FEN-Okinawa was originally an Army-run outlet from the days after the island was secured by US Forces in 1945 and signed-on as “Armed Forces Radio Station WXLH.” By March 1958, FEN-Okinawa operations were transferred to the local Air Force commander, making AFRT-Okinawa an independent station. In 1959, the remainder of Far East Network stations were administratively transferred from the Army to the Air Force, assigned to US Forces Japan (USFJ), with operational control delegated to 5th Air Force (5AF) headquarters at Yokota AB. In 1962, the 6120th Broadcasting Squadron was formed, and FEN was placed under its control.

With the reversion of Okinawa to Japan in May 1972, AFRT-Okinawa was transferred back to FEN control and once again became FEN Okinawa.

At one time FEN outlets spanned from Misawa AB in Hokkaido to Clark AB and NAVSTA Subic Bay, Philippines; and an short-lived FEN news gathering outfit at Hickam AFB, HI. By 1997, regional AFRTS networks such as FEN, SCN, AFCN, AFKN, SEB and AFN-Europe were disestablished, with all stations now under the American Forces Network (AFN) banner.

Programming at ALL AFRTS outlets was provided from the AFRTS Broadcast Center (AFRTS-BC), then located in North Hollywood (it would move in the late 1980s to Sun Valley, CA, then to its permanent home at March Air Reserve Base in Moreno Valley, CA in 1991). AFRTS is a DoD organization under the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs (OASD-PA), and is the broadcast arm of the American Forces Information Service (AFIS). Programs and music broadcast AFRTS outlets overseas to US Forces and American diplomatic personnel are provided either gratis or at administrative fee cost (about a fraction of what commercial network pays) from major programming distributors, networks and syndicators for the sole entertainment of the military audience.

All programming is distributed from AFRTS, where commercials and sponsor mentions are removed (where practical) and command information (CI) spot announcements are inserted in the place of commercials. Without commercials, an average 1-hour network TV program usually runs 48 to 49 minutes in length. AFRTS inserts about 8 minutes of network CI spots in the show breaks, with the remainder left to be filled locally by the affiliate.

Local commanders have little or no say in the programming content provided, but are alerted by AFRTS-BC if local sensitivities may arise from the airing of certain program materials. Religious programming aired on AFRTS outlets is reviewed by a staff chaplain assigned to AFRTS and must meet guidelines set by the Armed Forces Chaplains Board.

I am doing some research for a friend. I lived on Okinawa from 1961 to 1982. I am trying to remember the last name of the man who owned the construction company that rebuilt most of Okinawa, including the Okinawa Hilton. He owned the beautiful house at the end of the cul-de-sac near the hotel. Your grandfather could be the man I’m looking for. Was his last name DeMauro or Diamaru or something similar? I would certainly appreciate any help you could give me in my search.

I really was, at that time, into the Japanese sports cars (still am). Sad you weren’t able to net the car of YOUR dreams over there. That charger would have never fit my lifestyle over there with all of the racing we were doing and the complete inability to get parts unless they were mail ordered. I do wish I would have kept it though, just to haul the ladies around with. I ended up getting a Nissan Cedric for that!

At the height of my Kurama prowess on Okinawa, I owned a Skyline (74), a Kawasaki GPZ-750 (83), and a Nissan Cedric (79). I owned all of those from 83 to 85.

I remember hanging out at Nan’s, talking about Prince Charles and Diana’s Wedding. I remember playing in the park across the culvert and you making a “friend.”

I remember going back to Zwolle where I freaked the Grandparents out for taking off with my camera to take pictures. How they were afraid that I was going to get mugged in the town of 20. I remember fishing on Toledo bend and catching bass as they fed, catching 2 and 3 fish on a lure. I remember Grand Dad explaining that coke was much better than beer for fishing, and thinking that he was stating it too emphatically for him to really believe it.

I remember the trip back. Stopping in Hawaii overnight due to aircraft problems or something like that. I remember staying at a hotel and to get to the hotel, you forcing a taxi driver to take us the 1/2 mile down the road. I remember the taxi driver being mad as hell since he waited in the long queue only to get a minimal fare.

I remember getting a box of pineapples from the airport and thinking that these were the best pineapples I had ever tasted. And most of all, I remember using your ID to buy liquor leighs at the duty free shop. I remember presenting them to Dad when we got home as a present, and he being duly impressed that his 15 year old son was able to buy liquor at the airport shops. Oh and I remember how you and I took the bottles later and drank them ourselves.

And I remember losing elephie. I remember the two of us tried so hard to get back on the plane to get the doll. And the stewardess assuring us that the doll wasn’t there (although they didn’t really look). And yes I remember that moment being one of the saddest moments. It was a part of the family that got lost. And we all felt very responsible.

Yeah, the old dude that beat the drum! I forgot about that. I think that was the dude that lived in the house where all the chanting came from just past the little store (they weren’t outside very often).

Now, I’m getting back to my sites. I’ll be posting more soon! If you wanna continue arguing the time frames I might just have to start sending you my check stubs and postmarks and stuff (Yeah, I still got ‘em)