A day in history!

Well today was a day in Japan/ American history. The USS George Washington arrived to be the first ever forward deployed nuclear powered aircraft carrier. The Japanese have been protesting its arrival since it was approved last year but the protests have increased this week. They are marching in front of the base at a regular basis but it is all scheduled. Here is one of the many e mails that have been sent out to prepare people to avoid getting caught up in the mess that will be surrounding the ships arrival. ***With the arrival of the USS George Washington in weeks to come,CFAY will remain at the current Force Protection level for the time being. However, they will be ramping up Random Anti terrorism Measures (RAMS) around the installation. You may see additional patrols around the installation and additional Japanese Police at are gates and perimeters. Upcoming Demonstrations... 15 September 1200-1300, Verny Park (next to Daiei) Rally to Main Gate 19-25 September 1300-1600, Flyer Distribution in front of Yokosuka-Chuo 20-24 September 0900-1800, Sit-in protest, Verny Park 21 September 1300-1400, Verny Park (next to Daiei) Rally to Main Gate 23 September 1100-1300, Seagoing demo, Yokosuka Harbor,25 people & 3 boats*** I think you all get the idea. The part of this that I find interesting is that this country has the fourth most nuclear power plants than anyone in the world and a couple are built on the fault line. I must now remind you that Japan has earthquakes almost daily so how safe is that. You can read this newspaper article to see what the Japanese are protesting is the accidents that can happen with having a nuclear ship in the harbor. Yes there was the little problem of the fire aboard the ship but many people were relieved of there jobs after that so that should be cleared up. I have to say that I am concerned about the ships arrival but not because it is nuclear because it brings 5000 extra people to the base and with that many people you know someone will get into trouble. It also causes trouble when traveling around base and making sure the grocery store has food. They run out on a regular basis so add 5000 extra mouths and see what happens. The one thing that I was able to do upon the ships arrival today was go and get a copy of the Magna CVN 73. This is a comic book that is about a Japanese American sailor whose first ship assignment is the USS George Washington. The extended hours at base establishments have been entertaining to those of us that arrived in Japan without a welcoming committee, banners all over base and things set up to make our transisition here easy. These people had houses waiting for them on base and stayed only 8.5 days in the Navy lodge on average. I think the shortest I had heard of before this was 4 weeks. So welcome to the USS George Washington and enjoy your time in Japan!