Photo/Illutration Members of the Marine Littoral Regiment conduct training on Oahu, Hawaii, on Aug. 22. (Takashi Watanabe)

To counteract the enhancement of China's missile capabilities, the U.S. forces stationed in Japan are undergoing a significant transformation, expanding their cooperation with Japan’s Self-Defense Forces.

The radical and rapid realignment of the U.S. forces in Japan, being conducted without detailing the burdens and risks for the host communities such as Okinawa, has dangerous implications.

China has been vigorously deploying intermediate-range missiles while upholding an Anti-Access/Area Denial (A2/AD) strategy, which aims to keep the U.S. military from areas within the so-called first island chain, a series of western Pacific archipelagos stretching from Kyushu and Okinawa to Taiwan and the Philippines.

To slip through China’s attacks under the A2/AD strategy and enable retaliation and reconnaissance within the ranges of Chinese missiles, the U.S. military has devised a strategy centered around “dispersion."

The U.S. Marine Corps has established the rotational Marine Littoral Regiment (MLR), designed to operate in complex environments along the shore, with small-scale units dispersed across remote islands.

Following the activation of an MLR in Hawaii, the 12th Marine Regiment stationed in Okinawa is scheduled to transition to the 12th MLR next month.

Coordination with allied countries familiar with the local operational terrain is deemed indispensable for the operation and deployment of the MLR.

Earlier this month, the Marine Corps and the Ground Self-Defense Force conducted unusually large-scale joint training exercises in Japan, focusing on island defense, mainly in Kyushu.

While such joint drills were previously relocated outside of Okinawa to alleviate the burden of the heavy U.S. military presence borne by the southernmost prefecture, Okinawa was also included as a training site this time.

The U.S. Air Force has introduced a new operational concept dubbed Agile Combat Employment (ACE), aimed at dispersing air combat forces across multiple bases during security emergencies, moving them from easily targeted major bases such as Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, one of the largest U.S. Air Force bases in the Far East.

It should be assumed that the use of civilian airports, as well as SDF bases, is being considered for this approach.

In the joint statement of the Japan-U.S. foreign and defense ministerial meeting (2+2) held in January this year, “the importance of the flexible use of air and seaports" was emphasized. The officials “decided to work together through exercises and planning to enable such use.”

Since then, there have been some notable moves in line with this strategic shift. The Marine Corps, for example, submitted a plan to use Shimojishima Airport on the remote Okinawan island of Shimojishima in the city of Miyakojima, which is normally not used for non-civilian aviation purposes.

And two U.S. Navy minesweepers made port calls at Ishigakijima island, another island in Okinawa Prefecture.

It is hardly surprising that these moves, which came amid the expansion of joint Japan-U.S. military training, have aroused anxiety and concerns among citizens in Okinawa.

Even though it is vital for Japan and the United States to make concerted responses to China's military buildup, it is unacceptable for the operational range and facility usage of the U.S. military and the SDF to be expanded limitlessly without efforts to win the support and understanding of the local communities involved.

If U.S. forces are dispersed to evade enemy attacks, the risk of the locations to which they are transferred being attacked inevitably increases.

How will it be possible to deal with the potential danger posed by such dispersion to local residents? What will become of the government’s promise to reduce the burden on Okinawa?

The Japanese government, which is bent on strengthening the bilateral alliance, bears the responsibility of providing clear explanations about these questions to the public.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Oct. 27

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