YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — The U.S. military does not expect to turn its "voluntary departure" for servicemembers' families living in Japan into a mandatory evacuation, the head of the U.S. Pacific Command said Tuesday night.
The United States has contingency plans to evacuate the roughly 87,000 servicemembers, families and Defense Department civilians in Japan and Okinawa, but Adm. Robert Willard told Stars and Stripes that he didn't anticipate putting them in motion.
"We absolutely don't expect it," Willard said. "In fact, I'm trying to see if the reactor accidents stabilize, so that I can bring our forces and the families back to Yokosuka.
"But we certainly have the plan for the worst and consider those things you would expect of any senior command."
Willard spoke briefly with Stars and Stripes following a town hall meeting with residents at Yokosuka Naval Base, about 40 miles south of Tokyo.
Navy officials forbade Stars and Stripes from attending the meeting, saying that only the Defense Department's internal media would be allowed inside.
Willard also said that military-assisted flights for families voluntarily leaving Japan would leave at a pace similar to those that left Tuesday.
Three flights had left Tuesday and two more were on standby as of Tuesday night. As of Monday, only two flights had left since the military announced it would begin the flights, causing confusion for some of the roughly 9,000 family members signed up to leave.
"Remember this is occurring in a state of non-emergency," Willard said. "We can afford some pacing of this, and that's what's been arranged by transportation command with the airlines that are participating."
Families should discuss their personal comfort levels before deciding whether to leave. If he were making the decision for his family, Willard said they would remain in Japan.
Willard spent nearly three hours answering every last question from an audience that appeared to number more than 1,000 people.
His main job was reassuring a community that has often heard conflicting information about whether its members were truly in danger and when they would be able to leave Japan.
Predictions of radiological plumes headed for Yokosuka by Tuesday had circulated widely around the base since last Thursday, according to several residents.
No major agency has reported unhealthy levels of radiation in Yokosuka since the March 11 earthquake and subsequent catastrophe at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, located about 200 miles north of Yokosuka.
Elevated but still not harmful levels were found last week, and Navy officials distributed potassium iodide pills Monday as a precaution against any future danger, they said.
"It shouldn't be creating panic or chaos." said Lt. Constantine Diala, after attending the town hall meeting. "The radiation is still not dangerous."
Willard reiterated that there was no radiological risk today, which comforted but also reinforced frustrations among teachers who now say that unnecessary precautions scared their students Tuesday.
Schools at Yokosuka were instructed to keep all students inside, keep windows closed and close all vents as a precaution against any potential radiation blowing south.
Willard reportedly told attendees that there was no need for that, and that children should be allowed to play outside.
The earlier instructions, combined with multiple aftershocks and a 25 percent attendance rate in some schools, left some children frightened Tuesday, said Jean Kartchner, a teacher at Yokosuka Middle School
"Kids were hiding under the table saying ‘Oh my God, we're going to die,'" Kartchner said.
Kartchner says the teachers tell the students that they're going to be OK, but it can be difficult convincing them.
Several people leaving the meeting said that fear is probably just as big, if not a bigger problem, than any radiological concerns at Yokosuka.
"I honestly think people are freaking out too much," said Avery Berge, after attending the town hall meeting. "I understand everyone's anxiety, but at the same time, I think they're doing a good job handling the situation. This is unprecedented."
