Beginning Aug. 1, all newly arriving military families at Kadena AB, Japan, will be required to reside on base under a new policy aimed at saving Uncle Sam a heap of money each year and filling the base’s family housing units, nearly half of which are currently empty. “We cannot afford to continue to pay off-base entitlements when we have homes recently renovated or constructed and available on base,” said Lt. Col. David Wilder, commander of Kadena’s 718th Civil Engineer Squadron, in a Kadena release Tuesday. The unit manages the 8,300 military family housing units on Okinawa, Kadena’s host island. Wilder said increasing the occupancy of the on-base homes and reducing the number of military families that receive overseas housing allowances to live off base will reap savings between $30 million and $50 million annually. The policy will not affect families already stationed on Okinawa, or unmarried military members. Once there is 95 percent on-base occupancy, then incoming families will be given the choice again of living on or off base.
The Senate passed its version of the 2026 National Defense Authorization bill late Oct. 9 with new language restricting retirements for B-1 bombers and E-3 AWACS. Now lawmakers from the House and Senate must set about resolving the differences between their two bills, which could lead to significant changes for…
