This month marks my second year of being stationed on Okinawa, Japan. Unfortunately it's not my time to leave like most people do when they have 2 year orders. I was in the window that as a single unaccompanied member, I get the "honor" of being on this island for a full 3 years. Usually that long of a stay goes to members who are married and their spouses and family moves with them here. This alone is one of the many headaches that III MEF liberally gives out. But those back in America who haven't been here or know where Okinawa is, here's a map to give you an idea of my location...
So what makes this place tough? It's definitely not the Japanese. Not even with they're out protesting the Marine Corps and their Ospreys, or whatever new incident that happens over the weekend. The reason why this place is so hard and frustrating for the single, unaccompanied active duty member is the Marine Corps itself. More specifically, III MEF.
Even though this is my first (and mostly likely last) duty station in the Navy, I've never seen "one team, one fight" not only be preached, but enforced more often than by III MEF. It's not hard to understand the meaning of "one team, one fight," So I'll spare you a couple minutes of more reading. I will explain how inspiring it is to be considered a part of Team Okinawa that the marines so lovingly forces us into. I hope you get the sarcasm behind these words...anywho, let's get to some examples of the "one team, one fight" concept that those from E-1 all the way to O-10 get to be a part of.
Example 1: Petty Officer 3rd Class (E-4) "John Doe" and Seaman (E-3) "Jake Doe" both from a reservist base in TEXAS are on island for an overnight stay. After drinking and a late night out, they RAPE a Japanese girl in her 20's. "One team, one fight" was then changed that ALL E-4 and below were to be in liberty groups no smaller than 4 when off base. Curfew was dramatically changed. Gold cards were essentially (and still are) invalid since all personnel were to be back on base or in their place of residence (if married) by 2300. No more being out past midnight for those with gold cards. E-5 and above do not need a liberty buddy when going off base.
Example 2: Senior Airman (E-4) "Jacob Doe" was arrested for breaking into a Japanese apartment on the 3rd floor of the complex where the bar he was drinking, punching a 13 year-old boy in the face, and then proceeded to escape by jumping out the window. This happened after the order of 4 man liberty group, curfew at 2300, and no drinking alcohol off base was issued. I really wish I was making this one up. New restrictions included no drinking in your barracks room or place of residence after 2200. The military was quick to realize how stupid this rule sounded as has since taken it back.
Example 3: Staff Sergeant (E-6) "Ernest Rutherford" was arrested for a DUI and crashing his vehicle that included the cars of 3 Japanese drivers. This was after the 4 man liberty group and no drinking off base rule was passed. So what do the E-4 and below get other than more talks about alcohol? Those with a previous alcohol related incident within 3 years will be put on an even more stricter restriction. E-6 and above don't count because they're considered senior enlisted and not capable of causing such incidents. Oh wait...
Example 4: 1st Lieutenant (O-2) "Tom Sawyer" was arrested for breaking into a Japanese apartment after a night of drinking. He then payed a fine of 100,000 yen (which is somewhere around $1,200-1,300) for the crime and most likely got a slap on the hand from his command. This was also after the 4 man liberty group and no drinking off base rule was passed. The 2 previous example all were kicked out. This officer, he gets to stay. Also, no new restrictions concerning only the officer community were passed, but you best believe that the enlisted (especially the E-4 and below) were given more briefs about alcohol abuse.
There's so many more examples, almost on a weekly basis more. There's just way too much to write about in one post, and I don't think I will continue in the future as I don't want this blog to become all about how living on Okinawa under the tentacles of III MEF is like. Things will happen off base that will give III MEF more reasons to simply punish the E-nothings for the actions of very few. Our leaders, especially in my command, would say "You're all doing great, and keep up the good work. You're all part of the 99% that's doing the right thing. It's because of the 1% that are causing these incidents is why we have restrictions." That's very reassuring there, to let the actions of the "1%" dictate how I can and cannot enjoy my free time in Japan.
Since day 1 of being on this island I've been a liability to III MEF. On the command level, there's no such thing as sleeping in during a 96 due to having to phone muster with someone assigned from each clinic in order for the higher ups to know that we haven't either killed ourselves (because apparently with more days off means that we do want to kill ourselves) or are laying face down in a ditch somewhere. My last 2 training commands haven't been this strict, and I'm supposedly out in the "fleet" where the "real" Navy is.
This is how I've decided on the name of my blog. I personally don't drink or am tempted to drink, even when there's plenty of reasons to. I've never been drunk before to ever experience how a hangover feels, but living here for 2 years with 1 more to go definitely has given me the sense of it. Those of you who have been hungover, I'm sure you can agree with what you've read is just about the same you feel in the morning after some heavy drinking.
If you made it this far on my post, thanks for taking the time to read my rant. I shall leave you with one more picture as a reward :)
'Merica!
No comments:
Post a Comment