Losing Sleep Over Marine Corps Golf Courses

NO!NO!

Last night I lost sleep because I felt the need to get up and blog about yesterday's protest. (More video coming soon!)

Tonight I'm losing sleep because I wanted to try to find out who owns and operates U.S. military golf courses in Okinawa. From what I know, Japanese tax dollars pay for the utilities at U.S. military bases. Does that mean they are also paying for the maintenance and upkeep of U.S. military golf courses? The U.S. military has golf courses all over the world: http://www.militarygolfcourseguide.com/.

The Taiyo Golf Club, for example, was recently rebuilt by the U.S. Marine Corps. According to the Marine Corps Community Services Okinawa website, "...Taiyo Golf Club, which opened on March 1, 2010 and is already drawing comparisons to the finest U.S. military golf facilities in the Pacific, if not the entire world." In these difficult financial times, how is it possible that our military finds it appropriate to spend so much money on this kind of recreational facility? It's simply irresponsible.

Golf courses are a huge drain on natural resources, requiring tons of water to keep the greens green. When I read this about the history of the above golf course (formerly Awase Meadows), I was really disturbed:

After years of negotiations (the decision to return the land [to Okinawa/Japan] was made in 1996), a conglomeration of landowners collectively decided that the course will be developed into Okinawa's largest shopping mall—a monstrous three-story Jusco. This new facility, which will also house a theater and hospital, will cover almost half of the scenic golf course's property.

And, although watching the last golfers finishing their last round on this venerable course will be a sad day indeed, Okinawa's newest, and possibly the greatest, Marine Corps golf course is just over the horizon.

"The new course will be on the same level, if not better than, many of the current private courses on the island," says Rich Erland, Director of Golf/Golf Course Superintendent at the Awase Meadows Golf Course. This new course, which is currently under construction in Uruma City near the Kurashiki Dam, is slated to be top notch in all departments. Covering approximately 6,800 yards and encompassing 247 acres (compared to Awase Meadows' 5,765 yards and 110 acres), this new course is slated to be completed in early 2009....Although the new course is slated to be light years ahead of Awase Meadows in almost every aspect, one thing will remain the same: the courses mission will be to serve its most beloved customers—the servicemen and women that defend the United States of America.

Instead of restoring the land to its natural habitat, the citizens of Okinawa got a mega-mall and U.S. military golf course doubled in size. This is destroying the environment of Okinawa. More posts to come on U.S. bases and the environment. This is morally, ethically, politically, financially, and environmentally wrong. Just wrong.

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