Citing safety, Marine bulletin declares ‘Party Bus’ off limits

[Measure Man]

Citing safety, Marine bulletin declares ‘Party Bus’ off limits
By Cindy Fisher, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Thursday, December 18, 2008
CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — All events sponsored by a company known for its "Party Bus" that caters to U.S. personnel are off limits to Marine personnel, according to a Marine Corps Bases Japan bulletin posted Thursday.

Parties International was placed off limits because Marine leadership "received credible information" that events sponsored by the company "constitute a threat to the health, safety and welfare" of U.S. personnel here, Marine spokesman 1st Lt. Adrian Rankine-Galloway said in an e-mail Monday to Stripes and Stripes. Rankine-Galloway would not give any examples of specific events.

Kadena Air Base spokeswoman Beth Gosselin said Parties International events have not been placed off limits to Kadena personnel and she was unaware of plans to do so.

The company describes itself on its Web site as a "group of promoters dedicated to improving international relations" through fun and entertainment.

The group advertises on its Web site that it advocates responsible partying by providing transport for people who have been drinking and that it does not do business with those under 20 — the legal drinking age in Japan.

The group coordinates nightclub parties, shows and private parties but lists its most popular activity as the "Party Bus" that transports groups to off-base bars and clubs and delivers customers "back to the gate on time, until this curfew is over."

The order applies to all Marines, Defense Department civilians, SOFA-status contractors employed or living on a Marine base in Japan and their dependents, and those on temporary additional duty, Rankine-Galloway said.

[Shrike]

I'm intrigued. Any good stories about the Party Bus, Marines?

[Measure Man]

I'm intrigued. Any good stories about the Party Bus, Marines?

Yeah...I mean a party bus sounds like a great, safe way to get out about town...so, I wonder what the issue is....

I mean, 40 drunk Marines on one bus...what could go wrong?

[Shrike]

Yeah...I mean a party bus sounds like a great, safe way to get out about town...so, I wonder what the issue is....

I mean, 40 drunk Marines on one bus...what could go wrong?

To me, it brings to mind the party buses in Vegas that go up and down the strip with strippers on them.

[Lone_NCO]

To me, it brings to mind the party buses in Vegas that go up and down the strip with strippers on them.

Party bus doesnt sound half bad...On a serious note though, I seem to hear so much negative information about Japan it makes me never wanna PCS there. wouldnt mind info on both the party bus as well as Japan in general.

[kenny10]

Party bus doesnt sound half bad...On a serious note though, I seem to hear so much negative information about Japan it makes me never wanna PCS there. wouldnt mind info on both the party bus as well as Japan in general.

Japan sucks ass, I hate it here. I didn't have a choice to come here or not, this is where my lovely monitor decided to send me no matter what after my POS BN decided that after 4 deployments that I was no longer of use to them since I would be back in the rear
I have never even heard of the party bus in Okinawa. doesn't surprise me at all that they banned it, its typical
I bet it also has something to do with the contract that we have with the honchos AKA taxis and the green line (bus) that takes you back and forth

[Lone_NCO]

Japan sucks ass, I hate it here. I didn't have a choice to come here or not, this is where my lovely monitor decided to send me no matter what after my POS BN decided that after 4 deployments that I was no longer of use to them since I would be back in the rear
I have never even heard of the party bus in Okinawa. doesn't surprise me at all that they banned it, its typical
I bet it also has something to do with the contract that we have with the honchos AKA taxis and the green line (bus) that takes you back and forth

Sounds like a Nike, Addidas kinda deal. Well, luckily for me i'll have no trouble staying off the party bus. Staying away from japan might be a little harder though. I'm gonna try for a B billet next time around, going up for SSgt without isnt going to do me much good. Thanks for the insight.

[kenny10]

Sounds like a Nike, Addidas kinda deal. Well, luckily for me i'll have no trouble staying off the party bus. Staying away from japan might be a little harder though. I'm gonna try for a B billet next time around, going up for SSgt without isnt going to do me much good. Thanks for the insight.

Don't volunteer to come over here, it really sucks but then again that is my opinion. Well good luck with the B billtet, I am getting out in about 5 months, however it I wasn't (which will never happen) then I wouldn't even be able to do a B billet because of of MOS
What B billet do you want to do?

[MACHINE666]

Okinawa sucks, no doubt about it. I went to Camp Lester in 2004 and stayed at Kadena for a surgery that I was having. I could tell within 10 minutes that the whole military population there creates just as many problems as it tries to solve for the locals.

Misawa is alot nicer. It's farther up north and you freeze your butt off most the year, but the joint Navy and Air Force units there seem to add balance instead of off-setting things to the community. I can't answer for Yokota but I've heard that Yokosuka really sucks too.

No offense but the better you Marines behave, the less restrictions there are in place. I have lots of respect for what it is you do, but you need to put that one guy in check who always ruins it for everyone. Blanket party his ass or something before he act stupid.

[kenny10]

Okinawa sucks, no doubt about it. I went to Camp Lester in 2004 and stayed at Kadena for a surgery that I was having. I could tell within 10 minutes that the whole military population there creates just as many problems as it tries to solve for the locals.

Misawa is alot nicer. It's farther up north and you freeze your butt off most the year, but the joint Navy and Air Force units there seem to add balance instead of off-setting things to the community. I can't answer for Yokota but I've heard that Yokosuka really sucks too.

No offense but the better you Marines behave, the less restrictions there are in place. I have lots of respect for what it is you do, but you need to put that one guy in check who always ruins it for everyone. Blanket party his ass or something before he act stupid.

Ok I don't think so
Just as many Airmen, Sailors and Soldiers do stupid shit, as a matter of fact.........I would bet that they do stupid things alot more often than Marines. The Marines are just the only one who try to ruin all the Marines who stay out of trouble, while every other branch of service punishment is pretty lenient
I can't babysit every dumbshit that decides to do something stupid, its impossible, no person can
By the time we give him the blanket party( which I would never do) it is already too damn late because the damage is already done

[Lone_NCO]

Don't volunteer to come over here, it really sucks but then again that is my opinion. Well good luck with the B billtet, I am getting out in about 5 months, however it I wasn't (which will never happen) then I wouldn't even be able to do a B billet because of of MOS
What B billet do you want to do?

Might regret it, but recruiting duty. Dont think MSG will be an option for me, and I've got to much stress in my life as it is to be a drill instructor. Might end up having to lat move regardless.

[USMC_8156]

Might regret it, but recruiting duty. Dont think MSG will be an option for me, and I've got to much stress in my life as it is to be a drill instructor. Might end up having to lat move regardless.

If you want any info on MSG duty hit me up on PM. It's the MC's best kept secret.

[SuperPog0151]

If it weren't for the dumbasses that goes around raping and pillaging, Okinawa isn't half bad. There's a lot to do, see and experience. I wish the Marine Corps would just punish individuals instead of a whole group. This really doesn't solve anything because the assholes are still going to be assholes and now you have good Marines disgruntled for being punished for someone else's mistakes.

Lone, if you can't be an MSG, you should become a D.I. Recruiting duty is way more stressful than the drill field.

[CSBurns]

It's most likely someone else thought their morals should be your morals. They don't drink, therefore they do not want you to drink. I have seen it before and I am sure I will see it again. So instead you get to drink alone in your room.....how safe and fun is that!?

[Lone_NCO]

Thanks for the advice guys, its still to far out for me to actually make anything happen right now though. I just like having a plan. Since you guys seem to know a little bit about the different b billets anybody wanna throw me some quick pros/cons?

CSburns, that very possibly is the case. I understand the concept of punishing the whole to help everybody police each other, but I still dont agree with it. This may sound harsh, but if you act an @$$ in another country you should be adsep'd or busted down at the least. As much crap as I hear about us being representatives for the Marine Corps in the states (civilian attire, tattoo, not being able to go to certain areas) it should be 100 times more serious overseas.

[MACHINE666]

Ok I don't think so
Just as many Airmen, Sailors and Soldiers do stupid shit, as a matter of fact.........I would bet that they do stupid things alot more often than Marines. The Marines are just the only one who try to ruin all the Marines who stay out of trouble, while every other branch of service punishment is pretty lenient
I can't babysit every dumbshit that decides to do something stupid, its impossible, no person can
By the time we give him the blanket party( which I would never do) it is already too damn late because the damage is already done


No but you can do damage control and that's the entire point on my message. Most Marines have a Liberty buddy of sorts who goes out with them. I know because when I was off base at Kadena, one of them was drunk standing in the middle of the road while traffic was going on either side of him. I tried to get him out of the road for everyone's sake. As he tried picking a fight with me (really smart one he was), his buddies came up from the background to get him to safety as well. That's the kinda stupid stuff I'm talking about that eventually leads up to the more serious problems there on the island. Chances are once he sobered up if he had a blanket party or something, he'd think twice before going out and doing something dumb like that again. I don't know - I can only guess, but I do know that pain is an excellent teacher, and if a Marine can't think with his brain then maybe he'll understand the universal language everyone knows from birth. Either way I'm really sick of the stuff I see and hear in the news.

[SuperPog0151]

No but you can do damage control and that's the entire point on my message. Most Marines have a Liberty buddy of sorts who goes out with them. I know because when I was off base at Kadena, one of them was drunk standing in the middle of the road while traffic was going on either side of him. I tried to get him out of the road for everyone's sake. As he tried picking a fight with me (really smart one he was), his buddies came up from the background to get him to safety as well. That's the kinda stupid stuff I'm talking about that eventually leads up to the more serious problems there on the island. Chances are once he sobered up if he had a blanket party or something, he'd think twice before going out and doing something dumb like that again. I don't know - I can only guess, but I do know that pain is an excellent teacher, and if a Marine can't think with his brain then maybe he'll understand the universal language everyone knows from birth. Either way I'm really sick of the stuff I see and hear in the news.

This is the kind of sh** that puts us on restriction. I can't stand stupid Marines/airmen/soldiers/sailors that does sh** like that. By the way, he didn't get any "blanket party." He sobered up, laughed about it with his buddies and will repeat the process the next weekend. These are the same Marines that complain about liberty restrictions but are the sole reasons for them. Grow up. I agree with Lone, we should make the punishment for f***ing up overseas be adminstrative separation. Screw punishing everyone that doesn't deserve to be punished. Obviously that doesn't work. The adsep will give them something to think about before they decide to go play real-life frogger.

[Snoop_Frogg]

I remember when I was out there about 3 years ago and was a brand new PFC to my unit on courtney. This was before the red and gold cards, before the phillipene incident, and before the midnight curfews for the whole island and whatnot. It was fun for me, I won't lie about that. The main thing that you gotta do is go somewhere that you won't find many other military personel. Now I agree with burning those retards that start shit out in town, but i'd rather see them suffer for 2 years than to see them get thrown out. I believe that they should be restricted to the base that they are on until they pcs...seems like that would be a lot worse than just booting them out. Keep a list with the duty and have them checked on every night to make sure they don't go anywhere, epd every day, that would be even better than givin them the boot. And make them non rec for those 2 years as well...the harsher the cosequences, the more people would think twice before they swing on that random airforce guy that beats his ass, strips him naked and dumps him in a japanese house...or wakes up on a random couch in a random house on gate 2 street. And ban all those damn buy me drinky bars too...i think that would fall under trafficking persons...i'm just saying...give everyone a chance to be responsible, and if they fuck up like that...don't toss em, torture them...than they'll think twice before they ever do anything stupid like that again.

[Snoop_Frogg]

And where the hell was this party bus when i was there!?

[CrustySMSgt]

Ok I don't think so
Just as many Airmen, Sailors and Soldiers do stupid shit, as a matter of fact.........I would bet that they do stupid things alot more often than Marines. The Marines are just the only one who try to ruin all the Marines who stay out of trouble, while every other branch of service punishment is pretty lenient


As someone in a position to know, I'd say the Navy @ Yokosuka and the Marines on Okinawa are pretty much equal for the amount of drama the cause off base. Very rarely does a day go by that we don't get a report on something someone did off base...

I never realized how much ass-pain is involved in massaging this alliance and doing damage control for some service members' lack of control.

[Smeghead]

As someone in a position to know, I'd say the Navy @ Yokosuka and the Marines on Okinawa are pretty much equal for the amount of drama the cause off base. Very rarely does a day go by that we don't get a report on something someone did off base...

I never realized how much ass-pain is involved in massaging this alliance and doing damage control for some service members' lack of control.

We'll never win the hearts and minds in Okinawa. They're Okinawan, not Japanese. It makes sense that they're pissed at having US troops stationed on their island because of a war Japan started. Us running rampant hardly helps matters but they'd find reasons to complain reagrdless. The amount of column inches a C-130 IFE gets? That's not news anywhere else.

[CrustySMSgt]

We'll never win the hearts and minds in Okinawa. They're Okinawan, not Japanese. It makes sense that they're pissed at having US troops stationed on their island because of a war Japan started. Us running rampant hardly helps matters but they'd find reasons to complain reagrdless. The amount of column inches a C-130 IFE gets? That's not news anywhere else.

indeed... the FOIA requests and drama we have to deal with can be overwhelming at times... sometime I think is it like a "denial of service" attack on a website... they are just trying to bog us down in administrivia, hoping they can wear us down.

[Combat correspondent]

Party Bus, What? Damn, i was there from 1997-1999@Futenma and again about 4 years later at Kadena. We never had no damn party bus! We had to drag out asses all around the island on the green line or taxis, unless you were married or a SSgt, then you could buy a car.

Still, Okinawa was possibly the funnest and most culturally diverse places I've ever been.

As far as soldiers, airmen, sailors, coasties and Marines all getting into trouble - how could anyone doubt that ---- it all depends on the location of the forum at hand. We are talking about Okinawa....well, on Oki there are like 9 Corps bases, 1 AF base, 2 Navy bases and a small-ass Army base - yeah, chances are if a servicemember gets in trouble he/or she is a Marine - duh! You could say the same BS about N.C., and other dense Marine areas.

OK guys, now look at Korea - who gets in trouble? Oh yeah, soldiers and airmen. Why? Because they are 90% of the force there.

OK, lets look at Norfolk....never been there but can imagine sailors constitute the majority of the debauchery. This is not a hard concept to imagine. Lets not point fingers here. If Oki was based w/ a crap ton more soldiers or something, they'd be the ones in trouble.

[Snoop_Frogg]

Fact of the matter is around nearly every active military installation there will be someone getting in trouble for something. The only way to really control that is to secure everyone to base, and you'll still have incidents regardless on base as far as underage drinking, disorderly conduct and disrespect. It's a main charactor flaw of any branch regardless, just for the simple fact that some people have different standards and different ways they grew up and discipline, if that makes sense. No matter what someone is always going to get into some kind of trouble...the only way to cut down on this is to break the personel that have the charactoristics of being the type of person to lead others into trouble, but at the same time it's not our way to just single out certain people unless they really screwed the pooch. And some people just have bad luck too, and are outstanding at what they do...but they border on the line of good and bad and decide to push it a little too much. I don't think there is any solution for straightening out all the service members that screw up...sometimes it just happens, and sometimes it'll happen more in one place than any other...and that's just it right there.