FLEET ACTIVITIES YOKOSUKA, Japan — A new smoothie bar and a $1 million fitness zone are the latest upgrades aimed at improving quality of life for sailors stationed at this sprawling naval base, homeport of the 7th Fleet.
Capt. Jonathan L. Hopkins, commander of Fleet Activities Yokosuka, cut a ceremonial ribbon July 15 to mark the grand opening of Blendz, a new eatery in the James D. Kelly Fleet Recreation Center Food Court. The Morale, Welfare and Recreation addition offers smoothies and healthy options.
Just weeks earlier, on June 26, Hopkins opened a dedicated zone for the Navy Operational Fitness and Fueling System at Purdy Fitness Center. The zone features a turf area for sled pushes and sprints, cardio machines, weights and a recovery area for foam rolling and stretching.
The NOFFS program, launched in 2009, is the Navy’s official exercise and nutrition regimen. It aims to prepare sailors for the physical demands of their jobs — lifting, pushing, carrying — while reducing injury risk and improving readiness, according to MWR.
“The purpose of NOFFS was to create something that was easy for anybody to follow,” said Michael Motohashi, the base’s MWR fitness director. “A workout program could be very complicated, but we take away all the questions and just follow the simple system.”
Motohashi noted that the Navy’s body composition failure rate has been rising for 15 years. In the active component, 27% of sailors failed the body composition assessment, according to a 2025 Defense Department report. The service requested $67 million for fitness programs in fiscal year 2027 to address the trend.
Other recent improvements at Yokosuka include 24-hour operations at Purdy Fitness Center and Fleet Gym, a $15 million renovation of Purdy’s HVAC system, a satellite Liberty Center and NEX Micro Mart in Unaccompanied Housing, multi-million dollar renovations to flooring, windows and electrical systems in UH, and ongoing construction of four new UH complexes.
Naval Installations Command plans to bring NOFFS zones to every installation, with Naval Air Facility Atsugi next in line, Motohashi said.
Chief Petty Officer Justin Williams, an information systems technician with Naval Computer and Telecommunications Station Far East, said the zone helps him prepare his sailors for the semiannual physical fitness assessment. “I do like it,” Williams said. “You can achieve the same type of intensity and frequency that you would be able to get in another setting.”
