The U. S. Marine Corps and the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force kicked off their annual Iron Fist Exercise this week.<\/b>
On Monday, the U. S. Marine Corps and the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force launched the 12th iteration of the amphibious warfare exercise Iron Fist 2017, held at Camp Pendleton and San Clemente Island in southern California.
The exercise involves 500 U. S. Marines of the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit and over 250 soldiers of the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force\u2019s Western Army Infantry Regiment. According to a U. S. Pacific Command press release, the exercise will include \u201cadvanced marksmanship, amphibious reconnaissance, landing, and assault operations.\u201d
The exercise is specifically designed to conduct combined amphibious warfare operations at the platoon, company, and battalion levels.
This year, a major emphasis will be laid on training Japanese soldiers in the use of the Assault Amphibious Vehicles (AAV) 7, designed for assaults on shorelines. It can transport both naval infantry \u2014 up to 24 marines \u2014 and cargo. As I reported elsewhere , Japan is expected to receive a total of 30 new AAVs by the end of this year.
\u201cWe have a lot to learn from this, especially the combined arms combat operations and we are ready to learn from the Marines here at Camp Pendleton,\u201d said Japanese Colonel Ryuji Toyota, the commanding officer of the Western Army Infantry Regiment. As I reported last January , Japan intends to stand up a new amphibious warfare brigade in 2017:
The Western Army Infantry Regiment, based in Sasebo in Nagasaki Prefecture, is the nucleus of this unit, I explained:
\u201cThe (\u2026) Western Army Infantry Regiment is helping to shape an amphibious readiness defense brigade,\u201d said Chandler Nelms, the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit commanding officer. \u201cThe Marine Corps is the only amphibious arm of the United States military that has expertise in amphibious operations.\u201d
Japan is slowly transforming its military into a lighter and more mobile force. The Japanese Ministry of Defense\u2019s 10-year National Program Guidelines allocated\u00a023.97 trillion yen ($199.5 billion) between 2014\u00a0and 2018 toward propping up the Japan Self-Defense Force\u2019s amphibious warfare capabilities.
The Iron Fist 2017 exercise will conclude on March 6.<\/p>\n