US Marines teamed up with the Philippines and Japan to practice hitting the beach

What goes on in Pi stays in PI. Lol

Or a Sailor! PO1 William "Chip" Nagel

Olongapo City/Subic Bay was one of the last great liberty ports (Pohang, South Korea, during the big exercises, too). Not so much anymore. I was last there in '89 and when I'd crossed the "Ditch of Death" from the base to OC, I thought somebody should have put up a sign that said "Abandon all hope you who enter here." I heard loud music, screams, and what I thought were occasional gunshots coming from up Magsaysay Street, and the bar scene was certainly wild-and-wooly, anything-goes. Then, in 1992 Mount Pinatubo erupted and trashed the Subic Bay Naval Base (and Clark Air Base) and the Philippine Senate refused to extend the US-RP security agreement, which meant the US lost its Philippine Bases. When Subic Bay closed, I read that when the last ship pulled out with the Marines, all the B-girls came to the pier to wave goodbye to their boyfriends. After that, Olongapo City lost a third of its population when all the B-girls went home for lack of business. The US was kind of miffed at the Philippines for shutting down the bases and there were no exercises or ship visits for several years (much lost income and aid for the RP from that), but that period passed in the late 90s and exercises now go on as they always have. However, several adverse incidents involving Marines and Sailors have put the clamps on the liberty scene, as PACOM has imposed strict restrictions on liberty. Not to mention that terrorism in the Philippines has gotten worse. Exercises have gotten smaller, too, as the current Philippine administration has backed off a bit from the US.