YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — The military’s budget squeeze shouldn’t affect schools for children of troops stationed overseas, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter told about 300 troops and family members gathered at a Yokota youth center Thursday.
Standing in front of a large sign that read “Team Work,” Carter told his audience that they were a big part of the reason why Asia is relatively peaceful and prosperous compared with “the mess in the Middle East.”
“You are part of a winning formula out here,” he told the troops and their families.
He thanked the military kids for supporting their parents.
“By doing that you are sticking up for the whole country,” said Carter, who was making his first trip to the Pacific as defense secretary.
Children of servicemembers move around more than other American kids, but they also have the chance to understand different cultures and make friends around the world, he said.
One of those in attendance, Air Force Capt. Jake Roney, brought up the cost-cutting measures under consideration for military retirement and commissaries. The military is trimming its budget drastically under sequestration, and Roney asked Carter if there were plans to make changes to the Defense Department schools.
The defense secretary said changes to military benefits are being carefully considered and won’t happen suddenly. He didn’t directly address the possibility of changes in how the Department of Defense Education Activity operates in the U.S., but he said there are more opportunities for military children to go to schools off-base there.
“We know you want your kids going to school in an environment that you know is safe and is high quality and with other kids who will be lifelong friends,” he said. “I don’t see us making changes in our overseas schools.”
However, another audience member, Air Force Master Sgt. Miguel Saucedo, told Carter that he thought there were more opportunities for military kids in the U.S. High schools in Japan are cutting back on football, basketball, baseball and wrestling competitions to save money. Officials haven’t responded to parents' complaints, he said.
Saucedo told Carter that if he’d known about the limited school sports for military kids in Japan, he would have opted for a different assignment or left his family in the U.S.
“That gap between us and the States isn’t getting closer,” he said. “It’s getting wider.”
In an interview after the meeting, DODEA’s Japan District Superintendent Lois Rapp said that there was a reduction in high school sports events several years ago, but there haven’t been cuts recently.
From Yokota, Carter had planned to fly to South Korea where he will meet with that country’s military leaders on Friday.
Twitter: @SethRobson1
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