U.S. ready to discuss alternate plan for Futemma relocation

Japan Policy & Politics, Feb 28, 2005

WASHINGTON, Feb. 23 Kyodo

The United States is ready to discuss a faster option if proposed by Japan for relocating the U.S. Marine Corps Futemma Air Station within Okinawa, sources familiar with the matter said Wednesday.

The long-delayed relocation plan remains the major stumbling block for the two nations, which agreed Saturday to boost their talks on realigning U.S. forces in Japan to ease burdens on local hosts while keeping military deterrence intact.

The sources also said the United States will not move the headquarters of the U.S. Army's 1st Corps from Fort Lewis, Washington, outright to Camp Zama in Kanagawa Prefecture, as reported earlier, because the whole U.S. Army will be transformed completely in line with the ongoing U.S. military realignment.

The sources said the United States will also prioritize moving the U.S. Navy's Atsugi airfield in Kanagawa elsewhere in Japan. Local communities have complained about the noise levels at the base, which is used for night drills by carrier aircraft.

Japan and the United States agreed Saturday to reinforce their security alliance and boost talks on a realignment of U.S. forces in Japan under a new set of ''common strategic objectives'' to seek peaceful resolutions of tensions across the Taiwan Strait, North Korea's nuclear program and other risks, while maintaining military deterrence.

The sources said Washington wants to reach an agreement in principle on the realignment in four to six months. The commitments to accelerate the talks came in the so-called ''two-plus-two'' meeting of defense and foreign affairs chiefs.

But the Futemma issue may again hit a snag even if the two nations decide to abandon the current plan and reconsider it from scratch. The sources said the U.S. Defense Department maintains that the relocation must be within Okinawa due to the geographically strategic importance of the island prefecture.

Reflecting its frustration over the delay since a 1996 bilateral agreement was signed, Washington also intends to set conditions such as a faster implementation than the current plan that requires 12-16 years to build a civilian-military airport while agreeing to discuss an alternative.

Nevertheless, the two nations are moving toward giving up the current plan as the Japanese government is also unofficially reconsidering it in a bid to break the impasse, Japanese sources said.

Other options reportedly under study are integrating the Futemma's helicopter functions with U.S. Kadena Air Base and relocating them to Shimoji Island. Local residents are opposed to the plan.

The current plan involves building an offshore civilian-military airport in the Henoko district of Nago in northern Okinawa. The Futemma base is located in in Ginowan, central Okinawa.

The project has stalled due to strong local opposition over relocating it within the prefecture and destroying the marine environment as well as the Okinawa government's demand to set a 15-year limit on the military use of the substitute airport.

U.S. officials have said they share the frustration with the Okinawa people as the Futemma base was to be vacated in five to seven years if the 1996 bilateral agreement had been implemented as originally planned.

The 1996 accord calls for vacating the Futemma base in the period on condition that its helicopter functions would be relocated within Okinawa, among other programs to consolidate and reduce U.S. military facilities in the prefecture. Japan later came up with the Henoko plan and agreed with the United States to promote it.

As for Camp Zama, the sources said the Pentagon plans to reconfigure the overall U.S. Army presence in Japan in line with the transformation of the Army itself, including the 1st Corps in the state of Washington.

The Pentagon has been working to restructure the Marine and Army, including turning full-size divisions into smaller brigades, for more mobility and faster deployment of combat troops to deal with new threats.

But the sources added the U.S. Army in Japan will remain under the Pacific Command with an unchanged core mission of defending Japan.

The reported U.S. proposal to move the 1st Corps headquarters to Camp Zama drew strong opposition in Japan as it may go beyond the requirements under the bilateral security treaty under which Japan provides the U.S. military with bases to protect Japan and security of the Far East.

The 1st Corps is in charge of dealing with contingencies and conflicts in the Asia-Pacific region.