CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — A new liberty policy for Marines and sailors in Japan will let some of them stay off base all night. Others, however, will face more restrictive rules requiring liberty buddies whenever they’re headed out the gate.
As of Monday, personnel with "gold" liberty cards no longer have a curfew, with the caveat that they cannot drink alcohol in off-base public establishiments after 2 a.m.
"Red" card holders ranked E-5 and above will now also have to have a liberty buddy when leaving the base. Previous policy required only E-4s and below to have an off-base buddy.
Lt. Gen. Richard C. Zilmer, commander of Marine Corps Bases Japan and III Marine Expeditionary Forces, signed the policy Monday.
The policy also applies to Marines and sailors assigned to Camp Fuji and Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in mainland Japan.
The midnight curfew has been in place since a Marine staff sergeant was accused of raping a 14-year-old Okinawan girl in early February. Staff Sgt. Tyrone L. Hadnott was sentenced in May to three years in prison and a dishonorable discharge after admitting during a court-martial that he fondled the girl.
Monday’s policy change acknowledges that the February curfew — and other restrictions put in place in the months since — have worked, Marine officials said.
"The programs and policies implemented since" the February incident "have been effective in reducing accidents and incidents involving U.S. service members," Zilmer said in a Marines news release.
Marine officials say they’ve gradually implemented several liberty changes since February, including issuing liberty cards to staff noncommissioned officers and officers. Before the February incident, only E-5s and below were required to carry liberty cards.
They’ve also expanded uniformed "courtesy patrols" of off-base areas, checks of outgoing vehicles at Marine installations and additions to the orientation and education seminar that all newcomers must attend, spokesman 1st Lt. Adrian Rankine-Galloway said in a e-mail.
Marine officials explained that typically, E-6s and above are issued gold cards while E-5s and below start off with red cards.
It’s at a battalion- or squadron-level commander’s discretion to issue gold cards to E-5s and below who have "demonstrated responsibility and maturity," said Lt. Col. Douglas Powell, Marine Corps Bases Japan public affairs director.
Neither a gold nor red cards are issued automatically though, he added. If a servicemember is not deserving, he will not be issued either card, he said.
And if the Marine or sailor doesn’t have a card "he’s not authorized to go off base on liberty," Powell said.
