YAKIMA TRAINING CENTER, Wash. – The Yakima Valley shook today from the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force’s Type 10 tanks and U.S. Army 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment’s 60mm mortars. The two nations completed a combined arms live-fire exercise showcasing their ability to work together towards a common goal, while also learning from one another.

Rising Thunder 2016, a part of Pacific Pathways, focuses on sharing tactics and ideas to become better, more efficient warfighters. From sniper teams, mortars and dismounted patrols to armored vehicles and helicopters, every service member learned how the other’s nation conducted business and provided input to become more effective allies.

Canadian Brig. Gen. Dany Fortin, I Corps deputy commanding general for operations, addressed JGSDF leadership saying, “In the last year and a half I’ve been with I Corps, I’ve been very impressed with the bilateral construct between JGSDF and the U.S. Army. I have no doubt that the opportunities exercise Rising Thunder presents to all of you is absolutely phenomenal.”

Fortin further explained that getting the companies to work together was imperative to success. “We just need to make sure that we synchronize all the assets at battalion and brigade. Down at the pointy end of the spear where the companies are doing the hard fighting, if they have the resources and their activities are synchronized, Soldiers know what to do.”

Part of synchronizing those assets is communication. While both nations experienced hurdles here, mainly due to a language barrier, commanders found a way to work through and safely execute their bilateral training mission.

One JGSDF leader explained that by utilizing liaison officers and having company commanders from each nation sit side-by-side they were able to increase interoperability across the battlefield.

The partnership that was built over the past two and a half weeks culminated with a bilateral CALFEX placing JGSDF in the lead.

“The Soldiers and leaders of this battalion have learned a lot from the Japanese,” said Maj. Michael Porges, 2nd Infantry Battalion operations officer. “Not only their capabilities but how to work with a coalition partner. A lot of these new soldiers, this is their first opportunity to get on ground and train with the Japanese working through the difficult parts of language barriers and cultural differences to execute bilateral operations.”

As nearly three weeks of bilateral training draws to a close, plans for Rising Thunder 2017 are already being laid. Each mistake and every success will be scrutinized by both nations to ensure Pacific Pathways continues to improve our capabilities as allies.