Recently, the Mission Command Training Program (MCTP) supported the U.S. Army Pacific (USARPAC) combined exercise known as Yama Sakura 87 (YS87), which was a trilateral exercise with two multinational allies tied to USARPAC’s Operation Pathways.

The MCTP’s Chief Controller for the Warfighter Exercise (WFX), U.S. Army Col. Kristopher “Kris” H. Howell, explained the nature of the training event.

“Yama Sakura is traditionally a bilateral U.S. Army and [Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force] exercise with over 40 years of execution history between the two nations. This has recently expanded to include the Australian Army and an element from [III Marine Expeditionary Force],” the Aurora, Ill., native said.

U.S. Army Col. Benjamin “Ben” E. Jackman, who serves as MCTP’s Chief of Operations Group (COG) – Bravo and hails from Plainsboro, N.J., articulated the purpose of YS87 and how it was different than a normal WFX.

“[MCTP] facilitates YS87 / WFX 25-2 supported stimulation of I Corps, 11th Airborne Division, 25th Infantry Div., 7th Multi-Domain Command, and 1st Special Forces Group (Abn.) training objectives during … 07-15 Dec. 2024 at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.; Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska; Schofield Barracks, Hawaii; and Japan to enable professional warfighting through leadership development within a large-scale combat operation setting in a multi-domain environment,” Jackman said. “In terms of terrain, YS87 was 13.14 times larger than any exercise ever conducted by MCTP… [covering] 10,429,900 sq. km.” and 17 time zones. In context, with all these units plus multinational allies, the simulation used 201,414 objects (blue and red units) that averaged more than 1,900 combat interactions every hour making this WFX 1.5 times greater than previous ones. This is the first WFX for the 11th Abn. Div. plus the first one for an arctic division in the U.S. Army.

Meanwhile, U.S. Army Col. David Connor, the MCTP COG – Charlie, added another observation.

YS87 was conducted with WFX 25-2, the first time two such exercises were combined… making the exercise larger and more complex, said Connor, who calls Joliet, Ill., home.

MCTP’s Command Sgt. Maj. Kirk R. Foster, who claims Fort Collins, Colo., as home, summarized the training experience.

“MCTP is a very talented and special unit… a team of teams,” he stated. “[MCTP] is truly enabling professional warfighting and driving change for the Army.”