MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- Officials from the Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni Provost Marshals Office, Japanese National Police and Japanese Coast Guard, patrolled 10-square-miles of restricted area outside the station’s port, Oct. 6.
Joining together in 2005, Col. Michael A. Dyer, station commanding officer is the first military official in Japan to sign an official agreement with Japanese 6th Regional Coast Guard Headquarters counterparts to coordinate safety and security assets to protect life, property and U.S. and Japanese interests.
The reason for joint patrols is simple, said Maj. Christopher W. Bushek, station provost marshal. “It (the restricted sea zone) is concurrent jurisdiction, since they (Japanese Coast Guard and police) have great assets, it only makes sense for us to be cross-trained and have a timely response to incidents that will affect both our interests.”
By joining forces with the Japanese Coast Guard and police force, the station’s anti-terrorism unit is better equipped to complete their mission .
“The primary mission of the waterborne patrol is to deter unauthorized entry into waterside restricted areas, to maintain perimeter surveillances and intercept intruders prior to them approaching Navy ships in port,” said Gunnery Sgt. Brett D. Hawn, station anti-terrorism chief.
Their mission is especially important during increased traffic caused by the Iwakuni Runway Relocation Project, which requires various construction ships to access the controlled area.
With the runway project currently going on, a variety of construction and fisherman boats are occupying the restricted zone. This leaves, “a lot of room for suspicious activity,” said Andrew R. Samuels, station anti-terrorism officer.
In order to keep unauthorized boats from accessing the area, authorized boats must carry proper identification.
“The Japanese Fishing Association has an agreement for issuing fishing licenses for out here. So there are a lot of boats out here everyday,” said Bushek. “However, each boat has to put up flags showing they are allowed to be in the restricted sea zone waters.”
Officials have yet to encounter any serious problems while on patrols.
We have never had to arrest anyone, said Shinji Ito, Iwakuni Japanese Police detective. “We just give them a warning since this is a new utilized system and we haven’t had any repeat offenses yet.”
Over the last six months, the joint patrols caught 24 different boats trespassing in the area, said Ito.
Illegal fishermen have left nets in the Japan Maritime Self Defense Forces training areas in the past and have proven to be a great risk for JMSDF frogman training evolutions.
Bushek said as we have learned from the bombings of the U.S.S. Cole, if you eliminate suspicious boats with a possibility of causing trouble, you greatly reduce the chance of other boats causing harm.