According to the Mainichi Daily News, one of the teams will coordinate and oversee all the realignment issues. The other three will manage the relocation of thousands of U.S. Marines from Futenma, Okinawa to Guam; moving the USMC Air Station in Futenma within Okinawa; and transferring the U.S. aircraft carrier landing and takeoff practices to Mage Island off Kagoshina Prefecture.
The Defense Ministry said the teams will devise policies and conduct liaison work with both the U.S. government and local government in Japan.
The two teams will be headed by senior Defense Ministry official Ayako Kimura, Mainichi Daily News reported.
Kimura was recruited by the ministry in early June from her position as a political specialist at the U.S Embassy in Tokyo. She was also appointed as a director-level counselor at the defense minister’s secretariat.
The teams will consist of director-level officials from the ministry’s Defense Policy Bureau, Local Cooperation Bureau and the Self-Defense Forces’ Joint Staff Office, Mainichi Daily News further reported.
Meanwhile, the U.S. government is mulling over Department of Defense-related spending, in light of the recent budget battle in Congress. Several U.S. senators have proposed to cut military spending overseas, including Guam.
