The Asia-Pacific Journal | Japan Focus Volume 16 | Issue 7 | Number 2 | Apr 01, 2018

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U.S. Marine Corps’ Lax Weapon Safety on Okinawa

Jon Mitchell

A series of incidents — including the theft of anM16 in 2014 and numerous attempts to boardcivilian aircraft carrying live ammunition lastyear — has raised concerns that the U.S.military on Okinawa is failing to managesecurely its weapons in Japan.

Documents obtained from the Naval CriminalInvestigative Service (NCIS) under theFreedom of Information Act reveal how amarine, believed to be a Chief Warrant Officer3, stole an automatic rifle and bullets,barricaded himself within his home andthreatened to kill himself and possibly a fellowservice member.

The documents catalog a series of securityfailures which enabled the marine to committhe act, such as errors at the armory andsuggestions that past mental problems hadbeen ignored by senior of f icers. Theperpetrator received a relatively lightpunishment for his actions: a written warningand a pay-cut.

M16 rounds stolen by marine. (NCIS)

According to the NCIS reports, on the morningof 30 October 2014, the marine, drove to CampHansen, Kin Town. At the installation’sshooting range, he stole ten rounds of M16ammunition from a technician’s table. AlthoughUSMC policy normally requires marines leavingthe range to be checked with a pat-down andhandheld metal detector, no such precautionswere taken.

After stealing the ammunition, the marinedrove to the armory at Camp Foster, centralOkinawa. He explained to the armorer hewanted an M16 rifle so that he could practicedry-firing it for a shooting tournament.According to the report, the marine “should nothave had a rifle issued to him” but, because ofhis relatively high rank, he was given one. Atthe same time, the marine also requested amagazine clip which would have enabled him tofire several bullets consecutively. However, hisrequest was denied when he refused to handover his military identification card.

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Camp Hansen shooting tournament.(USMC)

With the rifle and ammunition, the marine thendrove to nearby Camp Lester. There he enteredhis house and locked himself in one of thebathrooms. At 8:40 a.m. he telephoned acolleague and explained he was armed andsuggested he was about to kill himself. Thecolleague alerted the military police and droveto the home of the marine.

Upon arrival, the marine warned his colleaguehe might be hurt if he tried to enter thebathroom. Reports from the NCIS investigatorsdescribe this as a threat to shoot the colleague,but according to a later statement from thecolleague himself, it might have meant the M16would accidentally discharge if the colleague

attempted to disarm him.

Following the arrival of the military police,NCIS and negotiators, the marine surrenderedat 12:54 p.m. without any shots being fired.The rifle and ten rounds of ammunition wererecovered from the scene.

After his arrest, the marine explained he hadn’tcommitted suicide because he didn’t have amagazine. He said he wanted to fire a “threeround burst” to ensure he killed himself. Thereports also suggest he had swallowed anumber of unidentified pills.

According to the NCIS documents, for the nexttwo weeks, the marine was held at the mentalhealth clinic of the United States NavyHospital, Camp Foster. On 26 February 2015,he was tried under a Non-Judicial Punishmenthearing which, unlike a court martial, is usuallyreserved for minor offenses. At the trial, hepled guilty to several violations of the UniformCode of Military Justice and received a 50%pay-cut for two months and a letter ofreprimand.

Asked why the marine had been handed arelatively lenient punishment, John Severns,Deputy Director of Public Affairs for U.S.Forces Japan replied by email, “As a matter ofpolicy, we do not comment on administrative ornon-judicial punishments.”

In response to an enquiry on the securityfailings which allowed the marine to steal theM16 and ammunition, Severns wrote, “U.S.forces have robust measures in place to ensurethat weapons are properly controlled andaccounted for. We routinely review ourprocedures in l ight of events and newinformation, and when appropriate we makechanges.”

According to a statement made to the NCIS bythe marine’s colleague, the 2014 incident wasnot the first time he had suffered mental issues.In 2012, the marine had sought mental health

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support from the military but instead of beinghelped, “he was given a weapon and deployedto Afghanistan.”

Citing privacy concerns, Severns declined tocomment on the issue.

At the time of the incident, which occurredapproximately 150 meters from an off-baseresidential area, U.S. military officials did notnotify local authorities about the barricadesituation. Noguni Masaharu, Mayor of Chatan,told the media, “Depending on the mental stateand motivation of the marine, the incidentcould have endangered local citizens. I am veryconcerned about the situation because nodetails were disclosed.”

In the U.S., there have been a number of on-base shootings by military-related personnelwho were suffering from mental problems.

In September 2013, a Navy veteran shot dead12 people at Washington Navy Yard, District ofColumbia, before being killed by police.1 InApril 2014, on the U.S. Army’s Fort Hood,Texas, a soldier suffering from mental issuesshot dead three service members and injured16 others. The perpetrator committed suicidebefore he could be arrested.2

According to U.S. government data, the suiciderate among active and retired militarypersonnel is far higher than in the civilianpopulation. Pentagon reports show 265 activeservice members killed themselves in 2015; theDepartment of Veterans Affairs reported 20veterans killed themselves on average everyday in 2014.3 The rate for male veterans is 18%higher than in the similarly-aged male civilianpopulation and for females the rate is 240%higher.

In addition to the barricade incident in 2014,problems with USMC weapon controls onOkinawa were highlighted in a report by theInspector General of the Department ofDefense in 2011.4 Between February 2010 and

February 2011, a government team visited 22USMC armories in the prefecture to checkwhether their stockpile of 21,581 small arms –defined as including pistols, machine guns androcket launchers – was correctly stored.

Marines at Camp Hansen. (USMC)

According to the report, 14 of the 22 armoriesd id not mainta in accurate data anddiscrepancies totaled 1,080. Problems includedfailure to register weapons or keep dailyrecords of weapon transfers. There was at leastone case in which armorers had not cataloged aweapons shipment from Okinawa to a base inthe U.S.

Department of Defense inspectors criticized the

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USMC for not providing personnel withadequate training and the report concludedweapons’ storage “accountability and securityguidance was incomplete and inconsistent.”Such failings, warned the report, put thearmories at risk of theft or loss of small arms.

The USMC admitted that arsenal personnelwere inexperienced and unfamiliar withweapons storage systems. They stated theywould improve procedures.

In 2017, there were a series of incidentsrelated to U.S. military weapons safety onOkinawa. In that year, at least five servicemembers were arrested at Okinawa’s NahaAirport for attempting to carry live rounds onboard civilian flights. On March 30, forexample, a USMC staff sergeant was detainedwhen x-rays of his hand luggage revealed 13bullets. He was arrested for violations of theFirearm and Sword Control Law.5

Meanwhile at Camp Hansen last April, theUSMC was forced temporarily to halt live-firetraining following incidents where bulletsstrayed into a civilian construction site withinthe installation. The rounds damaged a watertank and a worker’s car at Afuso Dam. Inresponse to the incidents, the Okinawa DefenseBureau lodged a complaint with the U.S.

military.6

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An earlier version of this article appeared inT h e J a p a n T i m e s(https://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2017/06/21/issues/u-s-military-fire-gun-safety-breaches-okinawa/) on 21 June 2017 under thetitle, “U.S. military under fire for gun safetybreaches on Okinawa.”

Related articles

Jon Mitchell, U.S. Marine Corps SexualV i o l e n c e o n O k i n a w a(https://apjjf.org/2018/03/Mitchell.html)Jon Mitchell, Okinawa: U.S. MarinesCorps training lectures denigrate localres idents , h ide mi l i tary cr imes(https://apjjf.org/2016/13/Mitchell.html)

Jon Mitchell (http://www.jonmitchellinjapan.com/) is a British Journalist andcorrespondent for Okinawa Times. He was awarded the Foreign Correspondents' Club ofJapan Freedom of the Press Award for Lifetime Achievement for his reporting about humanrights issues - including military contamination - on Okinawa. He is the author of Tsuiseki:Okinawa no Karehazai (https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/4874985564/?tag=theasipacjo0b-20)(Chasing Agent Orange on Okinawa) (Koubunken 2014) and is a visiting researcher at theInternational Peace Research Institute of Meiji Gakuin University, Tokyo. Mitchell is an Asia-Pacific Journal contributing editor.

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Notes1 Michael D. Shear and Michael S. Schmidt, Gunman and 12 Victims Killed in Shooting at D.C.Navy Yard(http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/17/us/shooting-reported-at-washington-navy-yard.html?pagewanted=all), New York Times, September 16, 2013.2 Tom Dart and Spencer Ackerman, Fort Hood shooting: four dead and 16 injured at Texasarmy base(https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/02/fort-hood-shooting-army-base-texas),Guardian, April 3, 2014.3 Office of Suicide Prevention, Suicide Among Veterans and Other Americans(https://www.mentalhealth.va.gov/docs/2016suicidedatareport.pdf), U.S. Department ofVeterans Affairs, August 3, 2016.4 Department of Defense, Marine Corps Inventory of Small Arms Was Generally Accurate butImprovements Are Needed for Related Guidance and Training(https://media.defense.gov/2011/Apr/22/2001712046/-1/-1/1/D-2011-060.pdf) (Report No.D-2011-060), Inspector General, April 22, 2011.5 Jitsudan shoji yougi de beihei taiho nahakuukou(http://www.sankei.com/west/news/170330/wst1703300071-n1.html) (U.S. service memberarrested for possession of live ammunition, Naha airport), Sankei West, March 30, 2017.6 Marine Corps investigating bullet strikes at on-base construction site on Okinawa(https://www.stripes.com/marine-corps-investigating-bullet-strikes-at-on-base-construction-site-on-okinawa-1.463953), Stars and Stripes, April 18, 2017.