Naval Base Yokosuka: The Largest U.S. Navy Base in the Pacific, and the Home of the Forward Deployed Fleet
On Tokyo Bay in Kanagawa Prefecture, about forty miles south of Tokyo, Fleet Activities Yokosuka is the largest United States Navy installation in the Pacific and the headquarters of the U.S. Seventh Fleet. It is the homeport of the Navy's only forward deployed carrier and the destroyers of Destroyer Squadron 15, it runs one of the busiest ship repair operations in the Navy, and it is where NCIS bases its headquarters for all of Japan. For a Sailor in trouble, that concentration of fleet command, law enforcement, and legal machinery on one base is exactly the problem.
A forward deployed fleet command cannot be seen tolerating misconduct so visibly, so close to the host nation, and it charges accordingly. And in Japan there is a second danger most Sailors never think about until it lands on them: under the Status of Forces Agreement, the Japanese authorities can pursue the same off base incident at the same time the Navy does, and the Japanese criminal system works nothing like ours. A case connected to Yokosuka is a fight for a career, a retirement, and sometimes freedom, and the only way to win it is to deny the prosecution the easy conviction it expects and make it prove every element of what it has charged. The SOFA allocates primary jurisdiction and limits a second trial for the same offense; overlapping investigations do not mean that both countries may freely try the same charge.
The Destroyer That Charged the Battle Fleet
No story belongs to a fleet of destroyers the way this one does. On October 25, 1944, off the island of Samar, Commander Ernest E. Evans and his destroyer USS Johnston found themselves and a handful of small escorts standing between a fleet of escort carriers and the most powerful surface force the Japanese had left, battleships and heavy cruisers bearing down on them. Evans did not run. He turned the Johnston straight into them, alone at first, charging a battle line many times his weight to buy the carriers time, firing and launching torpedoes and drawing the enemy's guns onto his own ship. The action he started helped turn that fleet back from a battle it should have won. The Johnston went down, and Evans was later lost after being seen alive in the water. He became the first Native American Sailor to receive the Medal of Honor. He attacked an enemy he could not match because the people behind him needed the time, and that is exactly the standard we bring to a fight at Yokosuka.
Why Sailors at Yokosuka Fly Us In
For this firm the Pacific is not an occasional trip; it is the core of the practice. Tim Bilecki closed out his time in uniform as the Army's Senior Defense Counsel for the Trial Defense Service across the Pacific Rim, defending service members throughout Korea, Okinawa, and mainland Japan, and he carried that work into a civilian practice that has stayed anchored in this theater ever since. A government lawyer at Yokosuka who learns that kind of Pacific counsel has flown in knows the easy conviction is no longer on the table.
What you are up against is a system that was never built to find the truth. It exists to preserve discipline, and overseas it does that by making a public example of someone, because a ruined career reassures the host nation and the headquarters keeping score. A serious case at Yokosuka is investigated by NCIS, whose Japan headquarters sits on this base, and for sexual assault, domestic violence, and other covered offenses the decision to refer charges to a court martial no longer belongs to your command; it goes to an independent Special Trial Counsel in the Navy's Office of Special Trial Counsel. Your detailed defense counsel from the Defense Service Office may be capable and committed, but works a heavy caseload inside that same system, which is why Sailors who are serious about the fight bring in their own counsel.
UCMJ Charges We Defend at Yokosuka
We handle every type of court martial at Yokosuka. The charges below are the ones we see most, not the only ones we take.
Sexual Assault and Sex Offenses (UCMJ Article 120 / Article 134). The Navy runs its SAPR program at Yokosuka under intense institutional pressure. An allegation is often treated as established before the investigation is finished, and where the evidence will not support a charge, the command falls back on administrative separation. Sailors have also learned that a complaint can redirect an investigation or buy a transfer off a ship, and a command focused on showing it takes every report seriously is in no position to weigh motive. These cases route to an independent Special Trial Counsel now, and they demand counsel who will investigate independently and contest the case early, before charges are preferred.
Fraud and Larceny (UCMJ Article 121 / Article 107). Housing allowance fraud is common at overseas bases, and at Yokosuka it usually starts with a Sailor drawing OHA against a lease in the expensive Kanagawa housing market, or BAH set by a dependent's stateside address, where an auditor later decides the rent, the residence, or the dependent's location does not match the paperwork. Because the housing form is what authorizes the rate, the government charges it as larceny under Article 121 and as a false official statement under Article 107, the same paperwork serving as both the theft and the lie. The government still has to prove intent, and a finance office error, bad guidance, or a family that genuinely moved is not a scheme. We defend BAH and OHA fraud, larceny, wrongful appropriation, and conspiracy to defraud.
Domestic Violence and Assault (UCMJ Articles 128b and 128). Domestic violence under Article 128b has become one of the largest parts of our caseload, and a base with this many families sees a great deal of it. Since the Office of Special Trial Counsel took these cases over it is charged as aggressively as any offense in the UCMJ. It covers a spouse, an intimate partner, or a family member, and makes strangulation or suffocation a separate, serious charge even when there is little or no visible injury. A qualifying conviction also triggers the federal Lautenberg firearms bar, which can end a Navy career because the job requires being able to carry a weapon. We also defend assault under Article 128. Self defense is a recognized defense, and what actually happened often looks different from the first report once the evidence comes in.
Drug Offenses (UCMJ Article 112a). Japan enforces some of the strictest drug laws in the developed world, and a substance bought off the local economy or shipped into the country can bring both a court martial and a Japanese prosecution that is far harsher than anything stateside. A positive urinalysis or a possession allegation is serious but not the end of the fight. The chain of custody can be challenged, innocent ingestion is a recognized defense, and the government still has to prove that any use or possession was knowing and wrongful. The overlap of military and Japanese jurisdiction is exactly why you want counsel involved before you say a word.
Military Specific Offenses (UCMJ Articles 87a, 92, 134, and more). A forward deployed fleet generates its own charges, from an unauthorized absence when a Sailor misses a ship's movement to the offenses that start on liberty. Most of those begin in the Honch, the bar district on Dobuita Street one block off the main gate that has served Yokosuka Sailors since the 1950s, where the Navy works the crowd with the Shore Patrol. Because the Shore Patrol is designated to perform police duties, it can apprehend a Sailor, so resisting or fleeing it can be charged as resisting apprehension under Article 87a and disobeying its order as a violation of Article 92, while an incident involving a Japanese national draws the Japanese police. Stack a curfew or off limits violation, a drunk and disorderly under Article 134, and conduct unbecoming on top, and one night becomes a charge sheet built to inflate the punishment. Every specification still has to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt on its own, and we challenge each one.
A Mistake on Liberty Shouldn't Sink a Career
Not every Sailor who calls us from Japan is innocent, and we do not pretend otherwise. Some made a bad decision and know it. That does not mean they have to accept the worst the system can hand out, prosecuted by a command eager to turn one case into a warning for the rest of the fleet. Rank does not decide whether you need a firm like ours; the seriousness of the case does. If a matter is genuinely minor, your Defense Service Office counsel can handle it, and we will tell you so honestly.
But when the case is serious, everything is on the line at once: your career, your retirement, your good name, and your freedom. A court martial conviction is a federal criminal conviction. Under the sentencing rules now in force it can mean confinement a judge has little discretion to avoid, a punitive discharge that follows you for life, and on a sex offense a place on a registry, no matter your rank. That is why you fight, and the system is counting on you not to.
If you are facing an investigation or court martial connected to Yokosuka, reach out for a free defense strategy session. We will fly to Japan, tell you exactly what you are facing, and lay out how we would defend it. The government is already building its case. The only question is whether anyone is building yours.
Cases Connected to Yokosuka
These cases include trials, hearings, investigations, and administrative matters. A connection to this location does not necessarily mean that the trial occurred here.
- Case connected to this location: Sailor Accused of Assault by Sex Partner, Bilecki Exposes What Really Occurred
- Article 32 hearing: Female Marine Gets with a Married NCO, Alleges Rape, Bilecki Secures Acquittal
- Article 32 hearing: Navy NCO Gets with Sailor and Her Friend, Faces Rape Charge, Bilecki Exposes Lie
- Case connected to this location: Navy Chief Faces Sex Assault Allegation from Junior Sailor, Charges Averted
- Case connected to this location: Bilecki Advocates for NJP in BAH Fraud Case, No Charges Preferred
- Case connected to this location: Bilecki Exposes False Sexual Assault Allegations, Navy NCO Fully Acquitted
- Case connected to this location: Sailor Facing 75 Years for Smuggling Drugs to USS Ronald Reagan Gets 10 Months
- Case connected to this location: Navy NCO Faces Sex Assault, Talks Himself Out to NCIS, Learns Mistake Hard Way
- Administrative separation board: Chief Faces Assault Charges After Mixed Signals, Bilecki Leads Legal Battle
- Case connected to this location: Attempted Sexual Assault of a Minor, Multiple Charges | Yokosuka, Japan | June 2017 | Case Results
- Case connected to this location: Night of Drinking Ends in Motel and Sex Assault Allegations, Bilecki Exposes Lie
- Case connected to this location: Bilecki Ensures Better Outcome for Sailor Involved in Two NCIS Child Sex Stings
- Case connected to this location: Three-Specification Article 120 Case From Manila Port Call Narrowed to One Specification at Yokosuka General Court-Martial; 18 Months Adjudged After Plea Agreement Reduced Confinement Exposure to 1 to 30 Months
- Case connected to this location: Bilecki Negotiates 18-Month Plea for Sailor in Long-Delayed Child Porn Case
FAQ
NCIS wants to interview me at Yokosuka. Do I have to talk to them?
No, and not without counsel. NCIS, whose Japan headquarters is right here on the base, works for the command and the prosecution, not for you, so under Article 31b of the UCMJ you should stay silent and ask for a lawyer before a single question. For covered offenses like sexual assault, the decision to refer charges to a court martial no longer belongs to your command but to an independent Special Trial Counsel in the Navy's Office of Special Trial Counsel. An off base incident involving a Japanese national can also draw the Japanese authorities under the Status of Forces Agreement, and a statement to one system can surface in the other. Decline the interview, ask for counsel, and call a lawyer before you say anything.
I was detained by the Japanese police off base. What happens now?
It is both, and the Japanese side is the one most Sailors are not prepared for. Under the Status of Forces Agreement the Japanese authorities hold the primary right to prosecute most off base offenses against Japanese nationals, and their system is very different from ours: police and prosecutors can hold and interrogate a suspect for up to roughly twenty three days before any charge is filed, often without a lawyer in the room, with heavy pressure to produce a confession. If the service member is already in U.S. custody, the SOFA generally permits the United States to retain custody until Japanese indictment, subject to arrangements for earlier transfer, but that is exactly the window where the damage is done. You can be facing the Japanese process and a court martial over the same night, and a statement to either one can sink both, so get experienced counsel and command and consular help involved immediately, before you talk to anyone.
A night in the Honch ended with the Shore Patrol or a fight. How serious is that here?
More serious than the same night would be stateside. The Honch, on Dobuita Street just off the gate, is the heart of Yokosuka liberty, and the Navy works it with the Shore Patrol, which can apprehend, so a scuffle, a refusal to comply, or a curfew violation can become charges under Articles 87a, 92, and 134 before you leave the district. When a Japanese national is involved the command treats it as a potential international incident and tends to assume the worst about the Sailor, even when a local started it. What actually happened usually looks different once the night is reconstructed from witnesses and any video instead of from whoever reached the authorities first, which is exactly the work a prepared defense does early.
My ship is about to deploy and I am under investigation. What happens to me and to the case?
It depends on the charge and where you are in the process, and it is a decision you want counsel involved in rather than left to the command. A Sailor under investigation may be held back from a deployment, pulled to the beach, or restricted, and an unauthorized absence or a missed ship's movement is its own offense under the UCMJ, so simply not showing up is never the answer. Jurisdiction follows you and your status, not the ship, so the case does not disappear when the ship sails. The practical risk is that witnesses and the crew who can help you deploy out of reach for months, which is one more reason to get counsel engaged early, while the people and the evidence are still here.