June 14, 2017

U.S. Military Presence on Okinawa and Realignment to Guam
Introduction
As the U.S. and Japanese governments in recent years have
steadily strengthened key elements of the U.S.-Japan
alliance, they continue to struggle with how to manage the
large-scale presence of U.S. troops in the southernmost
Japanese prefecture of Okinawa. With the legacy of the
U.S. occupation of Japan following World War II and
Okinawa’s key strategic location, Okinawa hosts a large
share of the more than 50,000 U.S. military personnel
stationed in Japan. About 25% of all facilities used by U.S.
Forces Japan (USFJ) and over half of USFJ military
personnel are located in the prefecture, which comprises
less than 1% of Japan’s total land area. At the same time,
the bases provide a crucial component of the U.S. military’s
forward operating presence in the Asia-Pacific and are seen
by many as a bulwark against China’s expanding presence
in the region. The attitudes of many native Okinawans
toward U.S. military bases are largely negative, reflecting
in part a tumultuous history and complex relationships with
“mainland” Japan and with the United States. The United
States administered Okinawa from 1945 until 1972.

turn affects broader U.S. efforts to realign its military forces
in the region, particularly the plans to transfer some
Marines to Guam. The Guam project faces its own
difficulty in readying the necessary facilities to host new
U.S. troops.
Futenma Base Relocation Agreement
In 1996, the bilateral Security Consultative Committee
(composed of the U.S. Secretaries of State and Defense and
their Japanese counterparts, also known as the “2+2”)
established the Special Action Committee on Okinawa
(SACO) to alleviate the burdens of the base-hosting
communities. The agreement mandated the release to
Okinawa of thousands of acres of land that had been used
by the U.S. military since World War II, including MCAS
Futenma, which was to be relocated to the existing Camp
Schwab in the sparsely populated Henoko area of Nago
City. The encroachment of residential areas around the
Futenma base over decades made the noise of the facility an
irritant to the local community and elevated the risk of a
fatal aircraft accident. In crafting the deal, alliance officials
intended to make the U.S. military presence on Okinawa
more politically sustainable.
Efforts to implement the Okinawa agreement quickly
stalled due to local opposition to the 1996 plan. In a series
of bilateral negotiations that culminated in 2006, the U.S.
agreed to remove roughly 9,000 Marines from Okinawa to
Guam by 2014. Congressional concerns over the scope and
cost of the Guam realignment, as well as concerns about
Guam’s preparedness, led to later revisions in the plan.

At the heart of the issue is a prominent controversy over the
relocation of the Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) in
Futenma, known as the Futenma Replacement Facility (or
FRF). Despite over two decades of both bilateral and
domestic Japanese efforts, transferring the airbase to a less
congested area of Okinawa remains a divisive issue
between the central government in Tokyo and Okinawan
leaders. Ongoing protests against the relocated base and the
opposition of the current Okinawan governor present steep
challenges to implementing the planned relocation. This in

Marine Corps Realignment to Guam
Guam is a 210-square-mile tropical island, roughly 12 miles
at its widest point, lying 1,230 nautical miles southeast of
Okinawa; it has long hosted a significant American military
presence. Once claimed as a U.S. territorial possession,
Guam is currently classified as an “unincorporated
territory” whose people maintain U.S. citizenship status and
limited rights to self-government. The Department of
Defense controls 30% of all acreage on the island. Roughly
10,000 military personnel reside on Guam, primarily
stationed at Anderson Air Force Base at the northern end,
and Naval Station Guam on the western coast. Situated
between Hawaii and the Philippines, Guam represents an
important strategic hub for U.S. air and maritime assets in
the Western Pacific.
The current “distributed laydown” strategy would relocate
4,100 Marines from Okinawa to Guam; 2,500 to Australia
on a rotational basis; 2,700 to Hawaii; and 800 to the
continental United States. In a move intended to overcome
delays, the United States and Japan announced in February
2012 that the relocation would no longer be contingent on
the completion of the FRF. Consequently, the realignment

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 U.S. Military Presence on Okinawa and Realignment to Guam

of Marines from Okinawa to Guam and elsewhere is
proceeding on its own timeline, separate from the issue of
the FRF. The Department of Defense has assessed the total
cost of the Guam relocation at $8.7 billion, with $3.1
provided in contributions by Japan.
Political and Legal Resistance to Base Relocation
Elected in 2014 on an anti-base platform, Okinawa
Governor Takeshi Onaga has used a variety of tactics to
prevent or delay the construction of the FRF at the Henoko
site. After Onaga’s initial attempt to negotiate a new base
relocation plan with the central government met firm
resistance in Tokyo, in March 2015 he demanded that the
Ministry of Defense stop work on the offshore landfill
needed to build the runways at Camp Schwab. Onaga then
appointed an expert commission that determined that the
prior governor’s approval of the landfill had been illegal,
and Onaga used the commission’s findings as the basis to
revoke the permit in October 2015.
After a cabinet minister rejected Onaga’s maneuver, the
governor applied for screening by a third-party council that
manages disputes between the central governments and
local governments. Tokyo and Naha (the capital city of
Okinawa Prefecture) agreed in March 2016 to a courtrecommended mediation process, suspending construction
of the FRF while the two sides resumed ultimately fruitless
negotiations. A December 2016 Japanese Supreme Court
decision ruled that Governor Onaga could not revoke the
landfill permit. Governor Onaga has vowed to take further
steps to prevent the construction.
On the political front, Onaga has sought to bring wider
attention—from mainland Japan and around the world—to
the issue of the U.S. military presence on Okinawa and to
garner support for his positions. Onaga traveled to the
United States in 2015 and again in 2017 to meet with U.S.
officials and Members of Congress in an attempt to
convince U.S. leaders that the current Futenma relocation
plan is unwise. In August 2015, more than 100 Japan
scholars and peace activists signed a petition urging Onaga
to revoke the landfill permit for the FRF. Some anti-base
groups in Okinawa have pledged to take extreme measures
to prevent construction. Progressive political groups in
mainland Japan have also held rallies to demonstrate
opposition to the FRF.
Outlook for Construction of Offshore Runways at
the Henoko Site
Construction of the new facility will involve challenges for
both law enforcement officials and engineers working on
the project. According to a bilateral experts study group
report in 2010, the offshore runways will require 21 million
cubic meters of soil to create 395 acres of reclaimed land.
The bulk of this soil will be delivered by ship from other
areas of Japan. (The Okinawa prefectural legislature passed
an ordinance that requires imported soil to undergo special
screening and allows the governor to cancel the import of
soil.) A slightly larger offshore runway project at the
Iwakuni base in Japan took 13 years to complete.

as soon as possible, and the most plausible means of
achieving that goal under the existing agreement would be
to accelerate construction of the FRF. In 2014, the
commander of Marine Forces Japan reiterated the U.S.
position that the Marine Corps would not cease operations
at Futenma until a replacement facility on Okinawa is
completed. A U.S. military official testified to Congress in
2016 that the expected completion of the new air station
had been delayed from 2022 to 2025.
Construction of the new base could also be a law
enforcement challenge for Japan. The ability and will of the
Okinawan Prefectural Police to thwart determined anti-base
protesters and enable smooth construction could be tested.
The Japanese Coast Guard has been called into service to
prevent sea-going protestors in kayaks from interfering with
the land reclamation operation. The mayor of the local
municipality has declared that he will not cooperate
whatsoever in construction of the FRF, which could bring
additional inconveniences and logistical delays.
2017 Developments
In 2017, a variety of statements demonstrated both
continuity and potential changes to the existing plan. In
February, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Prime Minister
Abe reaffirmed their commitment to building the FRF.
However, U.S. Marine Corps Commandant General Robert
Neller testified to Congress in May that the realignment
plan could be reviewed due to the changing security
situation. In April, Commander of the U.S. Pacific
Command Admiral Harry Harris testified to Congress that
the United States planned to transfer 4,000 of the 19,000
Marines stationed on Okinawa to Guam between 2024 and
2028, and that the U.S. military ultimately hoped to reduce
the number of Marines on Okinawa to about 10,000. In
April, Guam’s Governor Eddie Calvo announced that, due
to prolonged shortfalls in the construction workforce caused
by H-2B visa restrictions, he would no longer support the
realignment of U.S. forces.
On Okinawa, the Japanese government has begun
construction work at Camp Schwab in Henoko. Major
landfill work is reportedly expected to start in 2018, barring
further delays. Officials are hopeful that land returns from
vacated U.S. bases will spur economic development on
Okinawa and ease opposition to the U.S. base plans. In
December 2016, the United States returned nearly 10,000
acres of land in the northern part of the island to Japan, the
largest transfer of land since the reversion of Okinawa to
Japan in 1972. For more information and analysis, see CRS
Report R42645, The U.S. Military Presence in Okinawa
and the Futenma Base Controversy.
Emma Chanlett-Avery, echanlettavery@crs.loc.gov, 77748
Christopher T. Mann, cmann@crs.loc.gov, 7-0451

Abe Administration officials have repeatedly declared their
intent to return the land of MCAS Futenma to local control
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