Total base effort is required
to pull off Americafest at Kadena
By Carlos Bongioanni,
Stars and Stripes
KADENA AIR BASE, Okinawa — It takes teamwork and cooperation to host Americafest,
an annual weekend event that organizers expect to attract about 250,000 people to this air
base this weekend.
Kadena’s busy airfield, which supports numerous daily missions, shuts down
completely for the event.
Fighter jets and an assortment of transport, surveillance, refueling, rescue and other
aircraft will sit quietly in their parking spots. The festival grounds are on the tarmac
where the Navy parks its planes.
"It takes everybody to make it happen," explained Americafest Director Cecil
Williams. "It takes the Navy to give us their ramp. We’re shutting them down for
a week … moving them to another side of the base for their flights to happen."
Base workers began converting the Navy’s ramp to a festival site earlier this
week.
One of the main features of the festival will be a display of 15 military aircraft.
The U.S. Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force will
contribute aircraft for the displays.
"The JASDEF aircraft [T-4, UH-60, U-125, C-1 and U-4] are going to be a big
attraction, too," Williams predicted.
He also said the U.S. Navy’s P-3 is probably going to attract large crowds since
its sister plane, the EP-3, was knocked out of the sky over China in April and into
headlines worldwide.
"Americafest is designed to build friendships between the people of Okinawa and
the Americans," said Masao Doi, a Kadena spokesman. "You’re going to find a
lot of people from the mainland coming down just for the festival and to see Okinawa.
"American culture and American aircraft are very attractive to a wide range of
people."
To help with security, hundreds of base personnel have volunteered to help manage the
huge crowds expected to attend.
Williams said 110 security personnel and an additional 250 augmentees will be posted
throughout the base to keep the visitors on proper route paths to the festival grounds.
Base vistors will not have free access to the grounds. There are prescribed routes that
take the visitors directly to the airfield where the event will be held.
Williams said there should be plenty of parking, as one of the runways will be used as
a parking lot.
Last year’s Americafest was cancelled because of the Group of Eight summit
meeting.
Americafest is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Admission is free,
and there will be booths where food and drink can be purchased.
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