KADENA AIR BASE, Japan -- The Japan Air Self-Defense Force's Southwestern Composite Air Division hosted an English briefing contest Aug. 26 at Naha Air Base, Japan. Two officers from Kadena Air Base were invited to take part in the judging and presentation of awards.

Competitors briefed the JASDF's promotion system, morals and history during their presentations in front of their peers and commanders.

The competition was split between enlisted and officers. Four teams of five enlisted members competed in the morning, while four teams composed of five officers competed in the afternoon. Each member of the team had to brief a portion of the presentation within a three minute time limit, totaling 15 minutes per team. They were scored on their presentation and their English comprehension skills during the question and answer period.

As part of the judging process U.S. Air Force Maj. Christopher Teke, 18th Civil Engineer Squadron officer, and U.S. Air Force Maj. Mark Carl, 909th Air Refueling Squadron assistant director of operations, listened to presentations and scored competitors based on their comprehension and English responses to the questions.

Teke asked competitors questions in English like, "Where are you from?" "What do you do for your job?" and "What is the most important accomplishment of your career?"

U.S. Air Force and JASDF Airmen work together every day on Naha Air Base and on the island of Okinawa. Judging the competition helped Teke and Carl better understand the nature of the JASDF mission on Naha Air Base.

The event went well said Teke. "It was fun. The event was beneficial to both organizations."

JASDF Staff Sgt. Kohei Kawabata, Southerwestern Compostite Air Division band member, spoke about how he felt during his presentation, "I was very nervous, the hardest thing about the competition is to speak English fluently."

"The event is good for U.S. Air Force and JASDF relations," said Kawabata