The top Air Force commander on the Japanese island of Okinawa has clamped down alcohol and issued a curfew for junior enlisted Airmen and Guardians at Kadena Air Base for the next month. The order came roughly two weeks after a U.S. Marine was arrested for allegedly robbing and murdering a Japanese woman on the island.
Brig. Gen. John B. Gallemore, commander of the 18th Wing at Kadena, issued the Oct. 22 memo, ordering the “Curtailment of Liberty and the Consumption of Alcohol,” according to a memo posted on the popular unofficial Air Force amn/nco/snco Facebook page.
A PACAF spokesperson confirmed the memo’s authenticity. The order went into effect Oct. 22 and will last “throughout the 30-day period of reflection,” concluding on Nov. 8, according to the memo:
- All personnel within the grades of E-1 through E-4 are not to consume alcohol.
- Off-base liberty between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. local time is curtailed for all personnel within the grades of E-1 through E-4.
- Possession of alcohol is banned in all dormitories within Kadena Air Base, to include dormitory common areas.
During the period, “commanders at all levels are authorized to conduct unannounced, systematic health and welfare inspections of dormitory rooms to ensure compliance of this order,” the memo states.
The memo follows an Oct. 6 memo from United States Forces Japan that ordered similar liberty restrictions and personal conduct training as part of a “period of reflection” following the Marine’s arrest in connection with the alleged murder of an Okinawan woman in Naha.
Japanese police arrested Lance Cpl. Devin Jacob Ballard, of the III Marine Expeditionary Force, on Oct. 4 for allegedly killing 39-year-old Anna Yagi and stealing her wallet, Marine Corps Times reported.
“Incidents like this demand we pause for reflection,” Benjamin T. Watson, area coordinator for U.S. Forces Japan, wrote in the memo. “These allegations are extremely serious, and we will continue to ensure full cooperation with Japanese authorities throughout the investigation.”
Watson added that serving on Okinawa “comes with responsibility.”
“We live, work, and socialize alongside the people of Okinawa; their home is our home,” Watson wrote. “Every interaction with our neighbors either builds or undermines the trust that is essential to our team. When that trust is damaged, it affects the strength of our alliance and the security of this region.”
The USFJ memo prohibited alcohol consumption for 48 hours from Oct. 7-9 but stopped short of restricting consumption during the 30-day period of reflection. In a statement, PACAF Gallemore’s Oct. 22 memo contains extra restrictions.
“The 18th Wing continually assesses measures to reinforce good order and discipline and maintain positive relationships with our host community,” the PACAF statement read. “As part of the ongoing 30-day period of reflection on Okinawa, Japan, [Gallemore] determined that additional preventive measures were appropriate to reinforce expectations for responsible conduct among service members.”
Periods of reflection and associated restrictions have been used by commanders on Okinawa in the past to reinforce discipline after violent, criminal incidents involving U.S. personnel and Japanese residents. In 2024, USFJ prohibited all American troops in the country from publicly consuming alcohol from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. every day after a string of alleged sexual assaults. In 2017, the command prohibited all drinking and cut off-base liberty for troops on Okinawa after a fatal car crash involving a drunk Marine. In 2010, then-Brig. Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach—now the Chief of Staff—instituted a brief period of reflection restricting alcohol and off-base liberty at Kadena after a string of alcohol-related arrests. In 2008, commanders imposed the measure to calm an uproar in the surrounding community over allegations that a Marine raped a 14-year-old girl on the island, The Guardian reported.
Kadena is the closest U.S. air base to Taiwan, making it a strategically vital location should China ever launch an invasion.