US military extends Okinawa curfew for junior enlisted troops, limits alcohol

Military leaders extend Okinawa curfew another month for junior enlisted while keeping overnight alcohol restrictions for all troops. Lt. Gen. Benjamin Watson, commander of III Marine Expeditionary Force, speaks to the Okinawa Area Coordinating Committee about tandards and discipline at Camp Courtney, Okinawa, Nov. 5, 2026. (Shannon Doherty/U.S. Marine Corps) The U.S. military has extended its midnight-to-5 a.m. curfew for junior enlisted service members on Okinawa for another month and will ban alcohol for all troops outside their homes during the same hours. III Marine Expeditionary Force commander Lt. Gen. Benjamin Watson ordered the new restrictions to take effect after the current “Period of Reflection” ends at noon Sunday, according to a Thursday news release on III MEF’s website.

It will continue through noon Dec. 7, said a memorandum Watson issued on Friday. The original period, imposed by Watson on Oct. 8, required all U.S. service members on Okinawa to remain in their assigned quarters on base or at their off-base homes between midnight and 5 a.m. The restrictions were announced after Okinawa police arrested Lance Cpl. Devin Jacob Ballard, 20, on suspicion of killing and robbing Anna Yagi, 39, early Oct. 3 at a hotel in Naha, Okinawa’s capital. He was indicted Oct. 25 on charges of robbery causing death. He has denied the allegations, according to police. The