Lt. Gen. Nicholson, U.S. Consul Gen. Ehrendreich meet with Japanese news agencies (Transcript)

OKINAWA, JAPAN

11.16.2017

Story by Sgt. Nathaniel Cray 

III Marine Expeditionary Force   

Lt. Gen. Lawrence D. Nicholson: This morning we’re going to talk about President Trump and Ambassador Hagerty’s visit. Tonight we have General Brooks coming in from Korea. We are pleased to have him come spend time with us. I will talk about General Brooks’ visit and then open the floor for questioning over the next hour. Thank you all for coming, I’m pleased to have you all here.

U.S. Consul General Mr. Joel Ehrendreich: Good morning. My main theme for today is that we are continuing to strengthen the ties between America and Okinawa. The best examples of this have happened within the past few days with the president and the ambassador’s visit. Prime Minister Abe and President Trump discussed our alliance as the cornerstone of peace, prosperity and safety within the region. Our two leaders renewed their commitment to work very closely to deter challenges presented by North Korea and any other threat. President Trump reinforced our commitment to Japan to ensure its stability. It’s very important to notice that Trump and the Prime Minister have formed a very close relationship. As someone who’s been a diplomat for over 20 years, those relationships are very important to be able to speak candidly about various issues. Ambassador Hagerty’s visit is very important. This is actually the ambassador’s second visit to Okinawa, as he expressed the desire to come back. His first trip was a private trip with his family, who were attracted to Okinawa because of the beautiful scenery and the people’s hospitality. They enjoyed the beaches and cultural sites and I took them to an Okinawa soba restaurant which they loved. On his visit here this week, this gave the ambassador to learn more about Okinawa’s unique history and culture. This trip’s activities have included visits to Okinawa’s high schools where he spoke with them for about an hour. He visited Shuri Castle and met with Okinawan businesses and leaders. He also visited a few of our military bases and met with Lt. Gen. Nicholson. His message was similar to President Trump’s message: that our relationship is very important. He expressed to governor Ogana his deep appreciation of our alliance and the relationship between the U.S. and Okinawa in regards to peace and security. The ambassador stressed to the governor that the U.S. remains committed to ensuring our strength here in Okinawa as well as ensuring our life. The ambassador expressed to me that he greatly appreciated his visit here and looks forward to future visits. While on the theme of our strong ties, I will talk to you about what I see every day as Consul General. Every day, I see wonderful, positive interactions between Americans and Okinawans. One program I am particularly excited about is the new Ambassadorial Scholarship program, which is announced today. These scholarships that will allow Okinawan high school students to go to the U.S. for one year. We will post online about this scholarship later this week. Last week we had another one of our women’s events. I believe that was the sixth such event where we brought Okinawan and American women together to talk about women’s issues such as gender in the workplace. Next month we will have our score competition that holds a science competition for high schools that will allow Okinawans to visit Silicon Valley to further science education. We continue to have our weekly English conversation club, which is a club based on friendly conversation between Okinawans and Americans in coffee shops. I hope some of you will come practice your English with those clubs. I will close with what I am most passionate about. The consulate has started its own baseball team. We are maybe the worst team in Okinawa, but it is a great way to build relationships and have fun. General Nicholson is our second baseman. Today, I want to challenge the press corps to a game. Hopefully today, you will pick someone to contact me so we can schedule a game. It’s great to see all of you. Thank you.

Lt. Gen. Lawrence D. Nicholson: Thank you, coach. He’s very modest, but I will not be starting at second base. One thing I want to add is that the president’s 13-day visit started in Japan, and I think that’s noteworthy. This was on the heels of the visits by General Brooks, the senior U.S. military official in Korea. We are very much looking forward to his visit in the next couple days. You understand our commitment to our allies in South Korea and to a nuclear-free peninsula. You also know that Kim Jong Un, in the past few years running his country, has fired more missiles than his father and grandfather combined. We believe the threats to our citizens are real, and that is why we spend so much time training and focusing on our relationship. I wish on a weekly basis I could tell you where all the airman, soldiers and Marines are, but I cannot for security reasons. I can tell you, however, that they are focused on operating and training throughout the Pacific region. You probably know that I spend more time away from Okinawa than on it. One of the main places I spend time is in Korea. We have over 2,000 Marines alone today that are stationed in Korea. We have great training opportunities in Korea and we are constantly moving service members in and out of Korea for these reasons. As the president and Prime Minister Abe underscored, our alliance has brought peace and prosperity to the region. The price of this peace is that we must train, though it may be inconvenient and difficult. Sometimes this impacts the local community, for which I apologize, but we must be ready to train in any place at all times to keep this peace intact. During the ambassador’s visit, he visited Kaiho high school, where he took questions from the students. The most impactful question was “What is the hardest thing you have had to do as ambassador?” The ambassador thoughtfully replied “It was attending the (memorial) of the deceased sailors on the U.S.S. John McCain.” What our Japanese and American troops do on a daily basis is important for the defense of this alliance. The only way to ensure we are ready is to be out there training in those difficult environments and ensuring that our ships and crews are ready and experienced. I have so much respect for our Japanese and American servicemen that are deployed, training in difficult environments. One of my personal jobs is to ensure that we achieve a balance between the training on the Okinawan people and ensuring that we are ready to respond to attacks and disasters. With that, I will stop talking and hear from the Consul General and what is on your mind. What will your readers and listeners be interested in discussing?

Q: Mr. Ryuichi Tamashita (Asahi Shimbun): What do you think about the U.S. responsibility for the trial?

A: Lt. Gen. Lawrence D. Nicholson: I am in shock of the crime and can speak for all Americans when I say that we are all in shock of this horrific crime. This was a crime against everyone on island. It is a crime against all of us. We mourn for the victim and the family and it is still hard today, even a year and a half later, to understand how that can happen. I think this terrible and senseless murder is not reflective of the 50,000 Americans that are on this island. The Americans are part of the fabric of this society and love being here. As horrible as this incident was, I hope that you and the Okinawan people do not believe that Americans tolerate this behavior. It is a tragic case and the Americans are as shocked and appalled as any Okinawan. As you know, our actions last year, after we offered apologies and condolences to the family and the governor, was that we took an unprecedented 30 days of mourning, which included significant restrictions of what the Americans could do, as a sign of our respect to the family that was affected by this heinous crime.

Q: Mr. Ryuichi Tamashita (Asahi Shimbun): Earlier this year, an agreement was made to reduce some personnel. How many civilian members were reduced?

A: Lt. Gen. Lawrence D. Nicholson: I do not want to guess about the exact number, so I will get back with you to provide an accurate answer.

Q: Mr. Yoshiki Kishida (Jiji Press): My question is about aircraft and the Ospreys. The aircraft on Futenma have had many accidents, even up to this past September. Do you think the incidents that are happening today are related?

A: Lt. Gen. Lawrence D. Nicholson: We had Ospreys supporting the president’s travels just recently. Earlier this year, we had Ospreys fly from Hawaii to Australia, spend six months there, and then fly back. This is our airplane that we will use for the future. Japan is also purchasing six of the aircraft. After the accident up north, we had a press conference the day after where we were very quick to respond to this with my opinion of what happened. We found out I was right with my assessment, that it was an issue with the pilot, and we have provided the media with a statement regarding the details of the incident. Because of this, I think we are being very straightforward and timely regarding incidents like these. I know we’ve had some precautionary landings on the mainland, which are unfortunate, but I think we have a very advanced aircraft. If there is a problem with the aircraft, a light will come on in the plane immediately, and the pilot is trained to take immediate, appropriate action to land the plane so the problem can be fixed. I think what would not be useful for me is to get into the percentages as far as pilot-caused and mishap-caused. My obligation is to ensure the safest operations possible. The only way we can train is to fly and I take my responsibility very seriously regarding facilitating proper training and safety. Let me say in closing that the vast majority of the time Ospreys fly is offshore. Only approved routes by the government of Japan are taken by the Ospreys. We have to practice flying and landing our Ospreys in the day and night time, and we take special precautions to not fly over towns and populated areas. If there is any interest in the media to fly in an Osprey, I am willing to set up a flight to do a lap around Okinawa. If there is interest, I will be happy to coordinate. Please see Lt. Col. Fugler for that. Myself and the ambassador flew around the entire island recently and it’s my responsibility to ensure that it is safe.

Q: Mr. Akinori Oho (Okinawa Times): I have a question about the JGSDF. The JGSDF is trying to place a unit in Okinawa between Hansen and Schwab. I want to know what discussion has taken place between the U.S. and Japan concerning this.

A: Lt. Gen. Lawrence D. Nicholson: You have asked me about one of my favorite subjects. We have a problem in Okinawa; that our bases are not joint bases. In mainland, I have a base in Iwakuni where the Japanese service members work, eat and sleep on the base. As you know, the bases on the mainland are joint, integrated. The bases in Okinawa are segregated. We have a Japanese regiment coming to Okinawa in the next couple years that might come to Hansen or Schwab. I think this will be great for interoperability between our two forces. If you went to Hokkaido or Camp Fuji you will see U.S. Marines training with JGSDF, so why not here? We are excited and encouraged by the opportunity to open our base so we can have co-use, joint bases. This is the future of our alliance; to have co-use bases between the U.S. and JSDF. As you know, we are moving Marines to Guam and Hawaii. As the population of Marines on Okinawa dwindles, I think it makes sense to bring members of the ARDB here to Okinawa.

Lt. Col. Stuart Fugler: Ladies and gentlemen, last questions and then closing comments from our two leaders.

Q: Ms. Toshiko Bajo (Chugoku Shimbun): I am from the base in Iwakuni and have a question about the base. What do you see the position there and how are you trying to cooperate with the Navy?

A: Lt. Gen Lawrence D. Nicholson: Welcome to Okinawa. As you know, there are new baseball stadiums, housing and other things recently provided there. We are accepting of the carrier being there. Also, I am very pleased that they bring in five A&A aircraft every day so they don’t have to fly commercial. It works very well and it is a good, cooperative way that the base worked with the community to achieve this. We see Iwakuni as a U.S.-Japanese base that is tied into the community. We see Iwakuni as very successful. I think we can do one more question if it is a short one.

Q: Ms. Mei Kojima (NHK): I’m sorry, but I have to bring up the case again. Last year, the government took measures to prevent future incidences. Do you have ideas to prevent this in the future?

A: Lt. Gen. Lawrence D. Nicholson: Thank you for your question. I will tell you that our incident rates have dropped significantly. If one of our service members gets a DUI, the punishment is very severe. The service member will never be able to drive again and he will be fined thousands of dollars. We have a new “Not One Drop” campaign that is heavily advertised on posters that are located as service members leave the gate and as well as on television. We want zero incidences; that is our goal. The numbers have dropped significantly and I think that our efforts have made a big impact. While incidents are down, volunteerism is up. There are sports events and community relations activities that go on every night, even on Camp Schwab where there are protesters. There are much more positive events and relations every day between Americans and Okinawan citizens that I am very proud of.

U.S. Consul General Mr. Joel Ehrendreich: As closing comments, I would like to say thank you for coming today, as it is very important to hear the issues that are important to you. For the General and I, this is our outreach to reach the people out in Okinawa and discuss the issues you think are important. Let me close by saying that I have been here two and a half years now and I have been committed to enhancing the relationship between Americans and Okinawans. As for my seat as the U.S. Consul General, I will tell you there is so much more positive news out there than negative. Americans are contributing to the Okinawan community many times a day. General Nicholson talked about the community relations, which exceeded 900 last year. I meet so many Americans and Okinawans that tell me how much they appreciate the people-to-people contact. Americans have started companies here that have created thousands of jobs for Okinawans; American companies that do projects that help people with autism or provide blood drives for local hospitals. Okinawans have had the opportunity to study in the United States. When I have been with my Okinawan friends, we might talk about base issues, but mostly it is just a wonderful friendship. While negative issues concerning the military is very important, I want to appeal to you journalists to also cover the good news that is out there. I hope to see you on the baseball field very soon.

Lt. Gen. Lawrence D. Nicholson: Thank you for the great questions. I think you understand my obligation to have the military forces ready and do that in such a way that accommodates the Okinawans. Next week is a very important week for my nation: Thanksgiving. Families get together and give thanks for the places that they are in in their lives. I think we have great reason to give thanks for our great relationship and alliance. While we will not agree on everything, we agree on more than we disagree. I think the security and safety of the Okinawan people is something that we both take very, very seriously. Thank you for coming out today. Hopefully you will be in the baseball team and take a ride in the Osprey sometime soon. I will answer the question that I could not answer with the exact numbers to you sir, afterwards. Arigato gozaimas. Konnichiwa.

• Date Taken: 11.16.2017
• Date Posted: 11.17.2017 02:22
• Story ID: 255509
• Location: OKINAWA, JP