Wednesday, February 28, 2001

By Wayne Specht
Misawa bureau chief

MISAWA, Japan — Five months after pulling the welcome mat out from under the U.S. Navy because of night-landing practices, Misawa city officials Monday restored official relations with the Misawa Naval Air Facility.

Misawa Mayor Shigeyoshi Suzuki, Vice Mayor Zensaku Tomita and 20 senior city department officials met for 2½ hours during a special session, then issued a statement saying the Navy has made efforts that satisfied them.

Officials lauded Capt. Richard High, commanding officer of the facility, located on Misawa Air Base. City leaders said High understands Misawa citizens’ concerns about night-landing practices and is trying to improve the Navy’s relationship with locals.

Another positive effort, the officials’ statement noted, was information provided by High that Rear Adm. Robert Chaplin, commander of U.S. Naval Forces-Japan, said the Navy is determined to conduct as much night-landing practice as possible at Iwo Jima, 700 miles east of mainland Japan.

Last weekend, the city surveyed 500 Misawa residents and 90 percent indicated relations with the Navy here should be restored.

"I’m very pleased," High said Tuesday. "I was impressed that the mayor made this decision independently [from other Japanese mayors who have suspended relations with Navy units near other U.S. Forces bases]; it must have been a tough call for him to make."

However, Misawa leaders placed conditions on the restoration of relations.

City leaders said should the night-training return to Misawa, the Naval Air Facility will be asked to withdraw its operations from the base.

Night-landing practices conducted at Misawa in September by Navy F/A-18 Hornet fighters from Carrier Air Wing FIVE attached to the USS Kitty Hawk irritated city leaders who said the roar of the Hornets disturbed residents.

Misawa, along with Yokota Air Base west of Tokyo, Atsugi Naval Station near Yokohama and Iwakuni Marine Corps Air Station in southern Japan, are alternate practice sites when bad weather prevents the training at Iwo Jima.

Navy officials are saying that while they will try to keep the practices by the loudest jets restricted to the Iwo Jima site, quieter Navy aircraft such as the C-2 Greyhound and S-3 Viking aircraft still may conduct NLP at mainland Japan bases.

Naval aviators must practice simulated carrier landings before the Kitty Hawk begins a deployment like the one scheduled in March for the Yokosuka-based carrier.

Officials of Yamato city outside Atsugi also informed naval officials late last year they no longer would be invited to city functions because of the night-landing practice issue. Relations with the Navy there have not been restored.

Ayuko Fujikawa contributed to this report.

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