Commander: Moving Marines to Kadena ‘not a viable option’

[unhappycamper]

Commander: Moving Marines to Kadena ‘not a viable option’
By David Allen, Stars and Stripes
European edition,Saturday, December 12, 2009

KADENA AIR BASE, Okinawa — Don’t look for Marine Corps helicopters to operate regularly out of this U.S. Air Force base any time soon — if ever.

Although moving the Marines from Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to the largest U.S. air base in the Western Pacific has been suggested as an alternative to building a new air station on Camp Schwab, the installation commander, Brig. Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach, says Kadena has never been a good candidate for hosting the Marines.

“This is a tough thing to discuss publicly without getting into operational specifics,” he said during an interview with Stars and Stripes at his office Thursday. “But, believe me, there are very good operational reasons why we don’t want to bring them to Kadena.”

The idea has been suggested several times by various people over the years, most recently by Japan Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada. And it’s been rejected just as many times, Wilsbach said.

“If we did move them here, it would make accomplishing the Air Force mission — providing an unmatched combat posture in this part of the world and providing for the defense of Japan and the peace and stability of the region — much more difficult,” Wilsbach said.


Rest of article at; http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=66632