What is a Red or Gold Liberty Card on Okinawa?

[rftummi]

Hello Marines,

Recently on Facebook, I was talking to a friend of mine whom I went to high school with is in the Air Force and is currently stationed at Kadena Air Base on Okinawa. He and a few fellow Airmen got in a little trouble I guess the other day for forgetting their "Gold Cards" before trying to leave the base to go out for the night in Naha (I guess that's the town next to Kadena or something). I asked him what a Gold Card was, and he just said it's your Liberty Card and its either Gold or Red and it should always be in your wallet next to your military ID card if you are based in Okinawa. He wouldn't emphasize much further, except that he said the local Japanese police and locals get really upset if you don't have it "due to past incidents from US service members".

I haven't found much about this subject, if anything at all on this site. I did a Google search too, but all ended up pretty being pretty vague. So I guess my real question is: What is a Liberty Card exactly, is it issued to Marines as well, and is it really that serious if you are caught without a Liberty card? Also, what is the difference between Red and Gold cards, and why do the Japanese on Okinawa get so angry if you don't have a Liberty Card on you? Do you just get in trouble from the Japanese police, or is it more serious if the MP's catch you without it. I wouldn't think of leaving the base without it if it's that serious. I just don't know what a Liberty card is, and I don't understand why the Japanese get so mad apparently if you don't have it. I guess whatever those "past incidents" involving US troops were, they must have been bad for the Okinawa locals to hate US troops that much. Also do Commissioned Officers have to have these cards as well, or is it just Enlisted personnel?

Sorry for throwing a bunch of random questions out there and thanks for whatever answers I get, this is just more out of curiosity, plus I'm going in on an Air Wing contract, so there is a likely chance I'll get Okinawa one day possibly. Thanks again.

[Conch]

Yes it is important, therefore it needs to be in your wallet at all times. You are a guest in Japan, and you represent the United States of America. From what I understand there is very harsh resistance on Okinawa to US bases being there. Those "past incidents" as you put it, involve an Okinawan school girl being raped by several US Marines and a Navy sailor, and another rape of a Filipina woman on Okinawa being raped by a USMC Major, among other incidents involving members of the other services as well. So yes, the islanders do resent US troops for being there to a certain extent. You also have to earn your liberty card. You don't just get it as soon as you arrive. It is based on your behavior and conduct. Plus Japanese police are a lot more harsher than Military MP's. Japanese courts are a Hell of a lot more harsher as well. Any incident of misconduct by a US service member off post can be seen as "harmful" to Japanese-US relations and damaging to the SOFA (Status of Forces Agreement) between Japan and the United States.

[Omegaham]

I got a couple guys who PCS'd from Oki to here.

Liberty is a privilege, not a right. Normally, it's a privilege that's given to everyone except for people on restriction. However, in Okinawa, thanks to the locals hating us, they give varying degrees of liberty to different people.

No liberty card means you're not allowed off-base. Generally, when you screw up, your libo card is the first thing to go. If you're a real piece of garbage, they might even tell you that you have to be in the uniform of the day.

Red card means that you can be out until midnight.
Gold card means that you can be out until 2 in the morning on weeknights and stay out overnight on the weekends.

It's generally pretty easy to get a red card; just refrain from screwing up for a month, and you get it. A gold card, depending on the command and how much people have screwed up lately, is harder to get. It's usually given as a reward to the best Marines in the command, although some commands are lax and give it to everyone. Of course, if some guy in your command brings a 14-year-old home, they collect 'em. Such is mass punishment in the Corps.

If you don't have your libo card on you, they assume that you don't have liberty to begin with, and that you shouldn't be out in town. I doubt you'd get in any actual trouble, ("Hey, I forgot my libo card. I'm entitled to liberty, I just left it in my barracks room") but it would probably ruin your evening. Nothing kills your buzz like the police escorting you back to base.

[7051ARFF]

They pretty much said it. Im currently in Iwakuni, Japan and its the same here. Red Cards can stay out to midnight, that is you have to have it checked back in with the barracks Duty NCO BEFORE midnight. Gold Cards are given to NCO and higher and the top 10% of LCpl and below. So if your sh*t hot in your shop, they'll put in a PAR Form for you and then you normally have to go on a board and if you win you get a Gold Card. If not, you have to suck it up until you reach Corporal (or take Special Lib every chance you get, same thing as Gold Card). Hope it helps.

[rftummi]

Thank you for the answers Marines. It has helped my curiosity a little, and I know a little of what to expect if I were to ever get stationed there. I never honestly knew that the local population on Okinawa hated US troops that much though.

[SGT7477]

When I was there we never had any problems got along with the locals well, probably too well at times,lol, that was 1975-1976, the memories I will never forget,Semper Fidelis.

[awbrown1462]

yeah I was there in 73-74 and again from 76-77 had no cards but had to check out and in with Duty NCO and could stay over night only on weekends

[Big Boz]

Does anyone know when the liberty card started?

I was there in 94-95 and we did not have these.

[Omegaham]

Does anyone know when the liberty card started?

I was there in 94-95 and we did not have these.

Early 2000s; there was a string of rapes and assorted Marines being complete scumbags out in town (mugging, robbery, etc). The Japanese government got involved, and the CG instituted a policy so that only the better-trusted Marines would get liberty.

I'm pretty sure that Japan's the only place in the Fleet where you have libo cards; the only other commands that use them are training commands for MOS school. I had libo cards going through Pensacola, for the exact same reason; boots kept screwing up and getting arrested out in town.

[Radiofantry]

Honestly, I think it's a good idea and should probably be implemented in a lot of places.

[Theoldgunny]

Liberty cards go back to the 40's heck when I was on oki everyone had cindieral liberty

[Yonkers]

I'm here right now. Yes we still use the red libo cards and the covetted gold cards. If you're an NCO or above you pretty much fill out a bit of paperwork and if you're here for about 90 days you rate it. As for Lance Corporals like myself, only about 15% of eligible Lance Corporals will be selected to rate a Gold Card. They basically put you on a board-type situation, selecting the most promising. I'm going to submit my package on monday, so I'm crossing my fingers... but the odds are slim... 15% is better than nothing.

Red card: Can't be out past midnight, you MUST check in by then or you WILL see the SgtMaj on monday, if not that night also. Must have a liberty buddy, and you are responsible for his well-being and make sure that he makes it back with you. If something happens, say, your friend leaves you and goes back to his room and passes out drunk. You're standing on the quarterdeck pleading with the duty to not put it in the log book. He does. You failed to stay with your liberty buddy and properly sign in. You're seeing the SgtMaj and probably some rank is being taken... They don't mess around out here.

Gold card: You can stay out past midnight, but "must" go to a residence by 0200 if you're drinking. You don't have to check out with anyone, you're OFP... It's pretty hard to get in trouble on a gold card, unless you're stupid, in which case you shouldn't rate one.

Best of luck to you,

LCpl Yonkers

[Omegaham]

Honestly, I think it's a good idea and should probably be implemented in a lot of places.

Oh God, that'd suck.

The barracks is my home. The base is my neighborhood. I'd be really, really frustrated if I needed to check out with a libo buddy to go to freaking Walmart like I did when I was in Pensacola. That was gayer than Boy George.

I understand it happening with a training command. Guys are just out of boot camp, they're dumb as hell, etc. Start off with keeping them on-base, then let them off slowly, and then give them full liberty later on. I don't have a problem with that.

But out in the Fleet? I'm a grown-ass man. Someone wants to seriously tell me that I need a libo buddy to go on a date with a girl from back home, I'm going to put that logbook so far up his ass he'll be shi*ting pancakes.

When the CO of a base says "We're going to libo cards," he's saying, "My Marines are so out of control that we need to institute a liberty policy to keep the vast majority of them from going out." Is that needed in some places? Sure. Boots gonna boot, and apparently Oki Marines gonna rape, judging by how often they lock down the whole base. But for the vast majority of places, an Oki-style clampdown is not needed.

Hell, I have to leave base to go to work. They gonna check my libo card then, too?

One of the things that makes me howl with laughter is when SNCOs tell their Marines to "get out of the barracks" and then make it as hard as possible to get libo. When I was in Pensacola, the line to check out was 3 hours long on the weekends. I usually said "Yeeaaah... screw that" and stayed home. It was only after we disconnected the alarm from a fire escape that we started going out, obviously without having checked out.