A member of Japan's Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade takes his position after landing on Kin Blue Beach, Okinawa, March 1, 2025, during the Iron Fist exercise. (Keishi Koja/Stars and Stripes)
KIN BLUE BEACH, Okinawa — An hourlong amphibious landing by U.S. Marines and Japanese troops over the weekend served as the “key bilateral training event” of Iron Fist, a defining exercise of the U.S.-Japan military alliance.
The focus of this year’s three-week exercise, which concludes Friday, is strengthening island defense and amphibious capabilities. For the third consecutive year, Iron Fist is taking place in Japan rather than off California’s coast, where it was held from 2006 through 2022.
“Exercises are most effective when they are conducted by the forces most likely to operate together in the areas where they are most likely to operate,” Brig. Gen. Trevor Hall, commander of the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, told reporters Saturday at Kin Blue Beach after the landing.
“Through our combined capabilities, we provide deterrence to all threats in this region,” he said.
Japanese amphibious assault vehicles roll onto Kin Blue Beach, Okinawa, March 1, 2025, during the Iron Fist exercise with U.S. Marines. (Brian McElhiney/Stars and Stripes)
Unofficially, Iron Fist does not identify a specific adversary, but China remains a central consideration. The Pentagon has designated Beijing a “pacing challenge” in the Indo-Pacific since 2021, citing its military expansion and regional ambitions, particularly regarding Taiwan and the South and East China Seas.
Japan faces “the most severe security environment it has seen since the end of World War II,” Maj. Gen. Hajime Kitajima, commander of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force’s Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade, told reporters Saturday, reiterating a statement he made Feb. 17 at Iron Fist’s start.
“This exercise is not aimed at a certain country or region,” he said.
U.S. Marines pull their rubber raiding crafts toward Kin Blue Beach, Okinawa, March 1, 2025, during Iron Fist amphibious assault training. (Keishi Koja/Stars and Stripes)
Iron Fist incorporates elements of the Marines’ amphibious warfare legacy while aligning with its modern Force Design strategy, which aims to counter China’s area denial and anti-access tactics in the Western Pacific.
Saturday’s amphibious landing began at 9 a.m. with approximately 200 U.S. Marines and sailors and 200 Japanese troops executing four waves of beach assaults.
In the first wave, Marines and Japanese soldiers landed in combat rubber reconnaissance craft, securing positions along the seawall with rifles at the ready. The second wave brought six Japanese amphibious assault vehicles ashore, followed by a Japanese air-cushioned landing craft in the third wave.
A Japanese amphibious assault vehicle rolls onto Kin Blue Beach, Okinawa, March 1, 2025, during the Iron Fist exercise with U.S. Marines. (Keishi Koja/Stars and Stripes)
U.S. Marines disembark a landing craft during amphibious assault training on Kin Blue Beach, Okinawa, March 1, 2025, part of the Iron Fist exercise. (Brian McElhiney/Stars and Stripes)
Two Marine AH-1Z Viper helicopters circled overhead, providing reconnaissance and firepower, said III Marine Expeditionary Force spokesman Capt. Pawel Puczko.
“They can provide additional fires to provide security for the landing force,” he told Stars and Stripes at the beach. “If they see a situation changing here on the ground, then they can report it back to the force that’s landing.”
The final wave saw Marines disembark from a landing craft and sprint up the beach, rifles in hand. A 7-ton truck carrying supplies followed close behind. The Marines arrived from the amphibious dock landing ship USS Rushmore, Puczko said.
The air-cushioned landing craft and the amphibious assault vehicles arrived from the Japanese tank-landing ship JS Kunisaki, 31st MEU spokesman Maj. Edward Pingel confirmed in a text message after the exercise. The Marine landing craft arrived from the USS Rushmore, while the rubber crafts came from White Beach and the Kunisaki, he confirmed in a text message Monday.
A U.S. Marine takes his position after landing on Kin Blue Beach, Okinawa, March 1, 2025, during the Iron Fist exercise. (Keishi Koja/Stars and Stripes)
During the final landing, the craft veered wide of a pad prepared by six members of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, forcing them to sprint 50 feet down the beach to secure a new landing site as the craft approached.
“I don’t know the exact angles they were trying to go for,” Pingel said afterward.
“But this is also why we do this training,” he added. “When we’re called upon, we can execute our mission as flawlessly as possible.”
