Text Fwd: Yomiuri Shimbun - Some F-15 training to be moved from Okinawa to Guam

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Yomiuri Shinbun
Some Okinawa F-15s to move training to Guam
Jan. 4, 2011

Japan and the United States have agreed to move some exercises involving F-15 fighters based in Okinawa Prefecture to Guam, possibly in the next fiscal year, according to Defense Ministry sources.

Although training of F-15s stationed at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa has been shifted to other bases in Japan since spring 2007, it is the first relocation of exercises outside Japan.

The decision, aimed at reducing noise caused by aircraft based at Kadena, was included in a joint declaration issued at the "two plus two" foreign and defense ministerial talks held in May 2010. Negotiations have since continued between the two sides.

Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa conveyed the decision to Prime Minister Naoto Kan and other involved ministers Friday, the sources said.

Meanwhile, Japan is expected to foot the bill for transferring the exercises overseas. The measure will require revising a special agreement on which host nation support is based. The current agreement on Japanese outlays to cover basic expenses incurred by the hosting of U.S. bases expires at the end of March.

Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara and U.S. Ambassador John Roos are expected to sign a draft revision of the agreement by the end of this month, after which Kan will submit the bill to the Diet for approval by the end of March.

The exercises to be moved are part of drills conducted on a daily basis in training areas in and around Okinawa Prefecture. Under the plan, Japanese Air Self-Defense Force fighters are also expected be sent to Guam to participate in joint exercises there.

According to the Defense Ministry, no exact date or scale for the relocation has been decided, but officials said they hope to begin the process in fiscal 2011.


"We hope to see the relocation of exercises of one of two squadrons (totaling 50 aircraft based at Kadena)," said a senior Defense Ministry official.

Since March 2007, U.S. forces have moved some of their F-15 exercises to six ASDF bases in other parts of Japan to cut down noise, but the moves have had little effect, officials said.

(This article was written by Takateru Doi and Masahiro Tsuruo)
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See also
Kyodo News
Kan U.S. trip communique to skip stand on Futenma

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The below is thanks to nukefreepacifik through the famoksaiyanfriendson Jan. 6, 2010

F-15s to Train in Guam
Therese Hart | Variety News Staff
Wednesday, 05 January 2011

A recent agreement between Japan and the United States would move some
training functions of F-15 fighters stationed at Kadena Air Base in
Okinawa to Guam, according to a report from the Yomiuri Shimbun.

The airbase is home to two F-15 squadrons of the U.S. Air Force’s 18th
Wing. The move is expected to happen this year, according to Japanese
government sources cited by the report.

If final approval is granted, it will be the first time exercises of U.S.
forces stationed in Okinawa Prefecture have been moved out of that
country.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa
are expected to finalize the agreement on Jan. 13 during a two-day visit
by Gates to Japan.

The agreement is seen as a type of offering to Okinawa as a reduction of
the “burden borne by the prefecture in hosting U.S. bases, and hopes to
use it as a beachhead to get the prefecture's cooperation on the stalled
plan to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station within the
prefecture,” the sources said.

The U.S. has kept two fighter squadrons -- each currently comprised of 24
F-15s -- permanently stationed at the Kadena base, which is one of the
United States' largest strategic military locations outside the U.S.
mainland.

Local residents in Okinawa have often complained of the noise pollution
produced by the base's aircraft.

The Japanese government has been trying to have the United States move the
training functions of as much as one full F-15 squadron to Guam.

The sources said fuel and other costs associated with the transfer of
exercises will be financed by the exercise-relocation portion of the
so-called “sympathy budget,” which are funds paid by Japan to cover the
costs of having U.S. forces stationed in this nation.

The special supplemental accord to the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces
Agreement that is the legal basis for the sympathy budget will expire at
the end of March, so the relocation costs will be incorporated in a new
agreement that will come into effect from fiscal 2011, which starts on
April 1, according to the Yomiuri Shimbun.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara
are expected to confirm the basic agreement on the transfer during a
five-day visit to the United States by Maehara, scheduled to begin
Thursday, according to the sources.

Maehara plans to sign a draft accord with U.S. Ambassador to Japan John
Roos shortly.

The government hopes the accord will gain Diet approval by the end of
March, during the ordinary Diet session that begins this month.


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Report: F-15 Training May Shift to Andersen
Brett Kelman | Pacific Daily News
January 6, 2011

Japan and the United States are discussing a plan to shift some training
for Air Force F-15 Eagles to Guam to ease American military presence on
Okinawa.

According to a report by Kyodo News, Japanese Defense Minister Toshimi
Kitazama said Wednesday he will discuss the training plan with U.S.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Jan. 13.

The F-15 jets are housed at Kadena Air Force Base in Okinawa. Although
much of their training has moved out of Okinawa in the last three years,
Kitazama said the military must "considerably expand" the period during
which the drills are held away from the prefecture, the Kyodo report said.

"If (the period of drills outside Okinawa) is not expanded by twofold or
threefold, the people in Okinawa would not actually feel that their burden
has been eased,'' Kitazama said, according to the Kyodo report.

Residents and politicians in Okinawa, including recently re-elected Gov.
Hirokazu Nakaima, are dissatisfied that the Guam military buildup won't
move all American troops out of Okinawa.

The Defense Department plans to dissolve Futenma Air Base in Ginowan,
Okinawa, move about 8,000 of the Marines to a new base on Guam and move
the airstrip to Camp Schwab, which is in a less-populated part of Okinawa.

Nakaima wants the airstrip off Okinawa completely and has vowed to stop
the relocation plan. Because of his authority under Japan's Public Water
Body Reclamation Law, Nakaima could block a key component to the Futenma
shift -- a landfill on reclaimed land in the Oura Bay.

The plan to increase fighter jet training outside of Okinawa could be a
concession intended to soften public perception of the current Futenma
relocation plan.

There are 54 F-15's at Kadena, and they leave Okinawa to train regularly
-- including some trips to Guam -- said Kadena base spokesman Ed Gulick.

Most of these training ventures go to other air bases in Japan and last
about a week, Gulick said. The most recent training, in November, lasted
two weeks, with a dozen planes flying on weekdays.

Gulick said he had no information on the proposed plan to increase the
F-15 training in Guam.

Neither did Tech. Sgt. Mike Andriacco, a spokesman for Andersen Air Force
Base. Any decisions about that kind of training are made high up the
military chain, he said.

"We've seen the reports and we have requested more information from our
higher headquarters," Andriacco said.

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Japan, US Agree on Guam F-15 Training
Sabrina Salas Matanane | KUAM News
January 04, 2011

Guam - The online edition of the Yomiuri Shimbun is reporting that the
United States and Japan have reached an agreement that would relocate some
training functions of F-15 fighter jets stationed at Kadena Air Base in
Okinawa Prefecture to Guam. The transfer according to the article would
occur within this fiscal year at the earliest.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Japan's Defense Minister Toshimi
Kitazawa reportedly will finalize the agreement on January 13, when Gates
visits Japan. Kadena Air Base is home to two F-15 squadrons.