Most Marines Oppose New Okinawa Tour Plan

[Hoss68]

DefenseWatch "The Voice of the Grunt"
02-20-2004
By Matthew Dodd

In the eleven weeks since it was published, I’ve received a lot of heartfelt responses from my article about the new Marine Corps policy establishing two-year unaccompanied tours to Okinawa (“Study Long-Term Impact of New USMC Policies,” DefenseWatch, Dec. 1, 2003).

Like the feedback I received in response to a later article on the II MEF traffic violations plan (“Marines Divided over Traffic Violation Policy,” DefenseWatch, Jan. 27, 2004), the new Okinawa policy has touched a nerve in many Marines. Unlike the traffic violations policy, an overwhelming majority of Marines are opposed to the Okinawa policy.

Let me share with you some selected excerpts from those e-mails and my analysis of what those e-mails told me.

I noticed that practically all the thoughts and opinions I received were in response to the selected official Headquarters Marine Corps “sound-bites” that I referenced in my article. Therefore, I will organize the excerpts according to those “sound-bite” categories.

SOUND-BITE: “[This policy change] reflects a steady improvement in the living conditions and entertainment options for leathernecks assigned to the Pacific outposts …. The overall quality of life is now relatively comparable to stateside assignments.”

Analysis: An unfriendly local population plus an over-reliance on organized intramurals does not equal a high quality of life. One Marine asks:

“Having spent two tours and a total of three years in Oki, I think I have a little bit to say about the policy .… On many levels, Okinawa is far different than other overseas military bases around the world .… Okinawa, while a well-populated island, is not wrought with recreational opportunities. Much of the population is not overly friendly with the U.S. forces, and other than the marine park or scuba diving, not much else is of particular interest to the average Marine. Costs for doing simple things such as eating at a restaurant are so high as to essentially eliminate this as a viable option for the junior enlisted Marine .… Organized intramurals or picnics can only go so far in keeping morale up and having excess youthful energy expended.”

Analysis: How can families have a good quality of life when separated for two years, a second Marine wants to know:

“Even 1 year away from your family brings a lot of hardships and I am just glad that I will not have to do a 2-year tour while I am married. I believe that extending the tours from 1 to 2 years would cause problems for Marines that were married. I do not think that single Marines will be affected as much as married ones are .… I believe that the two-year tours to Oki will be destructive to families if Marines opt to leave their families in the States and go accompanied for two years. We already have enough marital problems.”

Analysis: A third Marine wonders, if Okinawa was as good as stateside assignments, why does the Corps reward Marines for extending on Okinawa and not reward Marines for extending in stateside assignments?

“My only question is if at the 12-month mark, will Marines be offered the same incentives (plane ticket to home of record, or extra leave, or $2,000) currently on the table for those considering extending for another year?”

SOUND-BITE: “Okinawa is just another Marine base. It just happens to be over in Japan.”

Analysis: So, all Marine bases are equal, but some are more equal than others, as this Marine notes:

“Been years since this old Marine has been on the Rock. What’s changed to make it such a gala place? Can we find liberty runs to Hong Kong, PI, or other places for just plain liberty, like we used to do for RVN R&R? Two years there would be enough to scare me. When we owned the Island and dictated what we were going to do, we could have made it a better place.”

Analysis: Have Marine Corps officials been listening to too many songs by the Eagles? The policy is reminiscent of the lyric, “Welcome to the Hotel Okinawa …. You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.” This Marine observes:

“Single Marines living in Oki are essentially in a situation of enforced celibacy, and while this is bad enough for one year, most 19-year-old Marines would find a 2-year stint of not dating to be unbearable. And for every Marine who gets a chance to go to Korea, Thailand, or the Philippines on an operation, three Marines will be stuck on the island for the entire 2 years.”

Analysis: Yeah, but think of all the money you will save on frivolous train expenses, as this Marine points out:

“Army troops in Europe can easily hop a train and go to Paris, Rome, Amsterdam, etc on a three-day weekend. Marines on Oki do not have that type of opportunity. They are on Oki, and they will stay on Oki.”

SOUND-BITE: “The intent is to increase unit effectiveness by keeping Marines there longer .… The reduced turnover will enhance our operational readiness and … war-fighting capability.”

Analysis: At least one reader agreed with the sound-bite:

“From mid-1997 through about mid-1999, unaccompanied “fresh-out-of-school” 2nd lt’s in the Air-Ground [military occupational specialties] MOS’s who were sent to 1st [Marine Air Wing] were given 24-month unaccompanied orders. This was an arrangement made by the monitors and the senior officers of those MOS’s already ‘on-island’. This was done in order to curtail the high turnover …. Shiny, new 2nd lt’s would spend a year there, rotate and take with them a year’s worth of experience, only to be replaced by another 2nd lt who would repeat the process. His peers [stateside] would spend the requisite 36 months there, go to [career level school], then a [supporting establishment] billet, then back to the [operating forces] leaving the Okinawa units with mid-level captains and new 2nd lt’s, except for the occasional lt who would extend for another year … I was one of those 2nd lt’s given 24-month orders, and can attest to the benefits of 2-year tours for all Marines in Okinawa. The cohesion, camaraderie, and ‘operational readiness’ that we had cannot be developed as well over the course of just one year.”

Analysis: Many others disagreed with the sound-bite, such as this Marine’s response:

“As far as military training, Okinawa is basically garrison duty. Other than small-unit tactics, training opportunities are quite sub-par. The longer Marines are kept on Oki, the more their skills atrophy when compared to Marines stationed elsewhere .… Now the Japanese call the shots and it’s hard to even train like we’re going to war. Maybe we should consider moving our forward presence to a more accommodating place?”

Analysis: And one Marine could not understand how readiness and Okinawa fit together in that sound-bite:

“I have been stationed on Okinawa a total of 4 different times from 1988 to my most recent 2003 Unit Deployment. I think you’re missing the point. There is no need to have anybody forward deployed to Okinawa or a 3rd Marine Division [Mar Div] for that matter. After the end of the Cold War the 3rd Mar Div became the public relations division of the far east. They do not partake in any relevant real-world missions nor is any of the training preparing you for it. While [Camp Pendleton, CA-based] I [Marine Expeditionary Force] MEF and part of [Camp LeJeune, NC-based] II MEF fight the fight, active-duty Marines in the 3rd Mar Div go crazy as every National Guard and reserve unit goes off to defend the country. It sucks being a prize fighter and never getting a shot at the Title.”

SOUND-BITE: “If [Marines are] there for two years they start to be good neighbors … and they’ll be able to understand the culture better and hopefully that will make us be better guests of the island.”

Analysis: This sounds like the “Dances With Wolves” approach to improving cross-cultural relations, as one Marine indicates:

“Three year accompanied tours are fine. But I firmly believe that two-year unaccompanied tours will decrease retention and cause more problems vis-a-vis interaction with the local population. I believe we will see more incidents which will cause strife between the Marines and the Okinawans .… As for the Marine Corps saying that this would make the Marines that get stationed there act more like it was their home and want to learn more about the culture in Japan, I doubt it will do that.”

Conclusion: Personally, when I first heard about the new Okinawa policy, I cringed. The more I read about it, the more I thought it was not a good move. Now, after reading the comments of so many former and current Marines, I am convinced that this well-intentioned but misguided policy will do much more harm than good for the Corps.

Lt. Col. Matthew Dodd USMC is a Senior Editor of DefenseWatch. He can be reached at mattdodd1775@hotmail.com. Please send Feedback responses to dwfeedback@yahoo.com.

[RetPara]

Two years unaccompanied on Oki? WTF are they thinking. When I was in the Corp in the mid-70's Oki and GITMO were Marine penal colonies. E5< were assigned there on a MOS quota passed to units. Well you can guess who the 1SG's and SGM's (Marines don't have CSM's, its either SGM or MGySgt) when they got a quota...

That is like asking for something bad to happen.