Community News

WASHINGTON, Oct. 23, 2017 — Strengthening ties with allies, increasing defense capabilities in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region and discussions about the threat of North Korea are among the topics Defense Secretary Jim Mattis will contend with on his trip to the region, he told reporters traveling with him yesterday.

Marines with Landing Support Platoon, Combat Logistics Battalion 31, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, hook up a cement block while conducting external lift drills at Kin Blue Training Area, Camp Hansen, Okinawa, Japan, Oct. 19, 2017.

Cpl. Antonio Childress, a motor vehicle operator with 1st Combat Engineer Battalion, III Marine Expeditionary Force, conducts a martial arts test during a Marine Corps Martial Arts Program Marital Arts Instructor Course on Camp Hansen, Okinawa, Japan, Oct. 19, 2017.

In 1990, a 1.88-inch roach from Okinawa won the 4th Annual World’s Largest Roach Competition in Miami. Okinawa became the first foreign region to produce the champion roach, staging an upset over favorites South Florida and New York. A prize of $1,000 and a year’s worth of cockroach repellent was awarded to the winner.

U.S. Marines run through a relay race event during a field meet aboard Camp Foster, Okinawa, Japan, Oct. 13, 2017. The lowest ranking Marines in each company began the race with a sprint around a field while carrying a dummy rifle, finishing once the rifle was passed up to the highest ranking representative of the company.

There are six foreign countries/destinations you can take direct commercial flights to from Okinawa. The six include Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing and Guam. The closest destination among these is Taiwan, which is only a 90-minute flight away. The furthest are Beijing and Guam, to which it takes a 3.5 hour flight.