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Integrated deterrence: U.S. Marines, Japanese Soldiers complete biggest bilateral field exercise in Japan

Sgt. Kirstin Spanu/U.S. Marine Corps

The United States Marine Corps and Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) completed their largest-ever bilateral field training exercise in Japan as Resolute Dragon 21 concluded December 17, 2021.

More than 4,000 troops from the U.S. Marine Corps’ 3d Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, and the JGSDF’s 9th Division, North Eastern Army, rehearsed tactics, techniques and procedures for conducting expeditionary advanced base (EAB) operations. (Pictured: Japanese Soldiers and United States Marines prepare to receive an aerial resupply at Ojojihara Proving Grounds, Japan, during Resolute Dragon 21 in December 2021.)

Hundreds of additional troops from the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) and the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, U.S. Navy and U.S. Space Force supported the exercise, executing integrated operations across more than 2,900 kilometers of the Japanese archipelago and incorporating 12 EABs.

“This training is important to enhance interoperability between the U.S. and Japan — deepening mutual understanding of capabilities, equipment and fighting methods to mutually improve tactical skills,” said Col. Akira Kuroha, chief of staff of the JGSDF 9th Division.

Confronting freezing rain and snow, U.S. Marines and Japanese Soldiers executed aerial and ground insertions into multiple training areas to seize and secure key terrain, often in contested environments replicated through force-on-force and live-fire training scenarios.

These forces rapidly established EABs featuring capabilities including a bilateral ground tactical coordination center (BGTCC) responsible for synchronizing simulated strikes against maritime targets. The BGTCC coordinated multidomain efforts by leveraging sensor network interoperability, bilateral ground-based precision fires, U.S. Marine Corps and JASDF aircraft and the USS Ralph Johnson at sea.

“In Resolute Dragon, we are building the plan together, we are sharing the targeting data together, we are choosing the asset we will use to engage that target together, and then we are going after it,” said Maj. Ben Reading, fire support coordination officer for 4th Marines. “The BGTCC is where we come together with our allies to do all of that.”

Simultaneously, U.S. Marines and Japanese Soldiers nearly 320 kilometers away established bilateral fire direction centers and long-range precision fires capabilities. This enabled execution of simulated strikes against maritime targets and provided support to counterlanding operations by using the JGSDF’s surface-to-ship missile (SSM) systems and the U.S. Marine Corps’ high mobility artillery rocket system (HIMARS).

“We’re both learning a lot from each other, and we’re both bringing unique capabilities to this fight that reinforce our ability to prosecute targets anytime, anywhere,” said Capt. Jacob Amon, a field artillery officer and the fires EAB commander for U.S. troops in the exercise. “The JGSDF are professional, knowledgeable, and they’re really good at what they do.”

Resolute Dragon 21 operations culminated in a comprehensive multidomain maritime strike exercise that successfully employed SSMs and HIMARS as part of an integrated kill web executing real-time simulated fire missions against maritime targets. Land-, air- and sea-based sensing from U.S. and Japanese assets expanded battlefield awareness and provided data to confirm targets at sea, which the BGTCC processed to coordinate fire missions with assets operating across domains in support of sea denial.

“The United States military and the Japan Self-Defense Forces are a powerful team — equipped to integrate and operate across the spectrum of warfare and in all domains to ensure the defense of every piece of sovereign Japanese territory and defeat any threat to regional peace and security,” said Col. Matthew Tracy, commanding officer of 4th Marine Regiment. “For more than 60 years, we have stood together as the cornerstone of peace and security across the Indo-Pacific.”

 

IMAGE CREDIT: LANCE CPL. DIANA JIMENEZ/U.S. MARINE CORPS

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