We share in that burden, having anywhere from 100 to 500 people or more deployed at any one point supporting those on-going operations. We must ensure that the ops tempo supporting these missions and our critical mission here in Japan is met without risking the safety of our people or Japanese citizens. A new development that will help us address ops tempo concerns is the creation of the expeditionary aerospace force. This force consists of 10 aerospace expeditionary forces comprising fighters, bombers and other aircraft stationed at various locations which can be quickly picked up and deployed around the globe. These rapidly responsive forces will be light and lean, tailored to specific mission needs, and are formed in a way to sustain known deployments while hedging against the unknown.
Stability is just one of many areas affecting the quality of life for our people.
Living in Japan is expensive. The air force recognizes that fact and gives a substantial cost of living allowance to our people. Another contributor and probably our greatest asset in addressing quality of life enhancements is the host nation support provided by the government of Japan. In addition to providing facilities and areas for us to operate, Japan contributes a substantial amount of funds to the U.S. Military here. These funds go toward a variety of programs including utilities cost sharing, Labor cost sharing for the 24,000 Japanese nationals who work on our bases, And government subsidies.