Military forces from Australia, New Zealand, Japan and the U.S. are partnering in a multinational anti-submarine warfare exercise around the waters of Guam aimed at increasing the interoperability capacity between these nations operating in the Pacific, Aug. 9-15.

The exercise includes multiple aircraft and subsurface assets from the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, the Royal Australian Air Force and U.S. and observers from the Royal New Zealand Air Force who will collaborate to strengthen personal relationships between these countries.

"The biggest take away is building experiences together and operating away from our home bases in an expeditionary style," said Lt. Jon Torbett, attached to Task Force 72 and the U.S. action officer for GUAMEX 2014." We don't often get a chance to all operate together and the end goal of this exercise is to be able to perform anti-submarine operations."

GUAMEX 2014 will include approximately 25 operational scenarios, several aircraft familiarization tours and social gatherings designed to increase these regional partnerships