Our Family of 6 was able to fly for free to Okinawa Japan using the Military SpaceAvailable Program.

I also share some of the great Military facilities and amenities that MWR has to offer to Military Families in Okinawa, like the Okuma Beach Resort ($85/night for a 6Person Suite) and Navy Getaways White Beach ($55/night for a 6Person Cabin).

7Day Itinerary:

* Day1: Kadena AF Base
* Day2: Okuma Beach Swimming, Shell Collecting & Hermit Crab Hunting
* Day3: Okuma Beach – JetSki ($35), WakeBoarding ($35), Brick Oven Pizza, Golf Cart Ride ($45/day), Okuma Nature Hike
* Day4: Kouri Island – Heart Shape Rock, Kouri Shrimp, TaTaki Waterfall Water Hike (¥800 Parking Fee, ¥500 if renting Water shoes)
* Day5: Naha – Playgrounds, Street Shops at Makishi Public Market
* Day6: Navy Getaways White Sands – Awesome Playground, Akuna Beach, Kafu Banta, Salt Factory Tour
* Day7: Kadena – Katsuren Castle Ruins ( ¥600A,¥400C, Under6Free), Araha Park, American Village
* Day8: Naga – Churaumi Aquarium ( ¥2180A, ¥1440HS, ¥710ES,Under6Free)

On 2 December, my wife and I and our 4 kids flew out of Yokota AF Base on the Patriot Express (Very Similar to Commercial Aircraft, with stewardesses, lunch, etc.) to Kadena AF Base in Okinawa. The Plane did make a stop in Iwakuni Japan first to let off/on some passengers. We flew back to Mainland Japan on 11 December also on the patriot express, I was hoping to catch a smaller military aircraft for the experience, but there were no missions with spaceavailable going out the week we were there.

I needed three signed forms in order to use SpaceA as a DoD Civilian working overseas. My Orders (TCS/PCS), EML (Environmental and Morale Leave) Form, and OPM 71 (Request for Leave form).

Once arrived at the passenger terminals of the AF Base, I had to show these three forms, as well as my wife and I`s CAC card, and all 6 of our official passports.

SpaceA is a privilege and not guaranteed, we didn't get confirmed boarding tickets until 2 hours before the flight took off. On the way out there was 119 seats available, 8 of which were taken. On our flight home there was 44 Seats available, 9 of which were taken.

SpaceA Passengers are prioritized by your category level, there are 6 levels, and we were a very high category II because we had the signed EML form (Active Duty don't typically need EML form signed and won't unless they know they are going to need to compete for seats (Christmas Time/Peak Seasons), but Active Duty can usually only use EML twice a year. DoD Civilians always have to fly EML). After Category level, they widdle down who gets to go on the remaining seats based on the time they signed up for that particular terminal for the SpaceA program. You Sign up by emailing the terminal as soon as your approved leave begins (You cannot sign up before your leave begins, unless you are retired military then you can sign up anytime you want, but within 60days of flight). Luckily we were traveling offpeak season so there were many seats available.

You can find flights by searching for your nearest Passenger terminal at https://www.amc.af.mil/AMCTravelSit... . And then looking at their 30day, and detailed 72hour schedule. You can see historically if flights have been full by looking at their roll call reports.

We paid $0 for the flights, even the sandwiches they fed us and drinks they provided were complimentary. We were allowed up to two checked bags per person. AF Base Terminals had long term parking for cars available. And all the bases we went to had Hotels/Inns on the base we could stay at, we stayed at the Shogun Inn ($144/night for a 2bedroom) at Kadena when we arrived and the day before we departed. Also while at Okinawa we stayed at MWR OKUMA Beach Resort (Military Only Resort) with relatively cheap accommodations ($85/night for a 6person suite) and lots of activities like Jet Skiing ($35 for 2 ppl/20min), Wakeboarding ($35 for 4ppm/20min), Snorkeling ($6/Day Rental Gear), Golf Cart Rental ($45/day), GoKart ($6/5min), etc. We ended up renting a minivan through BC Used Car Garage (¥27,900/week) which is a 8minute taxi ride (¥700) from Gate 2 in Kadena, it was about a third of the price of OnBase Times and other nearby Rental Companies were charging.

Follow along our year long Japan Adventure:    • Japan Year Long Adventure