Japanese troops train at Camp Pendleton for island defense

latimes.com ^ | February 20, 2011

[Tailgunner Joe]

Japanese troops from the Western Area Infantry Regiment are assaulting the green hills of Camp Pendleton in operation Iron Fist.

For a month, about 200 Japanese troops are training with Marines -- leading to a “final exam” where together they will launch a mock amphibious assault against a common enemy. ....

Japan’s latest defense policy calls for a new concept, called “dynamic proactive defense,” said Akihisa Nagashima, lower house member of the Democratic Party of Japan and former parliamentary vice minister of defense.

Japanese troops, he said, will need to be “mobile, flexible and ready to respond quickly” -- the kinds of skills that Marines are known for. More training exercises with Marines are likely, Nagashima said.

Although Japan’s Cold War strategy focused on the Hokkaido region of northern Japan, the new policy includes a greater focus on the South China Sea and the western Pacific, including sending troops to Japan’s southernmost island of Yonaguni to “reclaim control of any island should the need arise,” Nagashima said.

Japan’s post-World War II reluctance to develop a military is waning in light of increased tension with North Korea and China, said Ellis Krauss, professor and Japan expert at the graduate school of international relations and Pacific studies at UC San Diego.

The amphibious assault training, Krauss said, is most likely preparing Japan to “rush to the defense of its many relatively unprotected southern islands in case the Chinese or North Koreans try to take them back.”

For Iron Fist, the Japanese brought their own Toyota-built trucks and Humvees. The Marines are supplying tanks and rotary-wing aircraft. ....

The final exam, set for early March, will be a weeklong, ship-based exercise involving troops from both countries coming ashore at the beaches where Marines trained for the World War II landings.

[Squawk 8888]

Gotta love how capitalism and enlightened self-interests turns enemies into friends. God bless ‘em.

[Squantos]

Wow !

[struggle]

Repeal the Japanese military ban.

[SnuffaBolshevik]

"For a month, about 200 Japanese troops are training with Marines...."

A lot of things have changed since the Tenaru river, haven't they?

[usmcobra]

Yeah a month at Camp Pendleton and they will understand why they got their asses kicked in WWII

[Old Teufel Hunden]

"A lot of things have changed since the Tenaru river, haven't they?"

I wouldn't say that. As a Marine, I did a lot of training with the Japanese self defense forces. The big difference here is that all the years I was at Pendleton, I never remember them coming there. We always trained with them either on mainland Japan or Hokaido (the biggest Japanese Island to the north).

Them coming here to train seems like a huge step forward for them. Their self defense forces rarely ever left Japan to train. I applaud it. They have a pretty good Navy. Being an island nation, they should. I would like to see them build up their naval and army capabilities more. If North Korea ever comes down the peninsula or China finally decides Taiwain needs to be brought into the communist fold, these well disciplined forces will be needed.