An F-15E Strike Eagle assigned to the 336th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C., taxis on the flight line at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, July 16, 2025. (Zachary Foster/U.S. Air Force)

CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — Okinawa prefecture and two towns adjacent to Kadena Air Base have made formal protests to U.S. and Japanese authorities after an F-15E Strike Eagle landed at the base with a missing wheel earlier this month.

The prefecture made its complaints by phone Wednesday to the Okinawa Defense Bureau, an arm of Japan’s Ministry of Defense, and with the 18^th Wing at Kadena on Thursday, a spokeswoman with the Military Base Affairs Division said by phone Friday.

The prefecture was most concerned about the multirole fighters resuming flights at the air base, she said. A post on social media site X by the prefecture expressed regret that the Strike Eagles resumed flying after a brief pause for inspections. 

Also Thursday, the assemblies of Kadena town, northwest of the base, and Chatan town, to the southwest, adopted identical opinion and protest letters addressed to Japanese and U.S. authorities, respectively, town spokeswomen said by phone Friday.

Some Japanese government officials speak to the press only on condition of anonymity. 

Two airmen with the 336th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C., safely landed an F-15E with a missing wheel at Kadena on Aug. 4.

The aircraft was en route to Okinawa from U.S. Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia when the wheel was noticed missing, according to an Aug. 6 news release from the wing. It was recovered on the flightline at Diego Garcia.

The wing ordered its Strike Eagles to be inspected before they resumed flying.

The prefecture asked the wing to disclose what caused the wheel loss and to take steps to prevent a recurrence, according to a post on X.

Kadena and Chatan addressed their protest letters to U.S. Ambassador to Japan George Glass, Consul General Andrew Ou, 18^th Wing commander Brig. Gen. John Gallemore and III Marine Expeditionary Force commander Lt. Gen. Roger Turner.

Chatan also addressed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command head Adm. Samuel Paparo and U.S. Forces Japan commander Lt. Gen. Stephen Jost.

The opinion letters were addressed to Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Foreign Affairs Minister Takeshi Iwaya, Defense Minister Gen Nakatani and others.

The Kadena town officials called for F-15E flights to stop until the cause behind the missing wheel is identified. It also asked the wing to implement more maintenance inspections and safety precautions for all aircraft and to prohibit training flights over residential areas.

The letter mentions an F-15E that made a precautionary, arrested landing Tuesday at Kadena and an F-15E that lost a tire while taxiing in April.

“Accidents and emergency landings are happening repeatedly,” the letter states. “If an accident such as a wheel falling over residential areas were to occur, it could lead to a tragedy that puts the lives of residents at risk.”

Chatan’s letter states the F-15E was armed with air-to-air missiles when it landed and expressed “strong indignation” over the incident.

“If one step had gone wrong, this accident could have become a serious one, endangering the lives of residents living near the base including those in our town,” it states.

The letter calls on the 18^th Wing to publicly disclose the cause behind the wheel loss, relocate some training from Kadena and revise the status of forces agreement governing U.S. troops in Japan.

The 18^th Wing did not respond to email and phone inquiries from Stars and Stripes on Friday.