USFJ Policy Letter seeks "culture that rejects misconduct"

YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan – Led by the commander of U.S. Forces, Japan, the five top-ranking U.S. military commanders for American personnel in Japan jointly issued USFJ Policy Letter 1. This new policy reaffirms the standard of unwavering professionalism for American service members, civilians and their families serving in Japan, and also directs a range of actions to stem future incidents of criminal misconduct.

Senior U.S. State Department and military representatives in Japan met in a candid closed-door session Feb. 10 to address the potential damage to the U.S.-Japan alliance by individual acts of misconduct.

The U.S. Ambassador to Japan, J. Thomas Schieffer, and the commander of U.S. Forces in Japan, Lt. Gen. Bruce A. Wright, led a frank and wide-ranging discussion with component commanders and senior enlisted leaders at Camp Butler. The purpose was to adopt a unified strategy designed to prevent future incidents. The new policy letter was signed Feb. 27 by General Wright and the senior commanders of U.S. Army, Navy, and Marines Corps personnel in Japan.

"The crime rate of U.S. service members in Japan is very low by any objective measure and has decreased significantly in recent years, however, that's not the point," said Ambassador Schieffer. "A single criminal incident can undermine our relationship with our Japanese neighbors and security partners.

We can neither afford nor tolerate anything less than the highest level of professionalism by our personnel in Japan," said General Wright. "Unwavering professionalism is our non-negotiable standard in USFJ."

In addition to reaffirming the need for individual responsibility, Policy Letter 1 reminds personnel that they represent the United States at all times through their conduct and charges everyone with the responsibility to look out for others even as they ensure their own professional conduct. The policy also directs improved incident reporting and analysis to facilitate U.S. coordination with Japanese law enforcement and government officials.

"An important part of this initiative is to get everyone involved," said Chief Master Sergeant James A. Roy, senior enlisted leader for USFJ. "We expect our junior enlisted and noncommissioned officers to foster our military values. After all, it is our values that set us apart from other professions. This policy empowers all of our team members to get involved, even if someone at risk doesn't work for them directly."

Chief Master Sergeant Roy continued, "Across the board, our people really do live by our shared values of integrity and courage. What we're working on now is to get to that last - and very small - group of people who 'don't get it' or are at risk of making bad decisions. We're charging our young leaders to get personally involved in mentoring and bringing everyone into the fold."

Because of the differences in mission and structure among U.S. military components in Japan, component commanders will be responsible for implementing the USFJ policy within their commands. The policy commits command leadership to "take all necessary efforts to reduce and prevent" incidents of criminal misconduct. Commanders are expected to share effective strategies and evaluate results at their next component commanders' conference.

Copy courtesy of U.S. Forces Japan Public Affairs.