So you have orders to Okinawa. Congratulations! Unlike other duty station locations you may have been to, the military bases in Okinawa are broken up into smaller, annexed locations spread all across the island. We have almost all the branches aboard the military bases in Okinawa including Marine Corps, Air Force, Navy, and Army.

Let’s dive in to a little bit about the little island of Okinawa first.

The Island of Okinawa and US Military Occupancy

If you know anything about military history you know that the United States occupied Okinawa at the end of World War II. That occupation continued until 1971 when all of the Ryuku Islands, the largest being Okinawa, were returned to the Japanese. However, the US military still maintains dozens of military bases in Okinawa, and they span across the entire island. These military bases have played a crucial role in protecting Japan from foreign enemies as well as have continued to play critical roles in wars throughout the 21st century.

How big is Okinawa?

Okinawa is an island, but it’s not a tiny one. It spans 66 miles long but it’s a skinny one — it averages only about 7 miles wide. Okinawa is located about 400 miles south of mainland Japan, and there are no connecting roads to other large islands.

Okinawa is often broken down into three sections: North, Central, and South.

Nago is the most centralized location in Northern Okinawa. Central Okinawa is where you will find most of the military bases. And South Okinawa is designated by Naha, which is the capital and the location of the international airport.

Military Bases in Okinawa

Okinawa is made up of several different base locations throughout the island. The Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, and Army (a very small amount) are all stationed here.

The Marine Corps bases are:

• Camp Foster
• MCAS Futenma
• Camp Lester
• Camp Courtney
• Camp Kinser
• Camp Schwab
• Camp Shield
• Camp McTureous
• Camp Gonsalves
• Camp Hansen
• There is also another location, Plaza, which is just housing for field grade officers.

All of these bases are collectively called Camp Butler. THERE IS NO PHYSICAL SINGULAR CAMP BUTLER LOCATION. All of these bases together ARE Camp Butler.

The Air Force is located on Kadena.

The Navy is located on most Marine Corps base locations as well as White Beach Naval Facility.

The Army is mostly located on Torii Station, although there are some places of work on Camp Foster as well for the Army.

So…where do I live?

Okinawa Base Housing for Families

Housing here in Okinawa may be a little different from other duty stations. You are placed in a housing area based on where the military service member works. So if they work on Camp Kinser, you will be placed in housing according to rank on Camp Kinser. If they work on Kadena, you will be living on Kadena.

However, not all base locations have housing. For example, those work on MCAS Futenma will be living on Camp Foster, Camp Lester, or Plaza (rank dependent). Those who work at Camp Hansen will be living on Camp Courtney. So it all depends on where your service member is working. Your sponsor should be able to give you an idea of where the work facility the service member is assigned to in order to help you narrow down your living locations

Okinawa Barracks for UDP and Unaccompanied

For those that are coming to Okinawa on UDP orders or unaccompanied orders, you will be assigned to a barracks location based on your work facility location. Although not all base locations have family housing, most of them have barracks housing.

Living Off Base in Okinawa

Living off base in Okinawa isn’t as easy as just opting to live off base like it is in the States. However, it’s not impossible and some people absolutely love it! However, you do have to apply with base housing and they can deny your request to live off base. There are also some unexpected costs and concerns with living off-base compared to on-base housing.

If you are interested in learning more about living off base, please check out our article on Off-Base Housing here.

Looking for more? Check out these other popular articles on activities in Okinawa.

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