MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- Marines from the Provost Marshal’s Office confiscated unregistered bicycles during a bike roundup here, June 27 through 29. “The main reasons we are doing a round up, is to collect all of the bikes that are no longer owned and bikes that are unregistered,” explained Cpl. David W. Turkington, PMO impound non commissioned officer-in-charge. “We round up bikes once a month. It frees up the clutter on bike racks for people with legitimate registered bikes and it keeps the air station looking good.”The Marines started three days prior issuing notices on unregistered bicycles, warning station residents with unregistered bicycles that they have 72 hours to come down to PMO and get their bicycles registered.“Its not bad paper work (a write up or ticket), it’s just stating that ‘hey we found this, it looks like nobody owns it and we are going to store it for you,’” added Turkington.When it was time to round up the bikes, the Marines drove around station in a pickup truck, collecting all of the bicycles that still had notices on them. During the roundup, the Marines confiscated approximetely 100 unregistered bicycles.“I honestly was surprised to see all of these bikes, because supposedly, to my knowledge, the word is getting out to register your bike,” said Pfc. Gary D. Velasquezcaso, military policeman. “When we went to the barracks to roundup bikes, there were just way too many, it really annoyed me.”Once the bicycles are confiscated, they are inventoried and marked for damage, such as bent tires, rust and missing parts. The bicycles will then sit in the impound lot for 120 days until a registered owner can be found, either by proof of purchase, or by a sworn affidavit from the Station Judge Advocate office. If the bicycles are still in the impound lot after 120 days, they will be released to the recycling center to be recycled. There are no exceptions to the rules, unregistered bicycles will either go back to the original owner or the bicycle will be destroyed.“Most of the bikes will probably sit there until they are recycled, which is sometimes a shame because we have a couple of nice bikes out here,” said Turkington.According to Turkington, it is important to register bicycles because if stolen, registration is proof of ownership.“This way if someone says my silver Huffy is missing, when there is like a thousand of them on this base, we can say what is your registration number?” said Cpl. Michael A. Orozco, PMO community resource center. “All we have to do is go around station with the registration number and track the bike. It is a lot easier.”To register a bicycle, simply go to Pass and Registration located at PMO. Bring the bicycle, a helmet and proof of ownership, whether it is a receipt or a sworn affidavit from SJA.