Camp Hansen

Camp Hansen
Okinawa, Japan
Aerial view of Camp Hansen in 1996.
Type	Military base
Site information
Controlled by	USMC

Camp Hansen is a United States Marine Corps base located in Okinawa, Japan. The camp is situated in the town of Kin, near the northern shore of Kin Bay, and is the second-northernmost major installation on Okinawa, with Camp Schwab to the north. The camp houses approximately 6,000 Marines nowadays, and is part of Marine Corps Base Camp Butler, which itself is not a physical base and comprises all Marine Corps installations on Okinawa.

Camp Hansen is named for Medal of Honor recipient Dale M. Hansen, a Marine Corps private who was honored for his heroism in the fight for Hill 60 during the Battle of Okinawa. Hansen was killed by a Japanese sniper's bullet three days after his actions on Hill 60.

Built on the site of the former Chimu Airfield, the Camp was completed on 20 September 1965 after 29 months of construction by USN Mobile Construction Battalions 3, 9, and 11.

• Headquarters, 12th Marine Regiment
• 3rd Battalion 12th Marines
• 3rd Law Enforcement Battalion
• 3rd Intelligence Battalion
• 7th Communication Battalion
• 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit
• 5th Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company (ANGLICO)
• 9th Engineer Support Battalion
• Special Operations Training Group
• Elements of the 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion.
• 3rd Marine Division Truck Company
• III MEF Information Group (MIG)
• 2nd Battalion 11th Marines
• 3rd Ordnance Maintenance Company (OMC)

 

The base is home to the Central Training Area, which includes several firing ranges, a pair of shooting houses which support live fire training, and other training areas, being one of the few locations on the island where weapons firing is permitted. Also located at Camp Hansen is a brig, a confinement facility that houses U.S. military members from around the Far East for short term sentences.

Facilities include a Post Exchange, a theater, a convenience store, two gyms, and a "consolidated entertainment facility" known as The Palms, which has two restaurants, as well as enlisted, SNCO, and officer clubs.

In March 2008, the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force began training at Camp Hansen, as part of the reorganization of U.S. forces in Japan and the move towards sharing facilities between American and Japanese troops.

In September 1995, three U.S. servicemen stationed in Camp Hansen rented a van, kidnapped and raped a 12-year-old Japanese girl. The crime "stirred furor" among the Okinawans, according to Time.

According to documents leaked by Edward Snowden and published by The Intercept, the site hosts an NSA collection facility codenamed CAMELUS. It uses a PUSHER-type antenna.

In 20 December 2022, Lance Corporal Landon Lockmiller was hospitalized after taking a bite out of a Colocasia plant. He was treated by base medical personnel and made a full recovery despite the widespread concern.

• List of U.S. Marine Corps bases

• "Camp Hansen". GlobalSecurity.org. Retrieved 11 October 2006.