreed on their realignment to reduce the heavy burden of American troop presence on the southern Japanese island, officials said.
The relocation started with 100 members of III Marine Expeditionary Force stationed on Okinawa moving to the Pacific island for the initial logistical work, the U.S. Marine Corps and Japan’s Defense Ministry said in a joint statement.
Under the plan agreed between Tokyo and Washington in April 2012, about 9,000 of the 19,000 Marines currently stationed on Okinawa are to be moved out of Okinawa, including about 4,000 of them to be moved to Guam in phases. Details, including the size and timing of the next transfer, were not immediately released.
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The Marine Corps is committed to the defense of Japan and meeting operational requirements to maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific, and it will maintain presence in the region “through a combination of stationing and rotating Marines in Japan, Guam and Hawaii,” the joint statement said.
Japan has paid up to $2.8 billion for the building of infrastructure at the U.S. bases on Guam, and the U.S. government will fund the remaining costs. The two governments will continue to cooperate on the development of Camp Blaz, which will serve as the main installation for Marines stationed in Guam.
The Marines and Japan Self Defense Forces will conduct joint training in Guam, the statement said.
Okinawa, which was under U.S. postwar occupation until 1972, is still home to a majority of the more than 50,000 American troops based in Japan under a bilateral security pact, while 70% of U.S. military facilities are on Okinawa, which accounts for only 0.6% of Japanese land.
Many Okinawans have long complained about the heavy U.S. military presence on the island, and say Okinawa faces noise, pollution, aircraft accidents and crime related to American troops.
The relocation is likely to be welcomed by local residents, but how much improvement they will feel is uncertain because of the rapid Japanese military buildup on Okinawan islands as a deterrence to threats from China.
The start of the Marines relocation comes at a time of growing anti-U.S. military sentiment following a series of sexual assault cases involving American servicemembers.
On Thursday, a senior Air Force servicemember belonging to the Kadena Air Base was convicted of the kidnapping and sexual assault of a teenage girl last year, a case that triggered outrage on the island. The Naha District Court sentenced him to five years in prison.
