SAN DIEGO, California -- Leaders from the Self-Defense Fleet, Japan Maritime Self- Defense Force (JMSDF SF) recently visited the Naval Surface Mine Warfighting Development Center (SMWDC) to discuss the Warfare Tactics Instructor (WTI) program and SMWDC initiatives.

“These bilateral staff discussions provide both Navies with the opportunity to learn about collaborative processes and training to improve our interoperability and lethality,” said Capt. Christopher Barnes, the deputy commander at SMWDC.

The annual bilateral staff talks between the SMWDC and their JMSDF counterparts provide opportunities to strengthen partnerships and inform allies of collaborative processes to increase combat effectiveness. Leaders discussed SMWDC’s WTI program status, its return on investment to the U.S. Navy’s surface fleet, and the tactics development process.

“The WTI Program is essential to improving our Fleet to develop the Navy our nation requires,” said Barnes, during the brief. “Our WTIs dissected history to assess the effectiveness of our Navy under various circumstances, understanding what lead to our victories as well as our shortcomings. The training that we provide makes our Navy more lethal, capable, and tactically proficient.”

The JMSDF SF team outlined the development of their tentatively named Above Water Warfare Development Training Center (AWDTC), and the implementation of a Japanese WTI program. The desired end state and lines of operation discussed by both teams were remarkably similar, highlighting the challenges and opportunities for both staffs to strengthen our cooperative naval presence.

SMWDC is located at Naval Base San Diego with four divisions in Virginia and California. The command’s mission is to increase the lethality and tactical proficiency of the Surface Force across all domains. Its four lines of operation are advanced tactical training, doctrine and tactical guidance development, operational support to combatant commanders, numbered fleet commanders, and task force commanders, and capabilities assessments, experimentation and future requirements.