For thouse who think US troops go unpunished.

[Capster78]

I realize there is already a thread in this forum pertaining to this case. I just wanted to show thouse who believe that US soldiers are somewhat exempt from punishment in japan for crimes they commit. This is the case of the Marine who supposibly raped a 14 year old girl in Okinawa. The soldier was turned over to the Japanese (which is what alot of people claim never happens) and the charges were droped. However, this soldier is still facing restrictions and investigation by the US military even after the charges had been droped. I would like people to take a close look at this situation and realize that american soldiers get HARSH punishments for crimes commited overseas. Not only does the soldier recieve punishment but the base populace where that solider is stationed also recieves restrictions whenever an incident occurs. Read below for more details.

By MARI YAMAGUCHI, Associated Press Writer
Wed Jul 30, 8:48 PM ET



TOKYO - The U.S. military is investigating an American soldier who had been accused of raping a woman on Japan's southern island of Okinawa before Japanese authorities dropped the case, an army official said Wednesday.

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An army-appointed investigator began the military equivalent of a pretrial probe on Monday into the allegations against a 25-year-old specialist assigned to Kadena Air Base on Okinawa, Army spokeswoman Amanda Kraus said.

The soldier, who is accused of assaulting the woman in February in a hotel room, has been restricted to base but is not facing formal charges on any of the allegations, she said.

In May, Japanese prosecutors in Okinawa dismissed charges against the soldier after finding insufficient evidence of violence and intimidation in the case. Army investigators have pursued the case since.

The next step in the military legal process is a preliminary hearing by an independent officer, she said.

The army has 120 days to decide whether to formally press all or part of the charges and hold a court martial, or dismiss the case entirely, she said.

Offenses against Japanese females involving U.S. troops have sparked anger in Japan over the U.S. military and its 50,000-strong presence, most of them on the southern island, about 1,000 miles southwest of Tokyo.

In May, a U.S. court martial found a 38-year-old Marine, initially accused of raping a 14-year-old Japanese girl February in Okinawa, guilty of a lesser charge of abusive sexual conduct and sentenced him to four years in prison.

A U.S. military tribunal in Iwakuni, southwestern Japan, sentenced four Marines to prison for gang-assaulting a 20-year-old woman in the city of Hiroshima in October, in separate rulings earlier this year.

[KirinMan]

Please use the quote button and include links to the articles you are quoting.

[Capster78]

In other words, If you simply just don't like a forign military in your country, say so. Do not revert to propaganda to smear the reputation of people who do not deserve to be tagged as somthing they are not. There are thouse in the US military who are loud, obnoxious and maybe a bit nationalistic, however these type of people are a part of every countries young population.

Here I am, a 30 year old man. I have a cerfew every night and I am on a program the base instituted as a means to control their lower ranking military members just because I joined the military late. I can not even spend a night outside the base without permission from superiors. There are alot of freedoms I am accustomed to when I am stationed in the United States that I don't have here. We have ALOT of rules that restrict our freedoms overseas. These rules have, however, kept the crime rate of US soldiers at lower rates than their host country so I guess it's working. This is why I get frustrated because the expectation of the host country is to have the visiting forign military basically locked up on base like a prison. Do you think this is fair?

[Uncle Frank]

Originally Posted by Capster78

Here I am, a 30 year old man. I have a cerfew every night and I am on a program the base instituted as a means to control their lower ranking military members just because I joined the military late. I can not even spend a night outside the base without permission from superiors. to have the visiting forign military basically locked up on base like a prison.

WOW! Things sure have changed. When I was stationed in Japan in the early 70's , they practically threw us off base. We only went to the base to work our shift. We got extra money to live off base back then. Each year there were a few anti-American protest days that they asked us to stay on base for just those days, but never enforced it. I would go nuts to be in Japan and not be able to leave base to enjoy it.

Uncle Frank

[Pachipro]

Originally Posted by Uncle Frank

WOW! Things sure have changed. When I was stationed in Japan in the early 70's , they practically threw us off base. We only went to the base to work our shift. We got extra money to live off base back then. Each year there were a few anti-American protest days that they asked us to stay on base for just those days, but never enforced it. I would go nuts to be in Japan and not be able to leave base to enjoy it.

I can back up what Uncle Frank said as I too was stationed there in the 70's and you WERE paid to live off base, regardless of rank. Much like Uncle Frank, I only returned to the base to work and 2/3's of my life was off the base after the first year or so. To be relagated to the base and not allowed to go off would've driven me nuts also.

It was because of this freedom that I came to love Japan, get out of the military, go to college in Japan under the GI bill and stay for many years thereafter. It really must feel like a prison these days and I would not enjoy being there under those circumstances. It is sad that the actions of one or two make it hard on all.

Leaving the base without permission of superiors? I cannot even fathom that! I'm glad I am not in the military in these trying times.

[Mike Cash]

When I was in the Navy, one of my shipmates disappeared for about a year. People transfer in and out all the time, so I didn't notice it when he was no longer there. But when he turned up again I asked him where the hell he had been.

Turns out he had gone off base in Yokosuka, gotten drunk, and "borrowed" a car without permission while off base. He was handed over to the Japanese, and did six months in prison.

But what about the other six months, you ask?

When the Japanese gave him back to the Navy, the Navy threw him in the brig for six months as punishment for Unauthorized Absence (Navy version of the more commonly known "AWOL"). After all....they hadn't given him permission to miss his duties for six months to go to prison.

[epigene]

I think it all comes from the Japanese government having a bigger say than in the past on what the US military can and cannot do on Japanese soil, because it foots much of the bills for maintaining US forces here.

http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?s...7&archive=true

http://wapedia.mobi/en/Omoiyari_Yosan

http://www.politicalaffairs.net/inde...iew/6690/1/327

[Capster78]

Im not saying we can not leave the base. Im saying that If we want to stay overnight anywhere outside of the base which would otherwise break our cerfew to be back on the base we have to have permission from our supervisors. Even that permission is limited. They can only offer at most a 1-2 night pass. A trip to Tokyo from here is about impossable unless you plan to spend most of your time geting there and back.

They do pay us to live off base however, only SrA and above can live off base and that is if the base occupancy rate is a certain percentage (very high) before they will allow SrA to move off the installation. They only way right now to move off base is to become a Staff Sargent. By the time you are a staff the cerfew regulations are lifted and you are allowed to move freely off the base. If you are not a staff and you live off base and have not ben granted a green card (meaning you have a red card) then you must be in your house by the time cerfew hits which is 12 on weedays and 1am on weekends.

I have also heard some people mention that the crime rates do not include crimes that happen on base. I assure you that the crime rate on base is MUCH lower than the crime rate off base. The most serios offenses on base are usually speeding or the rare yet occassional sexual assault (verry rare). I think since I have been in the military (over 3 years overseas) I can count on 1 hand the ammount of sexual assaults that happend on base.

[Capster78]

Originally Posted by epigene

I think it all comes from the Japanese government having a bigger say than in the past on what the US military can and cannot do on Japanese soil, because it foots much of the bills for maintaining US forces here.

While I understand your point, it is still a fact that the absense of US forces in japan would mean Japan would have to built its own forces. This would alarm neighboring countries like South Korea and China and may spark another arms race in this part of the world. In essance, they are paying for a military they would need to construct themselves anyhow. The japanese do not pay for our operations abroad. I assure you that deployments to other areas of the world are funded by the US government. The only thing Japan pais for is US forces in japan.