Camp Hansen

Coordinates: 26°27′38″N 127°54′54″E / 26.460467°N 127.915076°E / 26.460467; 127.915076
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about the United States Marine Corps base. For the Boy Scout camp in Kansas, see
Dane G. Hansen Scout Reservation
.

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.
TypeMilitary base
Site information
Controlled byUSMC

Camp Hansen is a

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.

Built on the site of the former Chimu Airfield, the Camp was completed on 20 September 1965 after 29 months of construction by USN Mobile Construction Battalions 3, 9, and 11.[2]

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.

In March 2008, the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force began training at Camp Hansen, as part of the reorganization of U.S. forces in Japan and the move towards sharing facilities between American and Japanese troops.

Controversies

In September 1995, three

U.S. servicemen stationed in Camp Hansen rented a van, kidnapped and raped a 12-year-old Japanese girl. The crime "stirred furor" among the Okinawans, according to Time.[3]

According to documents[4] leaked by Edward Snowden and published by The Intercept, the site hosts an NSA collection facility codenamed CAMELUS. It uses a PUSHER-type antenna.

In 20 December 2022,

Lance Corporal Landon Lockmiller was hospitalized after taking a bite out of a Colocasia
plant. He was treated by base medical personnel and made a full recovery despite the widespread concern.

See also

  • List of U.S. Marine Corps bases

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. ^ Camp Hansen completed, This Week in Seabee History, Seabee Magazine Sept 16-22, Dr. Frank A. Blazich Jr., NHHC Seabee Museum, Port Hueneme, Ca [1]
  3. ISSN 0040-781X
    . Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  4. ^ "Collection Facility Goes Low-Profile on Okinawa". The Intercept. Retrieved 20 November 2016.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Camp Hansen.
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