Camp Hansen

Coordinates: 26°27′38″N 127°54′54″E / 26.460467°N 127.915076°E / 26.460467; 127.915076

Camp Hansen
Okinawa, Japan

Aerial view of Camp Hansen in 1996.
Type Military base
Site information
Controlled by USMC

Camp Hansen is a United States Marine Corps base located in Okinawa, Japan. The camp is situated in the town of Kin, near the northern shore of Kin Bay, and is the second-northernmost major installation on Okinawa, with Camp Schwab to the north. Camp Hansen holds the record for the most Marines that re-enlist in the Marine Corps. The camp houses approximately 6,000 Marines nowadays,[1] and is part of Marine Corps Base Camp Butler, which itself is not a physical base and comprises all Marine Corps installations on Okinawa.

Camp Hansen is named for Medal of Honor recipient Dale M. Hansen, a Marine Corps private who was honored for his heroism in the fight for Hill 60 during the Battle of Okinawa. Hansen was killed by a Japanese sniper's bullet three days after his actions on Hill 60.

Tenant units

Base Information

A U.S. Marine takes aim with an M16A2

The base is home to the Central Training Area, which includes several firing ranges, a pair of shooting houses which support live fire training, and other training areas, being one of the few locations on the island where weapons firing is permitted. Also located at Camp Hansen is a brig, a confinement facility that houses U.S. military members from around the Far East for short term sentences.

Facilities include a Post Exchange, a theater, a convenience store, two gyms, and a "consolidated entertainment facility" known as The Palms, which has two restaurants, as well as enlisted, SNCO, and officer clubs.

As of March 2008, the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force has started to train at Camp Hansen, as part of the reorganization of US forces in Japan and the move towards sharing facilities between US forces in Japan and the Self-Defense Force.

NSA collection facility

According to documents[2] leaked by Edward Snowden and published by The Intercept, the site hosts an NSA collection facility codenamed CAMELUS. It uses a PUSHER-type antenna.

Controversy

In September 1995 a controversy erupted when three U.S. servicemen stationed in Camp Hansen rented a van, kidnapped and raped a 12-year-old Japanese girl.

See also

References

  1. ↑ (in Japanese)金武町と米軍基地 Archived 6 January 2013 at the Wayback Machine. 金武町HP
  2. ↑ "Collection Facility Goes Low-Profile on Okinawa". The Intercept. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
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