U.S. Coast Guard Rear Adm. Bill Kelly, superintendent of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, and Japan Rear Adm. Mitsuru Eguchi, supertintendent of the Japan Coast Guard Academy, meet in New London, Conn., April 21, 2023. (Matthew Abban/U.S. Coast Guard)
The U.S. Coast Guard Academy and its Japanese counterpart are preparing to resume in-person training and exchanges after their respective leaders recently signed a letter of intent, a first for the two schools.
Rear Adm. William Kelly, superintendent of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, and Rear Adm. Mitsuru Eguchi, superintendent of the Japan Coast Guard Academy, signed the letter together during an April 21 ceremony in New London, Conn., according to news releases from both organizations.
“We will further develop our long history of friendship with the Japan Coast Guard Academy, which will lead to the enhancement of education and training,” Kelly said in a Tuesday news release from the Japanese academy.
The agreement is part of SAPPHIRE, or the Solid Alliance for Peace and Prosperity with Humanity and Integrity on the Rule of Law-based Engagement, an ongoing operation between the U.S. and Japanese coast guards that began in May 2022.
"I'm certain that the relationship between the two academies will become stronger through academic and student interactions," Eguchi said in the release.
The two services have a long history of cooperation; the Japan Coast Guard Academy was even modeled after its U.S. counterpart. But the letter of intent marks the first formal agreement between the two academies and signifies their “commitment to sustained partnership in developing both nation’s future leaders,” U.S. academy spokesman Petty Officer 2nd Class Matthew Abban told Stars and Stripes by email Thursday.
The two academies over the past several months have already organized a series of academic exchanges between faculty and cadets, Abban said, and they have “several more scheduled in the near future.”
Cadets will also have a chance to sail aboard their academy counterparts’ respective training ships, the Coast Guard cutter Eagle and the JCG Kojima, as soon as this summer, he added.
Additional exchanges have yet to be decided, a Japan Coast Guard Academy spokesman said by phone Tuesday, but the academy hopes the agreement will increase recruitment and provide a model for cooperation between other coast guard academies.
Japanese officials customarily speak to the media on condition of anonymity.
