February 13th, 2013 at 5:47 am » Comments (19)

Here is some good news for USFJ servicemembers who just had their curfew restrictions eased: YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — U.S. Forces Japan adjusted its curfew rules Wednesday, pushing back the start by an hour to midnight for servicemembers below E-5 and dropping it altogether for higher ranks. Servicemembers of all ranks in mainland Japan remain barred from drinking alcohol in public during the 12 a.m.-5 a.m. curfew, according to a USFJ statement. The Air Force and Army immediately adopted the new policy. The Navy said it was delaying implementation
Read the Rest…

January 22nd, 2013 at 3:39 am » Comments (8)

According to the Daily Yomiuri Police arrested a U.S. sailor Monday for allegedly trespassing in a house in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, in the early hours of the morning. Manuel Silva, a 20-year-old crew member of the USS George Washington, is suspected of entering the property of a 72-year-old woman at about 2:50 a.m. The sailor has admitted the charges, according to Kanagawa prefectural police. Police received three emergency calls around 1:30 a.m. from people living near the woman, saying such things as a stranger was ringing their doorbell. Policemen found
Read the Rest…

January 19th, 2013 at 2:25 am » Comments (28)

It looks like the curfew is here to stay for good once again: The off-installation curfew for U.S. servicemembers in South Korea will continue indefinitely, according to a general order issued Monday by U.S. Forces Korea commander Gen. James Thurman. “This curfew is imposed due to operation and mission-readiness requirements,” Thurman wrote in a memorandum. “I expect USFK will maintain an appropriate state of awareness and mission preparedness for a significant period.” The order, which replaces a similar one issued in December 2011, says the curfew “will be reviewed as
Read the Rest…

December 4th, 2012 at 3:36 am » Comments (20)

Japanese authorities for whatever reason have decided not to prosecute a US Navy sailor for getting naked and urinating in a manga cafe.  Something like this seems stupid to prosecute anyway if the guy was willing to apologize and make compensation for the incident which maybe he did and thus the reason for the non-prosecution?  Anyway what is of more interest is the effect the arrest had on everyone else in USFJ: Wiygul became the fourth servicemember at the time to be arrested in Japan since the U.S. military instituted
Read the Rest…

December 1st, 2012 at 3:17 am » Comments (22)

Like I predicted since the curfew idea didn’t work, USFJ would likely pull the mandatory battle buddy policy out of the USFK bag of leadership tricks that will not stop incidents, but makes it appear leadership is doing something: The U.S. military instituted a “buddy program” Friday for all servicemembers in Japan going to off-base bars and other places that serve liquor. Lt. Gen. Sam Angelella, commander of U.S. Forces Japan, directed each of the services to begin implementing the program, which would require servicemembers to pair up to go
Read the Rest…

November 29th, 2012 at 10:16 am » Comments (20)

Unless USFJ wants to imprison every servicemember on their installation it is statistically impossible to prevent any crime from happening within a population that consists of approximately 38,000 military personnel, 43,000 dependents, and 5,000 DoD civilian employees: Following the latest incident of drunken off-base misbehavior, the U.S. military and Japan faced the realization this week that a month-old curfew for servicemembers has failed to stem the crimes that are rocking the alliance. The military services have scrambled to reinforce rules and rein in troops after a continuing string of incidents
Read the Rest…

March 15th, 2012 at 4:30 am » Comments (12)

A retired Master Sergeant responds to the recent USFK on-post alcohol sales restrictions in the Stars & Stripes: Regarding the March 13 article “No Yongsan alcohol sales after 9 p.m.” (Pacific editions): Now that the curfew is in effect, alcohol-related incidents [among U.S. servicemembers] have decreased in downtown Seoul and increased on post. Now there is a new policy to ban sales of alcohol on post in Army and Air Force Exchange Service facilities after 9 p.m., which is going to drive the folks most likely to get into alcohol-related events to
Read the Rest…

March 7th, 2012 at 7:56 am » Comments (13)

Thanks to everyone that sent me an e-mail to point out this below article in the Stars & Stripes that shows what happens when you implement a curfew:  In a sharply worded memo, the commander of U.S. Forces Korea called out his officers and enlisted leaders for a lack of self-discipline after more than 50 officers and noncommissioned officers were caught violating an off-post curfew in the first quarter of fiscal year 2012. “These violations from Leaders, who are responsible for the enforcement of the curfew they are violating, are
Read the Rest…

January 27th, 2012 at 5:06 pm » Comments (12)

This pretty much puts everything back to the way it used to be when USFK last had a curfew:  Bars and restaurants at some U.S. Army bases in South Korea will remain open until 3 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, beginning this weekend, as a result of the 1 a.m. off-base curfew imposed by the military earlier this month. “With the curfew, soldiers come back before 1 a.m. and want to do something,” said David Roudybush, business operations chief for Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation in Area I. “We’re
Read the Rest…

January 20th, 2012 at 5:38 pm » Comments (3)

Here is the most unsurprising thing you will probably hear all week, bar owners in Itaewon don’t like the USFK curfewa:  Nearly four months after the high-profile rape of a South Korean teenager by a U.S. soldier, local business owners say an off-installation curfew in effect since then and recently tightened is hurting their bottom line. “The 1 a.m. curfew is killing Itaewon,” the bar district outside U.S. Army Garrison Yongsan, said Kim Sam-sook, owner of the Grand Ole Opry bar. “Soldiers are too nervous to drink, because the MPs
Read the Rest…