Okinawa residents expected to have enough people to ring Kadena Air Base on the Japanese island of Okinawa during a weekend protest, but their numbers fell short of their 20,000-person goal by nearly 5,000, reports Stars and Stripes. Many island residents have complained for years about the growing military presence and the noise generated by USAF aircraft. The latter complaint prompted the US Air Force to send Kadena F-15s to Japan for a recent exercise.
Amid NATO’s continued push to ramp up air defenses in Eastern Europe, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall swung by seven allied countries to boost relations last week, including those on Russia’s and Ukraine’s doorstep.