YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — As commander of Fleet Activities Yokosuka, Capt. Gregory Cornish is in charge of more than 24,000 people at three installations and 62 tenant commands.

He is responsible for ensuring that resources are available to keep them safe, protected, comfortable and happy.

“My goal is to provide the best support we can to 7th Fleet ships, making sure that we have appropriate housing, good child care for families, health care — all those things that make up a good community,” he said.

Yokosuka will continue to develop under his command, with a new $39 million gym expected to be completed this year and a new base entry and gate system.

At the same time, Cornish is responsible for maintaining relations with communities around Yokosuka and the satellite installations in Negishi and Ikego.

Since arriving, he has implemented a few changes and overcome several misconceptions, especially among residents at Negishi and Ikego. Under U.S.-Japanese plans, the housing area in Negishi eventually will close and return to the Japanese, but Cornish adds it won’t be for a long time.

The farthest housing from Yokosuka, Negishi has a housing glut and a reputation for a long commute.

“When [sailors] come into theater, we’re now taking them to Negishi before they choose a housing area, so they’re not making a decision without seeing it,” Cornish said. “I think it’s a matter of getting out there and meeting people that are in that environment and not making a predisposed decision. Most of the people I’ve talked to at Negishi like living out there.”

Tied to Negishi’s fate is an extensive project to expand Ikego, adding a new school and 700 more housing units to an adjacent community, Cornish said. Until those projects are complete, Americans will be living in Negishi, where even now a handful of houses with large, fenced-in yards are vacant.

Also relevant to the housing-area residents is Cornish’s recent change to the bus service, which has led to complaints.

Officials recently decreased the buses, from six to three at Ikego and from two to one at Negishi. The decision to do so, Cornish said, was based on reviews of several years’ worth of usage figures, when ships were in port and away.

“We went back several years for the home-to-work bus delivery,” he said. “We were able to draw conclusions based on that with the fleet in and out.”

Based on the data, officials found times when usage was low. The cutback was designed to make the system more efficient.

However, it’s a work in progress, Cornish said. Base leaders also encourage residents to use Japanese trains and buses.

With people housed and traffic flowing smoothly through the new secure gates on base, Cornish can focus on one of his job’s key components: preserving relations with the off-base community.

“That is a big piece of my job, maintaining that very solid relationship with [community groups and public officials],” he said.

Although there have been a handful of arrests in Yokosuka in the past, the incident rate has dropped overall, Cornish said.

One of his goals is to continue that trend, in part by reminding sailors the necessity of being goodwill ambassadors.

“We consistently put that message out.”