Marine Corps Base Camp Smedley D. Butler (or simply Butler Marine Base)
is a
United States Marine Corps base located in the
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
ese
prefecture
A prefecture (from the Latin ''Praefectura'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain international ...
of
Okinawa. It was named after Marine Corps Major General and twice
Medal of Honor recipient
Smedley D. Butler
Major General Smedley Darlington Butler (July 30, 1881June 21, 1940), nicknamed the "Maverick Marine", was a senior United States Marine Corps officer who fought in the Philippine–American War, the Boxer Rebellion, the Mexican Revolution and W ...
.
Installations
Camp Smedley D. Butler is actually a collection of facilities and satellite installations spread throughout Okinawa. Camp Smedley D. Butler was formerly called Camp or Fort Buckner, named for Army
General Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr., who commanded ground forces in the invasion of Okinawa and was killed in the last days of the battle. The renaming of Buckner to Butler occurred after most U.S. Army troops left Okinawa, and the base was transferred to the USMC. It is ironic that a foreign military base was named after
General Butler as he strongly believed that the military should be limited, by law, to operating within 200 miles of the coastline.
Additionally,
Marine Corps Air Station Futenma (including satellite
Yomitan Auxiliary Airfield
Yontan Airfield (also known as Yomitan Auxiliary Airfield) is a former military airfield located near Yomitan Village on the west coast of Okinawa. It was closed in July 1996 and turned over to the Japanese government in December 2006. Today it i ...
) and
Marine Wing Liaison Kadena, while not part of the Camp Butler complex, shares many resources with it.
Other Marine installations in Japan include
Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni and
Camp Fuji.
See also
*
Okinawa Marine
*
United States Forces Japan
External links and references
Butler's web site
GlobalSecurity.org
References
{{Coord, 26.297360, 127.782983, type:landmark_region:JP, display=title
United States Marine Corps bases, Smedley D. Butler
Installations of the U.S. Department of Defense in Japan
United States Armed Forces in Okinawa Prefecture
1955 establishments in Japan