United States Consulate General
Naha, Okinawa, Japan

Security has been likened to oxygen: you only notice it when you begin to lose it. The American security presence in Asia has provided the "oxygen" for East Asia's unprecedented economic development over the past 30 years. Under the umbrella of the US-Japan Security Treaty, Japan has been able to develop its economy free from external aggression and coercion. Both America and Japan have further benefited from the peaceful development of the Asian economies. U.S.-Japan trade with Asia totals over 93 trillion yen year and our two countries have invested over 90 trillion yen in the area. The Asia-Pacific region accounts for one fourth of the world economy and will, within our lifetimes, account for half. Okinawa plays a crucial role in our bilateral efforts to promote peace and stability in East Asia by hosting over 25,000 troops, including an entire Marine Expeditionary Force and the largest Composite Wing in the U.S. Airforce.

As codified in the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty, U.S. forces stationed here are charged with both the defense of our ally Japan and with the maintenance of international peace and stability in the region. The end of the Cold War has only brought new dangers. Regional and ethnic rivalries suppressed during the Cold War are boiling over and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction make such regional rivalries even more dangerous. Asia, unlike Europe, has no collective defense organization like NATO capable of carrying out a regional security role. In Europe, NATO was able to expand in the wake of U.S. troop reductions. In Asia, U.S. troop reductions would only create a vacuum. There is no existing alternative for the various bilateral U.S. security arrangements backed by the forward deployment of the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force, the only mobile, self-contained, combined arms unit among the 100,000 US troops stationed in Asia

Unlike Europe, the end of the Cold War in North Asia has not ended face-to-face military confrontation. The Korean peninsula remains divided between two heavily armed camps. Moreover, Asia still has to come to terms with China. Our long-term hope is that the growing market economy in China will eventually be accompanied by democratization as it has elsewhere in the world. Regardless of its intentions, China's mere size and growing military strength, so much larger than any other country in Asia, is destabilizing. Without either a collective defense organization or a credible U.S. presence in the region, the imbalance of power between China and each of its neighbors would be worrisome.

The immense distances of the Asia-Pacific region require huge expenditures of resources and time to overcome what military planners call "the tyranny of distance." This tyranny has increased with the post-Cold War reduction of US military forces, including its transportation assets, and the closure of our bases in the Philippines. Naha is closer to Manila and Shanghai than to Tokyo, and closer to Hanoi than to Hokkaido. No place else is so close to so many places, no other single platform would permit U.S. forces to carry out their crucial role of ensuring regional stability through comprehensive engagement. These forces serve as an important deterrence to aggression and are actively engaged in supporting regional confidence-building measures through military-to-military exchanges, joint-training and joint-humanitarian relief operations, averaging around 70 such off-island deployments a year. (Pacific Command). U.S. forces stationed in Okinawa give substance to our security commitments to our allies in Asia. Maintained at a high state of readiness through constant training, they pose a credible deterrent to aggression and thereby reduce the likelihood of having to engage in conflict.

In recognition of the important role Okinawa plays in supporting regional security and prosperity in Asia, the U.S. and Japanese governments concluded the SACO agreement in 1995 to reduce significantly the footprint of our military presence in Okinawa and alleviate many of its inconveniences. Reducing the land area used by the U.S. Forces in Okinawa by about 20%, the centerpiece SACO was an agreement to return Futenma Marine Corps Air Station upon completion of a replacement facility in Okinawa. Implementation of the SACO report will consume a great deal of time and energy for the U.S. and Japanese governments for many more years.

Above and beyond any written agreement, U.S. forces stationed here are committed to living in Okinawa as good neighbors and working with their host communities to improve the quality of life for all. U.S. bases are the second largest employer in Okinawa and contribute over $3 billion a year to the local economy, almost $3,000 dollars per year for every man, woman and child in Okinawa. The most valuable assets of the bases, however, are the men and women who live on them and who volunteer their skills a6nd enthusiasm for a wide range of benevolent activities off base. These volunteers do everything from helping to teach English in Okinawan schools to cleaning up the beaches to helping maintain orphanages, old age homes to hosting the Special Olympics for handicapped children. Military environmentalists and archeologists work with their Okinawan counterparts to find better ways to manage the environment and preserve cultural assets. On-base universities open their doors to Okinawan students and the Navy Hospital provides high tech internships for local doctors.

Working together with their Okinawan and central government counterparts in the Tri-Partite Liaison Committee, U.S. forces are constantly looking for new ways for Americans and Okinawans to work together to improve life on Okinawa. In 2000, the services formed a special working team with police, government officials and private businessmen to find new ways to reduce accidents and incidents. The number of incidents has declined by over 50% since 1995 and is lower than for comparable troops stationed in the U.S. and is less than half the rate for the public at large in Okinawa, despite the preponderance of young adults in the military population.

Perhaps no other constituent post in the world maintains closer links with the US military than Naha. All four services are present on Okinawa with the Marines and Air Force constituting the lion's share. In all, there are eight U.S. flag officers from three services assigned to Okinawa. There is no unified, joint command in Okinawa and each of the services has its own chain of command. The Consul General devotes intense effort to maintaining close working relations with the senior U.S. military officers in Okinawa, especially the Commanding General III Marine Expeditionary Force, who as the senior US officer is also the Okinawa Area Coordinator (OAC). The Consul General is an ex officio member of the Okinawa Area Coordinating Committee (OACC), which is chaired by the OAC. The other members of the OACC are the commander of the Army's 10th Areas Support Group, the commander of the Air Force's 18th Wing at Kadena Air Base, the Navy's Commander of Fleet Activities, Okinawa and the commander of Marine Corps Bases Camp Butler (Headquarters USFJ).