For the past half-century, Okinawans have lived alongside U.S. military bases, often referring to their home as a "Cold War Island." That is about to change, as the U.S. and Japanese governments have finally reached an agreement to return major U.S. facilities on the island.

Okinawa should benefit most from the U.S.-Japan relocation agreement, and most of the changes will affect the U.S. Marine Corps. Several facilities will be closed. The headquarters of the III Marine Expeditionary Force will be moved to Guam. The Naha Military Port in Naha City and the Makiminato Supply Facility in Urasoe City will be closed. Partial land returns are expected from Camp Zukeran and Camp Kuwae. The Marine Corps will consolidate the functions of these facilities on existing facilities such as Camp Courtney or farther north in Camp Hansen, in Kin Village.

As a result of this consolidation and reduction of forces, an estimated 4,000 to 5,000 Marine personnel will leave the island.

More than 10 years have passed since the two governments began to seriously address Okinawan calls for a reduction in U.S. forces there. In 1995, the rape of a 12-year-old schoolgirl by U.S. servicemen prompted an islandwide protest, and Gov. Masahide Ota's refusal to help the Japanese government extend leases for the base land ultimately ended up in a legal battle in Japan's Supreme Court.

Ota claimed that Tokyo's policy of concentrating 75 percent of the U.S. military bases in Japan in Okinawa was discriminatory. He called on the Japanese government to redress this imbalance by reducing that burden.

While the court ultimately argued in favor of the central government, Okinawa's diminishing tolerance for the U.S. bases was widely reported around Japan. Moreover, the governor's advocacy of greater local voice in policymaking regarding the U.S. military had broad resonance around Japan as other local officials sought to contend with the social pressures felt by Japanese who live alongside the U.S. military.

Many Okinawans would like to see these bases closed permanently.

The U.S. presence dates back to the summer of 1945, when U.S. forces landed to win the only battle fought on Japanese soil. The U.S. built massive bases that were used for the Korean and Vietnam wars. It was not until 1972, when the 27 years of U.S. occupation of the Ryukyu Islands ended, that Okinawa's residents could begin to claim the protections of Japan's postwar "peace" constitution.

The social disruption to Okinawa after the war was virtually complete, and this history continues to infuse public sentiments about the U.S. military bases today. Most Okinawans who survived the war were placed in relocation facilities. Others were sent abroad to South America, Hawai'i and other locales. Those allowed to return to their communities found U.S. military facilities already constructed on their land, and so had to rebuild their homes around the bases.

For many older Okinawans, the sight and sound of U.S. Marine helicopters and Air Force jets are the legacy of a costly and bitter defeat that led to the destruction of their island.

Today, the U.S. military presence is much smaller than it once was. About 45,000 Americans live and work on U.S. bases in Okinawa. For those who live near the two major airfields — Futenma Marine Corps Air Station and Kadena Air Force Base — the constant noise and fear of accidents are common worries. Since 9/11, fears about these bases becoming targets in case of a conflict have intensified, prompting local officials to consider civilian emergency evacuation planning.

But the Japanese government sees Okinawa as key to its security cooperation with the United States, and has been willing to offer local landowners, businesses and governments significant economic incentives to tolerate the U.S. bases. Since 1972, the Japanese government has provided development assistance packages to Okinawa along with subsidies to those municipalities that host U.S. bases.

Land has been returned to communities and landowners as the U.S. has sought to consolidate its facilities. The 1996 Special Action Committee on Okinawa initiative sought to return more than 12,000 acres of land (21 percent of U.S. military land), including the return of Futenma. Almost a decade later, however, Futenma Marine Corps Air Station continues to operate. Efforts to gain local support for moving Marine air operations to the northern part of Okinawa ran into considerable opposition. Concern over damage to the coral reef, and in particular, the impact on the dugong (endangered sea cows) that feed there, led to citizen activism against the government plan.

In a visit to the prefecture in December 2003, U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld expressed frustration at the failure of the two governments to make progress in moving Futenma. In August 2004, a Marine helicopter crashed off base, angering local residents but also raising alarm in Tokyo and Washington. The helicopter came down on a local university campus, but luckily students had yet to return for the fall term and thus no civilian casualties resulted.

But the new relocation agreement will not remove all outstanding issues of complaint.

Last week, the two governments came to a compromise on the construction of a new base in the northern region. The new 1.1-mile runway will be built on an existing Marine Corps facility, Camp Schwab, extending from land out into the ocean. Local protesters have sought to halt construction of any new facility, and particularly one that damages the near-pristine coastline in the north.

But the reorganization of U.S. forces in Japan suggests a new era of security cooperation for the alliance, and the changes in Okinawa are designed not solely to address local concerns but also to enhance U.S.-Japan military cooperation. The Japanese government would like to reduce local complaints at other U.S. bases on Japan's main islands. A new runway will be built at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni by the end of 2008 for use by U.S. Navy carrier-based F-18s to reduce the pressures at Atsugi.

Interoperability with Japan's military is key. The headquarters of the 1st Army Corps will be transferred from Washington state to Camp Zama in Kanagawa prefecture, and it will be joined there by its Japanese Ground Self Defense Force counterparts. Likewise, the headquarters of the Air Self Defense Force will move to Yokota Air Base alongside the U.S. Air Force command to proceed with the integration of systems required for missile defense. Finally, more U.S.-Japan joint training and exercises will be conducted in Hawai'i and on Guam.

The relocation talks between Japan and the United States are part of the global restructuring of the U.S. military. This agreement is the implementation of goals announced Feb. 19 at the last 2+2 meeting, when a common strategic agenda for the alliance was announced. While improving the capabilities of the alliance, joint basing with the Self Defense Force will also mean that Japan's own military will increasingly take on the responsibility of managing relations between the base and the local community. As the U.S. dismantles its Cold War military, communities in Okinawa and elsewhere will themselves need to cope with their own complex transformations.