www.crs.gov | 7-5700
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.
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
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.
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
