22 December 2014 Forest Light 15-1 Marked Success at Closing Ceremony KUMAMOTO, Japan — Japan Ground Self-Defense Force members and U.S. Marines closed out Forest Light 15-1 with a ceremony Dec. 12 at Camp Kita Kumamoto in Kumamoto, Kumamoto prefecture, Japan.Forest Light is a routine, semi-annual exercise designed to enhance the U.S. and Japan military...
22 December 2014 Arrival of Ship Tangible Symbol of US Rebalance to Asia-Pacific A new ship is coming to the region. The USS Fort Worth, a USNavy littoral combat ship (LCS), left its home port in San Diego last month,bound for Singapore, from where it will spend the better part of 16 monthsoperating with the people and navies of the Asia-Pacific region. We're excited that this...
22 December 2014 Soldiers Escort Santa to Special Needs School Santa made a special appearance at Tsukushi-En, a localspecial needs school, Dec. 17 to spread holiday cheer to dozens of children,but instead of his usual entourage of elves and reindeer, St. Nick was flankedby U.S. Soldiers for this special mission. The U.S. Army Garrison -- Okinawa Better...
19 December 2014 Japan, Australia to Provide F-35 Maintenance Sites in Pacific Region Japan and Australia will be sharing maintenance and upgrade duties for the F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter based or operating in the Pacific region, the program executive officer for the aircraft announced today.F-35 heavy air frame maintenance, repair, overhaul and upgrade capabilities will...
19 December 2014 Wharf Extension on Guam Improves Support for Navy Mission The Tango Wharf extension ribbon-cutting ceremony on U.S. Naval Base Guam (NBG), was conducted Dec. 18 to celebrate the improvements in infrastructure and capabilities the base can provide to support the Navy's mission. "This is a commitment at the end of the day and it's a commitment by the United...
19 December 2014 Joint Statement by U.S.-Japan Security Consultative Committee At the “2+2” U.S.-Japan Security Consultative Committee (SCC) meeting in Tokyo on October 3, 2013, the Ministers decided upon several steps to upgrade significantly the capability of the U.S.-Japan Alliance. The Ministers commend the ongoing progress in the revision of the Guidelines for...
19 December 2014 Papua New Guinea Defense Force Receives Medical Supplies and Equipment from the U.S. Withsupport from the Government of the United States of America, Project C.U.R.E.(Commission on Urgent Relief and Equipment), an American NGO, sent medicalsupplies and equipment to the PNG Defense Forces. U.S. Ambassador to Papua NewGuinea, Walter North, presented these materials to the PNG Defense...
19 December 2014 Airborne Artillery Warms Up Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson Winter Nights "Is that a fly-by or are they jumping?" a paratrooper asked another as they set up an M105 howitzer that had dropped from a plane less than an hour ago. A C-17 Globemaster III aircraft was approaching low and slow. The Soldiers stomped around the gun in the cold, dark and snow, making adjustments...
18 December 2014 Experiencing a Ride on the Marine Corps Osprey Firsthand NAGO, Japan - "I would like to describe the experience we had recently with flying in the MV-22B Osprey from Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to northern Okinawa over water and around Ie Shima island before returning to the MCAS Futenma.The first thing I realized was how wrong the media and...
18 December 2014 PACFLT Commander Conducts All Hands Call in Singapore SINGAPORE (NNS) -- Adm. Harry Harris Jr., commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet conducted an all hands call at Commander Logistics Group Western Pacific (COMLOG WESTPAC) in Singapore, Dec. 18, during a trip to strengthen maritime partnerships in support of America's rebalance to the...