MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- The office looks clean and spacious. There aren’t any mementos on the desk or pictures on the wall. It just looks like a new office … empty. The desk is in the middle of the room, and sitting in the chair is a woman, her face is calm and wise. She looks like she’s busy, but she is not working. She is not working because after 30 years and eight months of service Taeko Yoshioka is retiring.
Yoshioka, technical information specialist, retired Sept. 24.
Yoshioka is 59 but she looks like she’s much younger. Her complexion is smooth and clear with a radiance that makes a person want her around. She’s soft spoken but she sounds wise beyond her years. Yoshioka is small in stature with short black hair. She’s modest, and just by talking to her a person would never know all her accomplishments and everything she has done for the station.
Yoshioka heard about the job from a friend when she was 28 years old.
Yoshioka worked in logistics for four years as an administrative specialist, but recently worked in Station Operations as a technical information specialist.
“My job was to coordinate with Japanese authorities, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, Japan Air Self-Defense Force, as well as the Japanese civil airfield laws concerning air operations,” Yoshioka said.
During her time here, Yoshioka worked for Lt. Col. Davin M. Keith, former Station Operations officer, as a Housing operations officer and the primary translator. Yoshioka was the office manager for Japanese operations.
She’s leaving some big shoes to fill, said Keith, now the station executive officer. She arguably has the most important job on the installation.
“She completely understood both sides of the equation and bridges both Japanese and American cultures,” said Keith.
Yoshioka was a major contributor to the success of Friendship Day.
“She calls the Blue Impulse, Japanese flight team, and asks them to come out for Friendship Day,” said Keith. “They always say yes because it’s Taeko asking.”
Revered by the locals, Yoshioka has a unique capacity to make things happen, and she holds great sway with the JMSDF because of how long she worked on the station.
“Her interactions with the JMSDF made our jobs easier. She knew how to take a difficult situation and say the right words so that both parties understood each other’s perspective and be able to compromise,” said Keith. “At the end, we would all walk out knowing we made a decision that was good and equitable to both sides.”
Yoshioka understood operations and how to make the air station mission happen.
She knew what was involved both from a Japanese perspective and U.S. perspective and how to mold those things to make a joint perspective, said Keith.
It was important to Yoshioka that the Marines constantly work together to create better relations with the Japanese. She was not afraid to put the Marines in situations that would create interaction between Japanese counterparts to better the relationship, said Keith.
She went as a translator to a couple of conferences, but said she wouldn’t translate in order to create more interaction.
Yoshioka is described as wise, patient, dedicated and understanding by co-workers.
“Everyone knows Taeko-san; she has done a lot of good things for this base,” said Gunnery Sgt. Shane S. Smoger, Station Operations chief.
After retiring, Yoshioka will no longer find herself in an office making calls.
No more white wash walls or notes.
She plans to relax and possibly spend some time on the beach.