US military survey results - how many people live off base
You might recall that last month Japan’s Ministry of Defence conducted a survey of SOFA status personnel in Japan, and how many lived off base. Well the preliminary results were out quickly, but the full report has been published today, and Stars & Stripes has a very good writeup about it:
How many USFJ personnel live on base?
By Travis J. Tritten Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Wednesday, March 26, 2008
About 75 percent of United States servicemembers and civilians in Japan lived on military installations last year, according to Japanfs Ministry of Defense.
That number was higher ? 77 percent living on bases ? in Okinawa prefecture, where recent alleged crimes by servicemembers have caused some Japanese politicians to question the number of Americans living off base.
The U.S. militaryfs goal is to provide on-base housing for about 80 percent of those living in Japan under the Status of Forces Agreement, U.S. Forces Japan said.
Half of the 10 base residential areas in Okinawa with a population of at least 800 SOFA-status residents were at or above that goal last year, the Ministry of Defense reported.
On mainland Japan, just one of five prefectures with a U.S. military presence made the 80 percent goal. Three prefectures came within 8 percent of the goal, according to the defense ministry. The housing figures were collected in March 2007.
gWe are in constant coordination with the government of Japan to acquire more base housing,h said Col. Michael Presnell, director of logistics and installations for USFJ.
In February, Japanese delegates from Okinawa filed a protest with USFJ urging the military to move more servicemembers onto bases following the alleged rape that month of a 14-year-old girl by a Marine. Japanese investigators decided not to press charges, but the Marine remains in U.S. military custody.
The Marine was an off-base resident and gthe fact that servicemembers live in local communities has never been acknowledged before as a problem,h said Shusei Arakawa, a member of the Okinawa Prefectural Assemblyfs Special Committee on Military Affairs and former Okinawa City mayor.
It is also a waste if on-base housing built with Japanese taxpayersf money remains vacant, Arakawa said.
USFJ tries to fill 90 percent of its on-base housing units, though that figure fluctuates depending on maintenance and changing base populations, Presnell said.
Even environmental factors such as humidity can affect the percentage of occupied base housing. In Okinawa, 248 units are on hold due to heat and humidity issues, Presnell said.
Overall, there are many factors that determine where SOFA-status residents live including available housing units and land, Japan and U.S. construction funding and residentsf personal choices.
For example, Sasebo Naval Base has the lowest percentage of SOFA residents living on base of any area in Japan. Only 55 percent have on-base housing, according to the Japanese government.
But over 90 percent of its on-base housing units are occupied, Presnell said.
The Sasebo facility is squeezed by geography and has little room to grow. Sasebo cityfs bustling downtown curves around the small main base and the largest concentration of housing, the Hario housing facility, is a 30-minute drive to the south.
The lack of space for new housing is one reason 350 to 400 families live off base in Sasebo communities.
Meanwhile, one of Sasebofs largest renovation projects ever is under way and will upgrade hundreds of its existing housing units, which are beginning to age.
On-base occupancy gdepends what is available and what we can build. Sasebo is limited in space,h said Donald Chang, an engineer with USFJ who negotiates with the Japanese government over housing needs.
At Sasebo and other bases, getting the money just to maintain or upgrade existing base housing can be a major undertaking.
The Sasebo housing project is part of more than $360 million requested by the U.S. military this fiscal year to maintain base housing in the Pacific, according to USFJ.
Living on or off base is also often a choice or privilege, depending on the rules of individual base commands.
Residents arriving in Sasebo can choose to enter the waiting list for base housing or opt for living in the Japanese community, according to the base Web site.
Those who choose to live off base lose the right to a courtesy move and any future move into government housing will be at their expense, according to the base.
Anyone arriving at Okinawa must apply for base housing, though depending on the time of year, gcommand-sponsored families can expect about a four- to 12-month wait before moving on base,h according to the U.S. Marine Corps.
Yokota Air Base in Tokyo has strict rules requiring any available on-base housing to be filled by unaccompanied or accompanied servicemembers alike, according to the Air Force.
That prefecture also has the highest percentage of SOFA-status residents living on base ? 90 percent of more than 8,302 residents.
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Numbers, locations of SOFA-status residents
Total SOFA-status residents. Living on base Living off base. % living on base
MAINLAND TOTALS
Total: 47,088 On: 35,522 Off: 11,566 75
Yamaguchi [Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni]
Total: 2,790 On: 2,217 Off: 573 79
Nagasaki [Sasebo Naval Base]
Total: 4,481 On: 2,473 Off: 2,008 55
Aomori [Misawa]
Total: 8,989 On: 6,533 Off: 2,456 73
Kanagawa [Yokosuka Naval Base, Naval Air Facility Atsugi, Camp Zama]
Total: 22,289 On: 16,617 Off: 5,672 75
Tokyo [Yokota Air Base]
Total: 8,302 On: 7,503 Off: 799 90
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OKINAWA TOTALS
Total: 45,403 On: 35,084 Off: 10,319 77
Kunigami [Okuma Recreation Center]
Total: 32 On: 28 Off: 4 88
Ogimi [No base]
Total: 4 On: 0 Off: 4 0
Nakijin [No base]
Total: 4 On: 0 Off: 4 0
Nago [Camp Schwab]
Total: 863 On: 821 Off: 42 95
Ginoza [Camp Hansen]
Total: 20 On: 0 Off: 20 0
Kin [Camp Hansen]
Total: 3,177 On: 2,950 Off: 227 93
Onna [Camp Hansen]
Total: 67 On: 0 Off: 67 0
Yomitan [Torii Station, Kadena Ammunition Storage Area]
Total: 1,514 On: 291 Off: 1,223 19
Kadena [Kadena Air Base, Kadena Ammunition Storage Area]
Total: 976 On: 582 Off: 394 60
Uruma [Camp Courtney, Camp McTureous, White Beach Naval Facility]
Total: 5,004 On: 3,670 Off: 1,334 73
Okinawa City [Kadena Air Base, Camp Shields, Chibana Housing, Awase Communication Station, Plaza Housing]
Total: 13,333 On: 10,628 Off: 2,705 80
Chatan [Camp Lester, Camp Foster, Kadena Air Base]
Total: 9,738 On: 6,845 Off: 2,893 70
Kitanakagusuku [Camp Foster]
Total: 4,494 On: 4,017 Off: 477 89
Ginowan [Camp Foster, Marine Corps Air Station Futenma]
Total: 3,149 On: 2,427 Off: 722 77
Nakagusuku [No base]
Total: 68 On: 0 Off: 68 0
Nishihara [No base]
Total: 8 On: 0 Off: 8 0
Urasoe [Camp Kinser]
Total: 2,916 On: 2,825 Off: 91 97
Naha [Naha Military Port]
Total: 20 On: 0 Off: 20 0
Haebaru [No base]
Total: 7 On: 0 Off: 7 0
Itoman [No base]
Total: 3 On: 0 Off: 3 0
Yaese [No base]
Total: 2 On: 0 Off: 2 0
Nanjo [No base]
Total: 4 On: 0 Off: 4 0
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My only comment to this is: “Who the hell lives down here in Yaese with me?!” I know it now takes in Gushikami and Kochinda, but I didn’t think there were any SOFA people down here. It seems to be the place to be born and the place to die: everyone between the ages of 16 and 60 seem to leave for more exciting places! Nothing else really to say about this article, but I’m sure if you are in Japan then these figures will make interesting reading for you. Especially interesting to see that a larger proportion of people live on-base in Okinawa than on the mainland, yet you only ever hear of protests down here.
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