Retired Air Force general Jerry Martinez speaks about his new show, "Defending Japan," during a screening at the New Sanno Hotel in Tokyo, Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes)

TOKYO — A former commander of U.S. Forces Japan has a new gig as host of a History Channel program about the defense of America’s most powerful Indo-Pacific ally.

Jerry Martinez retired from the Air Force as a lieutenant general in February 2019 after a 33-year career that included a stint at the helm of USFJ in western Tokyo. He walked the red carpet Tuesday evening at the New Sanno Hotel to promote his new show: “Defending Japan.”

“We have to look at who Japan’s neighbors are — China, Russia and North Korea,” he told Stars and Stripes at the event. “There’s no other country in the world that has three neighbors right on their borders like that. This is a tough neighborhood.”

Retired Air Force general Jerry Martinez, second from right, attends a screening of his new show, "Defending Japan," at the New Sanno Hotel in Tokyo, Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes)

Clips from the show, which kicked off its second season in December, played on big screens inside the hotel’s ballroom. Troops emerged from helicopters, fighter jets roared and missiles blasted skyward on screen while entertainment and defense industry insiders mingled over a buffet and drinks.

The show highlights the role played by U.S. and Japanese military personnel, their equipment, the defense industry, the Japanese government and its friends and allies as they work to secure the country from attack, Martinez said.

His involvement with “Defending Japan” started with an on-camera interview for the show’s first season while he was still with the Air Force. In 2019, he spoke at an award ceremony for the show in Hollywood. That led to an offer to host the second season.

The show includes scenes of Martinez walking the streets of Tokyo and talking about security challenges that Japan faces. Future episodes will involve visits to U.S. military bases and talking to personnel about the mission, he said.

“Defending Japan” is the brainchild of writer-director Dan Smith, a retired Air Force public affairs officer who has also worked as a journalist in Japan and in the United States. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes)

“Defending Japan” is the brainchild of writer-director Dan Smith, a retired Air Force public affairs officer who has also worked as a journalist in Japan and in the United States.

The most memorable part of the series has been seeing other people’s reaction to the military and feedback from viewers, he said at the red carpet event.

The program’s makers have visited most of the U.S. military installations in Japan, other than Sasebo Naval Base. They’ve also been to numerous Japanese bases, Smith said.

They’ve spoken to U.S. soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines and Japanese troops and filmed during annual exercises in Japan such as Yama Sakura and Orient Shield and at the Cope North drills on Guam, he said.

They’ve also flown on all kinds of military aircraft from Marine Corps MV-22 Ospreys to Air Force C-130J Super Hercules and spent time on the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier and Japan’s JS Izumo helicopter destroyer, Smith said.

The show’s first season, which debuted in 2019, is available on streaming services such as Amazon, Hulu and U-Next.

"Defending Japan" co-writer John Flanagan speaks about the show during an event at the New Sanno Hotel in Tokyo, Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes)

The new season is screening on History Channel Japan and will be available on streaming services in summer, said John Flanagan, who cowrote the series with Smith.

“We wanted to cover the serious security threats in a very factual way with no bias,” he said.

Japan’s security situation has become more severe since the first series, which was filmed before the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine, Flanagan said.

“China is more aggressive, and Japan has more allies now,” he said.

The most memorable part of the series so far involved three days of filming on the USS Ronald Reagan during a patrol in the Philippine Sea, he said.

“We saw just how massive and powerful that whole operation was,” he said.

“Defending Japan” isn’t only about military hardware, Flanagan added.

“We are highlighting the people.”