[C320-list] Japan

[Frank Drahos]

Sorry this response is so late, and I hope not too late.

I retired as a Navy Master Chief Petty Officer 2 years ago this month - I 
served almost 30 years day for day - Active and Reserve.

The last time I was at Yukosuka was about 3 years ago.  I was assigned to 
Commander Seventh Fleet (COMSEVENTHFLT) aboard USS Blue Ridge (LCC-19). 
They were improving the carrier pier to accommodate a nuclear powered 
carrier at the time, although I don't recall if we knew which one was coming 
to replace the Kitty Hawk at the time.   It was a big deal;  a forward 
deployed NUCLEAR carrier in Japan, all the rest up until now have been 
conventionally power for political reasons, dealing with the anti-american 
protesters, and the anti-nuke protesters etc...


There is a long history of disiplinary problems over there and the Navy is 
trying hard to improve things, but all it takes is one idiot who does 
something stupid and the Japanese press goes wild and the Navy sometimes 
over reacts to events in an attempt to let the Japanese know that the Navy 
is not tolerating such behavior.

Anyway, there is a marina on the base, behind the McDonald's.  When I 
visited with the folks there, they seemed very friendly and would share 
their time and experiences with you.  I had offers to go sailing, to just 
hang out and just drink beer.

Good Luck!

Frank Drahos
Belles & Whistles
#98