http://www.stripes.com/news/pacific/military-begins-voluntary-evacuation-of-families-in-japan-1.137999
YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — The U.S. military began voluntary evacuations Thursday at four military bases in Japan following increasing worries over nuclear reactors damaged in the country’s largest recorded earthquake. The Navy said Thursday afternoon it would start evacuating families from Naval Air Facility Atsugi and Yokosuka Naval Base, near Tokyo. A few hours later, officials at Misawa Air Base, in northern Japan, did the same. Camp Zama, a U.S. Army facility near Tokyo, said it was allowing families and non-essential workers to voluntarily leave. In a radio address Thursday afternoon, Col. Otto Feather, 374th Airlift Wing commander, said he expects Yokota Air Base to join the list soon. “For those folks that really want to go, I think we’re going to be able to offer an opportunity in the next couple of days, or so, to make that happen,” Feather said in a release on the Yokota website. Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni near Hiroshima and Sasebo Naval Base near Nagasaki said there were no plans to evacuate Thursday evening. The evacuations come amid concerns among residents that radiation from the damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant will spread south to Yokosuka and Atsugi, which are about 200 miles from the damage site. The reactors began failing shortly after Friday’s 9.0 magnitude earthquake. At Atsugi and Yokosuka, families of emergency first responders and deployed sailors will be the first to evacuate, according to Navy command officials involved in the emergency meetings. As of Thursday afternoon, the plan was to evacuate families on buses, then transfer them onto planes at Atsugi and Narita International Airport. The only flight currently planned to go to South Korea is one with State Deptartment officials, a military command official briefed on voluntary evacuation plans said at 8:30 p.m. on Thursday. Flights for military family members will go straight to the United States, the official said. The evacuations could start Thursday night, or Friday morning at the latest, officials say. The Navy already has the capabilities of evacuating up to 10,000 people per day. If the Navy can secure the additional aircraft, it would be able to bump that number to 18,000 per day. There are about 25,000 people at Yokosuka Naval Base, roughly 19,000 who are Americans or family members with Defense Department ID cards. There are 6,500 people at Atsugi, though the number of Americans wasn’t immediately available at press time. Military officials told families wishing to leave Japan to make sure they have all necessary documents before trying to board the plane. The documents – known as a Noncombatant Evacuation Operation packet – include: Defense Department ID card; passport; DOD 2585 form; --DOD 1337 form, if military; --DOD 2461 form, if civilian; --household goods inventory; --record and copy of vehicle registration form. School has been canceled at Yokosuka, Atsugi and Misawa. According to a State Department announcement received by Navy officials, “the Department of Defense will implement the Dept. of State-approved voluntary departure for eligible DoD dependents. As with State Dept. dependents, these measures are temporary, and dependents will return when the situation is resolved. Naval Facilities Far East commander Capt. Robert McLean told all workers in a 2:30 p.m. e-mail message that “as a prudent action we are going to begin to voluntarily relocate dependents from Yokosuka and Atsugi. Local bases will provide amplifying guidance on priorities, guidelines, mustering locations, etc... “If you have dependents evacuating, please ensure they have contact numbers.” Navy facilities workers were told to remain, according to McLean’s e-mail message. “Again, I am not aware of any change to the current health risk situation in Yokosuka and Atsugi, but due to the ongoing reactor issues, this is a prudent, pre-emptive effort,” McLean said. Navy officials plan to go door-to-door to hand out bar-coded bracelets which would automatically manifest families, according to command officials involved in the emergency meetings. All children at Yokosuka Naval Base and Naval Air Facility Atsugi schools were dismissed early Thursday afternoon following command meetings with teachers. Schools had already shown a dramatic rise in absences this week. The voluntary evacuation is not a full non-combatant evacuation order, which would make evacuation mandatory for non-emergency essential personnel Navy officials also indicated that helicopters assigned to the USS George Washington carrier strike group were being moved to Misawa Air Base, both to create space at Atsugi and to assist with relief efforts in northern Japan. “Carrier Air Wing-5 will also leave but they are going north … to continue the humanitarian assistance that they are doing,” Gardner said. Dave Ornauer, T.D. Flack and Travis J. Tritten contributed to this report.Military begins voluntary evacuation of families in Japan
“The order of departure: Women and children first, non-essential person second, essential personnel third, and then me,” Gardner said during a broadcast on the base command channel.
The evacuations were authorized earlier Thursday by President Barack Obama through the State Department.
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