We demand halt to NLP with carrier aircraft at Atsugi
The following is a statement adopted by nearly 20 Machida citizens who attended the January 16 monthly meeting of the Machida Peace Committee.
Addressed to the Commander of the U.S. Naval Atsugi Air Station
According to the U.S. Naval Atsugi Air Station, the U.S. Navy in Japan will carry out FCLP(Field Carrier Landing Practice) from January 18 to January 23 with its aircraft from the U.S. aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk.
The commander has reportedly told the mayor of Yamato City hosting the Naval base that he was ordered to deploy the carrier for its operation in relief of the earthquake-hit areas in Indonesia.
We Machida citizens with 400,000 population have been suffering from unbearable noise caused by U.S. aircraft while landing on and off Atsugi Base.
On January 3, a New Year holiday in Japan, you flew military planes over the area around the base with about 1.5 million people.
What is worse, the planned Night Landing Practice (NLP) falls on terms of entrance examinations. As citizens just wishing to live in a silent night, we wonder why we have to continue to endure such a loud noise.
The U.S. is using the U.S. Yokosuka Base as its carrier's home port in the world except the U.S. mainland. The Japanese government's promise of allowing the home porting has expired many years ago.
Still, you are pushing exercises in Japan that inevitably make inhumane noise under the pretext of the need for U.S. engagement in human assistance projects in Iraq or Indonesia.How anachronistic it is besides the military base situated at such an overpopulated area!
Our call for a silent night accords with what U.S. high officials have referred to concerning the reduction of noise levels around U.S. military bases in Japan. Please don't waste time to carry out your own promise.
We demand that your force halt the planned NLP as well as all kinds of fighter flights at Atsugi Base; give up using Yokosuka as its aircraft's home port; stop relocating Atsugi base facility to anywhere in Japan; withdraw Atsugi Base and remove it to the U.S. mainland or Guam Island. (over)
The Machida Peace Committee is chaired by Minakoshi Tsukasa (Machida City Naruse-dai.
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