Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan

If arriving via the Patriot Express:
You will be greeted by a sponsorship coordinator and undergo a brief medical screening at the AMC terminal. From there you, and any family members you have with you, will be shuttled by your unit to either the barracks, BOQ, temporary lodging, or family housing to conduct 14 days of restriction of movement (ROM).

If arriving via commercial air, train, taxi, or bus:
Do not simply come aboard the base yourself. If you have a sponsor and have contacted your gaining command or work center, transportation from outside the base to inside the base should have been pre-coordinated. Once you arrive aboard the base, you will be taken to either the barracks, BOQ, temporary lodging, or family housing to conduct 14 days of ROM.

If that transportation was not pre-coordinated or you do not have a sponsor appointed to you, contact your oncoming chain of command immediately. They should be arranging transportation for you from the airport/train station/bus depot/front gate drop off point to where you will be staying.

If all else fails, upon arriving at the front gate of MCAS Iwakuni, contact the Command Duty Officer (CDO) at 0827-79-4001 to ensure receiving you aboard the base is done with precautions in mind.

ROM is restriction of movement in order to mitigate risk of possible exposure to COVID-19 down to a more manageable level.

Those undergoing ROM are not suspected of having COVID-19, they are undergoing ROM as a precautionary measure to mitigate risk and in an abundance of precaution for the health of everyone.

While on ROM you are restricted to your quarters, you cannot go anywhere outside of your ROM location, typically for 14-days.

If you are on ROM, do not leave your quarters until your ROM period ends, under any circumstance, unless you have a medical emergency. If you have a medical emergency contact the Branch Health Clinic at 0827-94-8100.

Any SOFA-member aboard MCASI who arrived to the air station from anywhere in the world, on or after 13 March, will conduct 14-days of ROM upon arrival, without exception.

If you had close physical contact with someone on ROM, you may also be subject to ROM and should contact your chain of command for guidance.

For emergencies, call 119 from any phone and identify yourself as a ROM residence.

For medical non-emergencies, call the Branch Health Clinic at 0827-94-8100.

The best way to prepare is to maintain contact with your sponsor or unit and complete the checklist that applies to your status (unaccompanied, accompanied, civilian) on the PCS page of this website.

People are sponsors once appointed by their chain of command. If you are interested in becoming a sponsor for a person or family PCS’ing into your unit, contact your chain of command.

Sponsors are responsible for helping their person or family PCS by ensuring each item on the sponsor checklist is completed. Sponsors are expected to reach out to the person or family they are sponsoring upon completion of sponsorship training.

Sponsors are not responsible financially and should work out electronic payment options to be reimbursed by the person they are sponsoring (Paypal, Venmo, Zelle, NavyFed, etc.). Sponsors should keep all receipts and log all expenses paid.

Call DSN 253-3542 or from a cell phone at 0827-79-3542.

Set up an electronic payment option with the person you are sponsoring well before you incur any expenses on their behalf.

In the event the person you are sponsoring is not reimbursing you, let your chain of command know and cease incurring expenses on their behalf.

If the sponsee provides their sponsor with a SPOA, the sponsor will have the ability to accept their personal property, but the sponsor then assumes liability for the shipment.  This is why if the sponsor is accepting the sponsee’s home goods shipment, it is highly recommending that the sponsee is present via video chat, if possible, throughout the entire process to verify their own house hold goods.

The Patriot Express is able to carry 10 pets in the cabin and 10 pets in the cargo area on each flight.  With all Distribution Agencies (Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Army) within the Pacific (i.e. Okinawa, Iwakuni, Yokota) having access to book passenger travel and pets on the PE, pet reservations are first come, first serve.  Flight manifest are posted 90-120 days from the scheduled departure month, so it is important that you make reservations for your pet on the Patriot Express as soon as possible.

If the owner and pet just arrived to Iwakuni, the pet itself is under a quarantine of its own: rabies quarantine. The pet must do its initial quarantine exam at the VTF once the owner's ROM is over, but that rabies quarantine means the pet cannot come into contact with any other person or animal outside of its own family.

We highly recommend SPOAs for pets. If an emergency does happen, that SPOA will allow the sponsor to bring the pet to the VTF under emergency circumstances for life-saving care.

If families with pets are not occupying family housing upon arrival (where their pet can stay with them), the family must inquire if there is room at the Barking Lot for the pet as the first preferred alternative. If room at the Barking Lot is not available, the TLF is the second preferred option. Pets cannot come into contact with anyone outside the pet's family while the pet is undergoing rabies quarantine. That quarantine cannot be cleared until the pet goes to the VTF. ONLY if there is no room at the Barking Lot or TLF can the sponsor inquire about fostering an incoming pet- this is coordinated through the VTF, and the foster must not have any other pets.