For many years, the 18th Force Support Squadron has been proud to deliver some of the most robust quality-of-life programs in the Air Force. Across 52 different activities, our mission has always been simple: take care of Okinawa DoW community. We know our programs matter. They are part of what makes Kadena feel like home.

As the executive leader of the 18 FSS, I want to be transparent about the future of our programs, the changes you are seeing today with more to come in the future, and why those changes are necessary to protect the services our community has come to know and love.

If you were hear prior to COVID you probably remember the many A list entertainers, numerous other facilities, FREE DOMO days and numerous other low and lost cost offerings and membership benefits

Fast forward to today, and the environment looks very different, and will change even more in the future.

Over the past several years, the financial landscape has changed dramatically. For many years, numerous programs were supported by federal subsidies, higher headquarters financial injections, strong slot revenues, and local dividends that helped offset the true cost of operations. Those revenue streams have all but gone away over the last 2 years. Now, most MWRs have to rely on their own sales to recapitalize and offer programs; we simply don’t get the offsets we were all used to in the past.

To complicate that more, the cost of nearly everything has increased massively across everything we do. The cost of food, supplies, equipment, shipping, utilities, maintenance, and daily operations has risen sharply and labor costs have also increased, which is a good and necessary thing for taking care of our employees, but it also increases the cost of providing services to the community.

We have also seen reductions in government-funded positions with 13 key position reductions last year which we still have not recovered from, and which means we are now carrying overhead costs and workload challenges that we did not have to absorb in the past. All of these factors combined represent several million dollars in either reduced revenue or increased costs. That model is simply not sustainable for the future.

Our greatest challenge ahead is infrastructure.

“Over the past several years, the financial landscape has changed dramatically”

The 18 FSS has been devastatingly impacted by aging buildings and a spalling crisis across Kadena. In the last three years, we have lost nearly 25 percent of our facility space because of safety-related closures. That loss affects how we operate, where we can provide services and how we plan for the future. It’s also in almost all cases not a bill our senior leaders can decide to fund and will have to be built by our own profits from our businesses.

As an example, our new Outdoor Recreation facility, scheduled to open in 2028, is projected to cost nearly $16 million. Beyond that, we have several other major construction and sustainment requirements ahead, including a central warehouse, golf course irrigation replacement, marina facilities and other critical infrastructure needs. Together, these future requirements approach nearly $185M.

This is why we must change.

To overcome these challenges and protect the future of FSS programs, we are taking a hard look at everything we do and how we deliver it. If a program cannot sustain itself, we may have to adjust it, scale it, restructure it, or in some cases, divest from it. That does not mean the program lacks value. It means we must ensure that today’s operations do not consume the funds needed to build tomorrow’s capabilities.

We will also have to review prices and fees annually to keep pace with the cost of labor, products, supplies, and operations. We will have to conduct in depth-reviews of membership programs and benefits to ensure they are balanced with the revenue required to support them.

“To overcome these challenges and protect the future of FSS programs, we are taking a hard look at everything we do and how we deliver it.”

Right now, many of those areas are still out of balance.

We understand that price increases and program changes are difficult. No one enjoys paying more. No one wants to see a favorite event reduced, changed or discontinued. We know these decisions affect our community, routines, traditions and expectations. But we also know that avoiding these decisions today would create a much harder future for those who come after us.

This is not unique to Kadena. Across the world, businesses are facing the same pressure. Restaurants, bars, entertainment venues, recreation providers and service-based organizations are all confronting rising costs, changing customer habits, labor challenges and the need to remain solvent. Every day, we see businesses forced to close because the cost of operating has grown faster than the revenue needed to sustain them. Our responsibility is to make sure that does not happen to the quality-of-life programs that support Kadena.

The good news is that we have a plan, and we are already seeing progress. Last year, we experienced financial losses overall for the first time in our history. This year, because of strategic changes, research, reviews and, in some cases, reductions, we are seeing major improvements. These actions are not easy, but they are working. They are helping us stabilize today so we can invest in tomorrow.

As we continue this process, our pledge to you is simple: we will keep evaluating what we do, how we do it, when we do it and how we can bring new, relevant and meaningful programs to the community. We will continue listening to your feedback. We will continue looking for creative solutions. We will continue pursuing programs that are exciting, sustainable and aligned with the needs of Kadena Air Base.

Every member of the FSS family is committed to serving this community. We are proud of the role we play in providing quality-of-life programs to Airmen, families, civilians, retirees and mission partners across the installation.

We also understand that change is hard. Some changes may not feel welcome in the moment. But we believe those who come after us will be thankful that we had the courage to make the decisions necessary to preserve these programs for the future. Our goal is not to do less for Kadena.

Our goal is to ensure that Kadena continues to have quality-of-life programs for generations to come.

Thank you for your continued support, your understanding, your feedback and your trust as we build the future of the 18th Force Support Squadron together.

Frequently asked questions

What happened to the bingo program at Kadena?

We took a break to relocate the program to Jack’s Place ballroom, which allows us to ensure it runs consistently and is not canceled because of Rocker special events, except for the month of December (for holiday parties), and to reinvest with exciting twists and technology. We also upgraded many features and services of the program which we think you’ll really enjoy.

What is the future of club membership?

That’s a great question and one we are studying very closely. Membership is good for the community, but losing $20K a month more than the dues bring in is not and must be re-looked. With more than 15 different discount programs across our spectrum, there simply are too many no cost perks and just like every other membership program across the business world, we are re-looking at our offerings to figure out the right balance or we will have to divest in the membership benefits, but continue to operate an amazing facility.

Why did you close the O Club?

We had to find space to accommodate other FSS programs where spalling or facility safety closures required us to either divest in the program or find a new location. As we looked across our enterprise, the trend of financial losses at the Officers Club coupled with the space we could repurpose was very evident. Now partially open while we continue construction, our ODR sales, Information Ticket and Tours, Bingo, Jacks Lounge (and private event space) Slot Machines and Jacks Place Brewing Zhyvago’s will offer another community space that fit together to serve our customers.

Why are all the playground at CDCs and SACs closed?

Our playgrounds have been down for years because of funding and resources! The money for these types of construction does not come locally and is centralized at the Air Force level where annually they assess the greatest need across the Air Force. The good news is that we have finally come to point and we just received $3.7M to begin to fix them in the coming year. The bad news is it was only half of what was needed, so we are seeking to be included in another future round. For now, the Wakaba and Niko Niko will receive the projects.

What are your major projects coming up and how much do you anticipate them to cost?

In early 2028, our new Outdoor Recreation facility will be completed. At a cost of $16M, the facility will feature state-of-the-art services, a new warehouse area and will be located centrally in the base right next to the Schilling Recreation Center.

We need to replace a Non Appropriated Fund 40K square-foot warehouse that was condemned in 2025 and will hold all of our equipment, materials, food and supplies. Most of our things right now are packed in closets and any available space we had and the equipment has been out in the weather, which isn’t good given the severe weather environment we operate in. That cost of that construction alone is estimated to be $120M.

The Banyan Tree Golf Course irrigation system is at the end of its useful life and only working at a fraction of its capability. A new $4M system is currently in design and should be replaced in 2028. The golf course is a huge contributor to our ability to serve the community so it needs to be recapitalized and upgraded as needed.

We have the largest grossing Chili’s operation in the world, but the massive volume produces massive impacts on the facility and equipment. We already see some of those impacts today with frequent outages of some of our equipment and facility issues. We will fix that starting in January 2027 with a $700K renovation in the front and back of the house.

Our Marina is in need of both a new facility and a new boat. We run a plethora of programs out of the facility but it has not been renovated or refreshed in more than 10 years. If we don’t fix that soon, we won’t have those water programs as the boat is past it’s useful life and in dire need of major repairs or replacements and there are parts of the Marina where employees are stepping through floors on occasion. Our projected expenses to replace the boat are in the range of $1M and we are in the process of exploring alternative portable built facilities to replace the current one which we estimate at $700K.

Why is Arts and Crafts so much smaller than it used to be?

In the fall of 2025, the roof started falling throughout the Arts and Crafts center, and within a week, the facility was condemned. We had a major decision at the time to either divest of the services or find a place to put them. That led us to renovate the Schilling Community Center to accommodate a smaller scale operation which is doing much better financially now and has a bright future outlook.

Why aren’t there more pool hours for the community? There are two pools available and they could be open year-around in Okinawa.

Pools are extremely expensive to operate and serve a diverse group of passionate users, each with different needs and preferences. While there is strong demand for additional pool time, expanding hours requires balancing those community needs with the significant costs of operating and maintaining the pools. Fitness swimmers, military training requirements, swimming lessons, swimming teams and recreational programs all compete for the use of the pool, which can make it very hard to balance everyone’s desires. The Air Force places aquatics programs in a category where they are funded almost exclusively with Appropriated Funds. Just like every other program around the installation that receives these funds, budgets have continued to trend down over the past few years. This is a problem across the Air Force in general and many bases have closed their pool programs; our intent is to continue to find ways to serve everyone who wants to use the pool.

What happened to all the concerts Kadena used to have? MCCS still does major shows for their special events.

This is a common million dollar question; pun intended. Kadena was home to some of the best DoD live entertainment on the planet literally holding more than a million dollar Usher concert several years ago. There were also numerous funding streams and a different cost factors during that time which made it possible. I can’t in good faith you put on A list, high-cost concerts knowing we need $175M in future construction projects and that some programs would be impacted by the service we can offer. Instead, we will continue to lobby Armed Forces Entertainment and hope for some additional USO shows in the future.

Article: Blaine Miller, 18 FSS Director