Friday, February 23, 2001

By Jan Wesner Childs
Okinawa bureau

CAMP FOSTER — Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Jones and other top Marine generals canceled a trip to Okinawa that was to take place this week.

The Corps’ four-star and three-star generals were to meet on Okinawa this week for an annual Executive Offsite conference.

The event was moved to Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Maj. Patrick Gibbons, a spokesman for Marine headquarters in Washington, D.C., said Thursday that the schedule change was not related to the recent controversies over the U.S. presence on Okinawa, or any concerns that there could be protests during the commandant’s visit.

Gibbons said the commandant wanted the senior officers to be in the United States so that they could more easily participate in a review of defense programs by the new Bush administration.

Gibbons also said there were logistics problems with holding the conference on Okinawa.

"It did pose time, distance and coordination challenges for attendees, who as you can understand are responsible for many ongoing issues at their commands," Gibbons said.

A spokesman for the Okinawa governor’s office said he was not aware of the planned visit, and that the commandant had not scheduled a meeting with the governor.

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