A Japanese soldier briefs U.S. troops on the Type 12 surface-to-ship missiles at Camp Ishigaki on Ishigaki, an island in Okinawa prefecture, Oct. 20, 2023. (Jennifer Andrade/U.S. Marine Corps)
CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — Military leaders from the U.S. and Japan pledged to forge stronger ties during island-defense training geared toward blunting China’s maritime expansion.
The III Marine Expeditionary Force’s commander, Lt. Gen. James Bierman Jr., visited Ishigaki, an island 160 miles east of Taiwan, on Tuesday with the head of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force’s Western Army, Lt. Gen. Toshikazu Yamane.
They watched training that involved Marine anti-aircraft radar and Japanese surface-to-ship missile batteries. The drills, part of the Resolute Dragon exercise, marked the first time U.S. forces have operated from Japan’s Camp Ishigaki, which opened March 16.
The island is one of three where Japan plans to deploy upgraded Type 12 surface-to-ship missiles by 2026 to counter potential threats from China and North Korea.
“Countries with strong military power are concentrated around Japan, and these countries are further enhancing their military strength and increasing their military activities,” Yamane said Tuesday, according to a transcript provided by the JGSDF. “Japan must drastically strengthen our defense ability and further strengthening of the U.S.-Japan partnership is essential.”
Bierman said he was proud of progress in performance and integration III MEF and the Western Army have made in recent years, 1st Lt. Alejandro Arteaga, a III MEF spokesman, wrote in an emailed statement Wednesday.
Resolute Dragon, which kicked off Oct. 15 and runs through Oct. 31, involves thousands of U.S. Marines and Japanese troops in stand-in force exercises across Japan, including command and control, precision fires and maneuvering.
A stand-in force is a smaller, mobile unit inserted within range of enemy missiles to seize and hold key islands and deny enemy vessels access to surrounding seas.
The head of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force’s Western Army, Lt. Gen. Toshikazu Yamane, speaks to reporters alongside the III Marine Expeditionary Force’s commander, Lt. Gen. James Bierman Jr., at Camp Ishigaki in Okinawa prefecture, Oct. 24, 2023. (Japan Ground Self-Defense Force)
About 80 U.S. soldiers and Marines are on Ishigaki for the exercise. A portion of them have been working with their Western Army counterparts out of a bilateral coordination center at the camp, Arteaga said.
About 20 locals with signs and banners opposing the drills have been protesting outside the camp, Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported Tuesday.
A Japanese V-22 Osprey touched down in Okinawa prefecture for the first time during the training, despite a request from the prefectural government to exclude the tiltrotor aircraft.
After the Osprey landed at Ishigaki on Oct. 19, Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to express disappointment that his request had not been granted.
The use of Ospreys “causes anxiety for Okinawa’s population,” Tamaki wrote. He vowed to continue to advocate against the tiltrotors.
