Yokota Air Base leaders drug-tested 273 active-duty servicemembers

Yokota conducts massive weekend drug testing
Stars and Stripes
By Seth Robson
Published: May 19, 2014

YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — A Friday night out partying ended with an hours-long wait at the gate for hundreds of airmen, who were subjected to a drug test as they re-entered the base.

In a procedure that has earned unofficial nicknames such as “Operation Golden Showers” and “The Lemonade Party,” Yokota Air Base leaders drug-tested 273 active-duty servicemembers as they came home from their night on the town.

“The gate sweep for drug testing was performed in accordance with the commander’s intent to maintain the health and wellness of a ready force as well as a drug-free Air Force community,” 374th Airlift Wing spokesman 2nd Lt. Jacob Bailey said in an email.

The mass drug testing was unrelated to past positive drug tests or evidence of drug use by Yokota-based personnel; it’s a measure that’s used periodically to help assess the military fitness and readiness of a command by identifying drug users, he said.
read more here

Iraqi boy became a US Marine serving in Japan

How one Iraqi boy dodged extremists and came to serve in the US military
Stars and Stripes
By Matthew M. Burke
Published: April 12, 2014

MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan — While his fellow Marine recruits cried and urinated in their trousers in the face of Parris Island’s tough-as-nails drill instructors, Pvt. Mansure had never been more thrilled.

A drill instructor barked at him to run.

“My pleasure,” he enthusiastically replied.

He was told to do pushups.

“I will do this all day long,” he recalled thinking. “I’m like, ‘This is awesome. I have a bed to sleep in, food; I get to work out all day.’”

Plus, he had been spared from the Islamic militants hunting him in his native Iraq. Mansure — whose name has been changed by Stars and Stripes due to safety concerns for his family in Iraq — was so happy to accept the physical and mental punishment that he got in trouble for not looking depressed enough, the Marine said last month from his duty station near Hiroshima in southeastern Japan, where he works in administration.

His story is similar to that of thousands of Iraqis who worked for U.S. forces following the 2003 invasion.

After U.S. forces pulled out in December 2011, many were left to dodge extremists looking to kill “traitors” who had worked for the American military while trying to navigate the bureaucratic process to get U.S. visas.

Mansure knows some didn’t make it. But his story has a happy ending. Now a private first class, the hulking 6-foot-3, 24-year-old is having a big impact on fellow Marines in Iwakuni, where he has been stationed for about three months.
read more here

After son's suicide, Mom sends ashes from Massachusetts to Japan

Mom uses social media to scatter military son's ashes
By Associated Press
Published: Dec 22, 2013

This Dec. 17, 2013, photo shows an urn containing the ashes of C.J. Twomey on a shelf at his parent's home in Auburn, Maine. C.J.'s mother, Hallie Twomey, is asking people to help scatter his ashes throughout the world so he can become part of the world he never got to see.
(AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

AUBURN, Maine (AP) - For 3 ½ years, a black stone urn of C.J. Twomey's ashes has sat on a shelf in his parents' Maine home, not far from the door he walked out of one beautiful April day shortly before shooting himself.

Now, his mother is using social media to enlist the help of strangers to scatter his ashes from Massachusetts to Japan in the hope that her adventure-loving son can become part of the world he left behind.

"I don't want him to have to sit in an urn for my benefit for whatever rest of time that we have," Hallie Twomey said. "I wanted to give him something. I'm trying to give him a journey."

It started with a simple request on Facebook to help C.J. - who was only 20 when he died - "see the mountains that he never got to climb, see the vast oceans that he would have loved, see tropical beaches and lands far and away."

The post was shared by nearly 100 of her friends, and soon even strangers started offering to scatter C.J.'s ashes in their hometowns, on family vacations or just somewhere beautiful. She started a separate Facebook page called "Scattering C.J.," which now has more than 1,000 likes.

The pictures and videos on Facebook tell the story of where C.J. has been. A man scatters C.J's ashes on a beach in Massachusetts. One sprinkles them in the forest in Jamaica, and another off a rocky cliff in Hawaii.
read more here

Camp Zama commander relieved of duty

Camp Zama commander relieved of duty
Stars and Stripes
By Seth Robson
Published: November 1, 2013

YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — The Army has relieved the commander of its largest base in Japan after an investigation into alleged misconduct, according to a U.S. Army Japan press statement sent late Friday.

The investigation had been ongoing since June 7, when Col. Eric Tilley was suspended from his job as commander of U.S. Army Garrison Japan.

Maj. Gen. James C. Boozer, Sr., commander of U.S. Army Japan and I Corps (Forward), officially relieved Tilley on Friday for “lack of confidence” based on the results of the inquiry, according to the press statement.

The statement provided no other details. Reached via email, U.S. Army Japan spokesman Maj. Kevin Toner said, "…it would be inappropriate to make public the allegations because the investigation did not lead to findings of criminal misconduct."
read more here

Navy veteran finishing college killed in robbery

Navy veteran finishing college killed in robbery
Suspect in custody but has yet to be charged
By Ellen Jean Hirst and Karen Chen
Chicago Tribune reporters
August 27, 2013

A 33-year-old Chicago State University student was preparing for his last year of studies when he was shot and killed Sunday afternoon during a robbery at his apartment building in the South Chicago neighborhood, authorities said.

The gunman shot Telkia Burns in the right temple about 3 p.m. and fled with his money and house keys, according to Chicago police.

"I'm just a mother without a child," Katherine Burns said. "That's all."

An 18-year-old suspect was in custody over the shooting in the 2900 block of East 91st Street but had not been charged, according to police. When the robber tried to go through Burns' pockets, Burns fought back and was shot in the head, police said.

Burns was a Navy veteran who learned to speak Japanese while stationed in Japan for three years, according to Milton Thornton, who said he served in the military with him. Burns was studying community health at Chicago State through a Veterans Affairs work-study program, Thornton said.
read more here

US military helicopter crashes inside base on Japan's Okinawa

UPDATE
Air Force finds remains at helicopter crash site on Okinawa

US military helicopter crashes inside base on Japan's Okinawa
Stars and Stripes
By Travis J. Tritten and Chiyomi Sumida
Published: August 5, 2013

CAMP LESTER, Okinawa -- An Air Force helicopter crashed during exercises at a U.S. military base on Okinawa on Monday, causing a smoke cloud that could be seen by Japanese residents nearby, according to the Air Force and Japanese officials.

The HH-60 Pave Hawk, which is assigned to Kadena Air Base, was carrying four people on board when it went down at around 4 p.m. at the Central Training Area near Camp Hansen, the air base public affairs office said.

United States fire-and-rescue crews were at the scene, but the Air Force said the status of those on board the helicopter was still unclear late Monday.

Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera told reporters he was told three of the four crew members on board survived, with a fourth person missing, The Associated Press reported.
read more here

Sailors and Marines suffer after Japan nuclear disaster

In growing lawsuit, servicemembers fault TEPCO for radiation-related illnesses
Stars and Stripes
By Matthew M. Burke
Published: July 15, 2013

SASEBO NAVAL BASE, Japan — Five months after participating in humanitarian operations for the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami that led to nuclear disaster in Japan, Petty Officer 3rd Class Daniel Hair’s body began to betray him.

He had sharp hip pains, constant scabbing in his nose, back pain, memory loss, severe anxiety and a constant high-pitch ringing in his ears as his immune system began to attack his body. The diagnosis, he said, was a genetic immune system disease, which on X-rays looked to have made his hip joint jagged and his spine arthritic. He was put on a host of medications and eventually separated from the Navy job he loved.

Hair believes radiation is the cause. He is among 50 sailors and Marines in a growing lawsuit against Tokyo Electric Power Co., alleging that Japan’s nationalized utility mishandled the meltdown at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant that spewed radiation into the air and water.
read more here

Army colonel in Japan suspended; civilian deputy reassigned

Army colonel in Japan suspended; civilian deputy reassigned
Stars and Stripes
By Seth Robson
Published: June 18, 2013

YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — The U.S. Army has suspended more officials at its Tokyo headquarters pending the outcome of an investigation into alleged misconduct, officials say.

The Army confirmed this week that Col. Eric D. Tilley, commander of U.S. Army Garrison Japan, has been suspended and that his civilian deputy, Jeffrey Wertz, has been “temporarily detailed to other duties locally.”

“Col. Tilley was suspended pending the outcome of an investigation into alleged misconduct,” garrison spokesman Slade Walters said in an email. “I don’t have any specific information on allegations or ongoing investigations. No additional details are available at this time.”
read more here

Japanese Troops invade beach at Camp Pendleton

Japanese Troops To Drill Beach Invasion At Camp Pendleton
CBS News Los Angeles
June 10, 2013

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Japanese troops will converge on California’s southern coast in the next two weeks as part of a military exercise with U.S. troops aimed at improving that country’s amphibious attack abilities.

U.S. and Japanese military officials said the unprecedented training, led by U.S. Marines and sailors, will help Japan’s Self-Defense Force operate in stronger coordination with the United States, its main ally, and better respond to crises such as natural disasters.

China may see it differently, however, given the tensions between Tokyo and Beijing over a long-running dispute concerning islands claimed by both in the East China Sea.
read more here

Army suspends 2-star linked to sex-assault probe

Army suspends 2-star linked to sex-assault probe
By Robert Burns
The Associated Press
Jun. 8, 2013

WASHINGTON — A general who commands U.S. Army forces in Japan has been suspended from his duties for allegedly failing to report or properly investigate an allegation of sexual assault, the Army said Friday.

Maj. Gen. Michael T. Harrison Sr. was suspended by the Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno and Army Secretary John McHugh, the Army said. It provided no details about the alleged sexual assault case.

Until the investigation of Harrison’s role is completed, Maj. Gen. James C. Boozer will take his place in Japan, the Army said.

Harrison had been selected to become deputy commander of the Army component of U.S. Central Command, based in Kuwait. That new assignment was publicly announced in February by the Pentagon, which said at the same time that Boozer would replace Harrison as commander in Japan.
read more here

No postings yet for HIV-positive Marines, sailors since policy change

No postings yet for HIV-positive Marines, sailors since policy change
By Matthew M. Burke
Stars and Stripes
Published: May 22, 2013

SASEBO NAVAL BASE, Japan — More than nine months have passed since the Navy decided to open up overseas and large-ship platform assignments to HIV-positive sailors and Marines, but not a single sailor has gotten such a posting.

The Navy’s Personnel Command is grappling with how to implement the instruction, which also covers blood-borne pathogens like hepatitis B and C.

Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus handed down the policy in August 2012.

Personnel Command officials declined to comment on when the policy would actually take effect. Instructions can take time to implement, Personnel Command spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Rob Lyon told Stars and Stripes in an email.

“Navy Personnel Command recently completed a review of SECNAVINST 5300.30E, dealing with blood-borne pathogens, to ensure sailors affected will have the greatest opportunity to be successful, and any concerns by their receiving commands will be addressed,” Lyon said. “We will more than likely have more to discuss once the Milpersman article (implementation guidance) has been chopped by all parties.”
read more here

Marine's conviction for attempted suicide overturned!

Marine’s Attempted Suicide Conviction Overturned
Apr 30, 2013
Stars and Stripes
by Travis J. Tritten

CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa – The U.S. military’s highest appeals court on Monday rejected the conviction of an Okinawa Marine for attempting suicide, but the decision may fall short of setting a precedent for all such prosecutions.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces ruled that Pvt. Lazzaric Caldwell was improperly charged and convicted of disrupting order and discrediting the Marine Corps after he slashed his wrists in his Camp Schwab barracks in 2010. Caldwell, who had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder unrelated to combat, was confined to the brig for six months and received a bad-conduct discharge.

The Marine’s prosecution raised concerns at a time when the military is emerging from over a decade of wars and struggling with high rates of PTSD and suicide in the ranks. However, Caldwell defense attorney Lt. Mike Hanzel said the appeals court decision was specific to the case and does not prevent prosecution of other suicides by the military.

The court also found no justification for charges that Caldwell’s suicide brought discredit to the service by making it appear the unit’s leaders had failed to keep the Marines in check.

read more here

Marine's attempted suicide prompted punishment instead of help

Marine Major says criminalizing attempted suicides "helps retain discipline"

Marine Maj. David Roberts, representing the government, countered that the statute is clearly written and that it helps retain discipline within the ranks.

Sailors in Japan hold Memorial for sailor killed in Florida

Memorial service held for sailor killed after defending girlfriend
By Erik Slavin
Stars and Stripes
Published: April 19, 2013

YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — USS George Washington sailors have memorialized a shipmate who died after defending his girlfriend from an attacker while on leave in Florida.

Seaman Apprentice Matthew Snow, an aviation structural mechanic, was remembered by sailors at the aircraft carrier’s forecastle Thursday as a friend and a competent professional, according to a ship statement.

Commanding officer Capt. G.J. Fenton said he would remember Snow as a hard worker and devoted shipmate.

“While Airman Snow passed away at a very young age, his valiant efforts may have very well saved the life of his girlfriend,” according to a ship statement.
read more here

Typhoon pounded Tokyo, American airman plunged to his death

Air Force commander grapples with servicemember’s suicide
By Charlie Reed
Stars and Stripes
Published: March 21, 2013
15 minutes ago

YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — While most people hunkered down for the night as a typhoon pounded the Tokyo area, an American airman plunged to his death from the 11th floor of a nearby hotel. Before dawn, Yokota base commander Col. Mark August received one of those calls that almost always bring a different kind of turmoil.

August learned he had lost a man — the first since he rose to command level 15 years earlier.

“When you get that phone call first thing in the morning — no one wants to get it, but when it happens, it triggers a very specific response, an AFI-driven response,” August told Stars and Stripes a few weeks after the death last fall.

Among the Air Force Instructions that flashed through his mind was AFI 90-505, the service’s first suicide prevention and response policy update in 15 years. It came last year as the services grappled with an epidemic of suicides — a record 349 in 2012, up 48 from the year before.

Commanders were given comprehensive post-suicide response plans and checklists. One of the first tips: Make the initial announcement with a balance of “need to know” and rumor control.
read more here

US Sailors exposed to radiation after Japan earthquake

US Sailors Sue Japan Utility in Radiation Exposure
Dec 28, 2012
Stars and Stripes
by Matthew M. Burke

SASEBO NAVAL BASE, Japan -- Eight sailors from the USS Ronald Reagan are suing Japan’s nationalized Tokyo Electric Power Co., claiming it lied about dangers from a radiation leak when they helped out after last year’s nuclear plant disaster and that they will almost certainly die prematurely as a result.

Their complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, seeks a jury trial and damages of $40 million each for being “rendered infirm” and their bodies being “poisoned” by radiation. It was filed on behalf of Lindsay Cooper, James Sutton, Kim Gieseking, Charles Yarris, Robert Miller, Christopher Bittner, Eric Membrila and Judy Goodwin.

Within days of the March 11, 2011, earthquake, tsunami and subsequent radiation leak from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, the USS Ronald Reagan was aiding in the search for survivors and bodies from just off Japan’s devastated east coast.

Six of the eight sailors worked on the flight deck during the operation and two worked in the air contamination department. Gieseking is also suing on behalf of her daughter, Autumn, who was born shortly after the deployment.
read more here

Marine Major says criminalizing attempted suicides "helps retain discipline"

With military suicides at an all time high, there are even more surviving the attempt. You'd think after all this time there would be no one in charge coming out with such a stupid statement as this but they do.

Military court to revisit statute criminalizing suicide attempts

Lawyers for Lazzaric T. Caldwell, a discharged Marine from Oceanside, will argue it is wrong for the military to punish troops whose mental problems cause them to attempt suicide.

By Tony Perry
Los Angeles Times

November 24, 2012

In a case involving a discharged Marine from Oceanside, a military court next week will consider the decades-old military statute that makes it a crime to attempt suicide.

Lawyers for Lazzaric T. Caldwell will argue it is wrong for the military to punish troops whose mental problems cause them to attempt suicide — particularly in an era when the military is trying to reduce the soaring suicide rate among troops.

According to court records, the statute in the Uniform Code of Military Justice was used in World War II to punish troops attempting to avoid duty by faking suicide. The statute has not come to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, which will consider Caldwell's case, since the Gulf War of 1990-91, when it was upheld.

Navy Lt. Michael Hanzel, representing Caldwell, argued in a legal brief that "surely, neither Congress nor the president intended [the statute] ... to prosecute mentally ill people who make genuine suicide attempts."

But Marine Maj. David Roberts, representing the government, countered that the statute is clearly written and that it helps retain discipline within the ranks.

Caldwell, now 25, admitted that he slit his wrists in January 2010 while stationed in Okinawa, Japan. He pleaded guilty to attempting suicide and was sentenced to 180 days in the brig and a bad-conduct discharge. His lawyers are arguing that his guilty plea be thrown out.
read more here

Riverine success in Iraq shows need for naval quick-reaction force

Riverine success in Iraq shows need for naval quick-reaction force
U.S. NAVY
By MATTHEW M. BURKE
Stars and Stripes
Published: October 29, 2012

Petty Officer 3rd Class Jobey French, a boatswain's mate assigned to Riverine Command Boat 803 from Riverine Squadron 2, mans an MK-44 mini machine gun while conducting security escort operations for ships transiting out to sea through the Intracoastal Waterway in North Carolina, during Exercise Bold Alligator 2012 on Feb. 1.

SASEBO NAVAL BASE, Japan — When the U.S. Navy’s Riverine forces were resurrected six years ago to secure Iraq’s rivers and coastal waterways, they functioned much as the highly decorated river rats of the Mekong Delta did in Vietnam. Their success has given new life to the unit and the strategy.

In Iraq, Riverine forces became a quick reaction force — capable of search-and-seizure, insertion or extraction — on swift, agile boats with heavy-caliber weaponry. Between March 2007 and October 2011, the Riverines carried out more than 2,000 missions, trained Iraqi River Police, screened detainees and discovered weapons caches while flying 667 unmanned aerial vehicle hours.

Army and Navy river units were dismantled after the Vietnam War ended in 1975 and the Riverines’s future was in limbo when the Iraq war wound down last year. The Navy, however, has decided it has an enduring need for these quick and lethal small boat fighters.

``Just because you don’t need a tool right this second, why would you throw it away?’’ asked Chief Petty Officer William Squires, who is training to command one of the boats. ``It gives us capability to dominate inland waterways… It’s mind-boggling what we can do with four boat patrols and the weaponry we have.’’
read more here

Sailor found dead at Japanese train station

Sasebo sailor found dead at Japanese train station
By MATTHEW M. BURKE AND HANA KUSUMOTO
Stars and Stripes
Published: October 29, 2012

SASEBO NAVAL BASE, Japan — A Sasebo-based sailor — possibly breaking a curfew for U.S. servicemembers in Japan — was found dead Sunday morning at a train station, according to Japanese police.

A worker found Petty Officer 2nd Class Samuel Lewis Stiles, 25, lying face down on a platform at Japan Railways’ Haiki station in Sasebo city about 5 a.m., a Haiki police spokesman said Monday, adding that cause of death was under investigation. Japanese media reported he fell and hit his head after climbing atop a train, where he was electrocuted by an overhead power line.
read more here

Marine returns home from overseas to meet daughter for first time

Marine returns home from overseas to meet daughter for first time
by Larry Seward
KHOU 11 News
Posted on October 6, 2012

HOUSTON – It was happy times for a marine and his family when he returned home Saturday after serving in the military overseas—happy for everyone except one little brown-eyed exception.

"The last time he saw me, I was eight-months pregnant," wife Melissa Dominguez said.

"So, it’s going to be a little different."

Cadence celebrated her first birthday by seeing her father for the first time Saturday.

However, the moment they met was not exactly how Sergeant David Dominguez dreamed it would be.

"It’s hard," said Tina Garza, whose son David is a marine sergeant. "It’s really hard. He’s not home very often."

A lot can happen in a year, especially in families forced to love "Semper Fi."

It is why Melissa Dominguez was nervous.

"It has been driving me crazy," Melissa said. "My sister-in-law was counting the days down and she has no idea what’s going on."

"She doesn’t like strangers," David said. "I was hoping she would just come to me, but it didn’t happen."

He’s learned patience, though, by surviving two stints in Iraq and enduring the last year in Japan while training to become an explosives engineer.
read more here

Sailor held in alleged hatchet attack on shipmate at Sasebo

Sailor held in alleged hatchet attack on shipmate at Sasebo
By MATTHEW M. BURKE
Stars and Stripes
Published: July 20, 2012

SASEBO NAVAL BASE, Japan – A sailor from the amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard is being detained after he allegedly attacked and injured a fellow sailor, Navy officials said.

People who witnessed the July 6 incident, which took place in front of the Chili’s restaurant at Sasebo Naval Base, said the sailor struck his victim with what looked like a hatchet.
read more here