YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan -- The Indo-Asia Pacific Region experiences extreme variations of elevation and the world's most active seismic and volcanic activity, leading to many natural disasters. During these emergencies, U.S. and Japanese military units collaborate to support to those affected; like Operation Tomodachi in the wake of the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake.

The U.S. and Japan remain ready to support these humanitarian aid disaster relief and search and rescue operations, and one way they do this is by maintaining a strong relationship.

The 459th Airlift Squadron invited members of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force Eastern Army Helicopter from Camp Tachikawa to participate in a bilateral search and rescue capability exchange Nov. 16, 2015.

"We want to develop the relationship so that when something happens they can say 'Hey, wait a moment, there's this unit at Yokota that can help out,'" said Tech. Sgt. David Jacobs, 459 AS current operations NCO in charge.

The exchange allowed JGSDF and USAF helicopter pilots and aircrew to familiarize each other with their capabilities, training and overall mission. The JGSDF employ the UH-1J, similar to the 459's UH-1N Iroquois in terms of capabilities and mission tasking.

Each unit gave the other their mission brief then the JGSDF soldiers were given a tour of the facilities, including an interactive night-vision goggle demonstration and a hoist display.

According to Jacobs, the exchange also allowed the units to share examples of their equipment and techniques we use for SAR.

"Additionally there was a lot of discussion between the pilots and engineers about continuing the exchange by inviting us to Tachikawa so we can see their capabilities," said Jacobs.

Capt. William Poeschl, 459 AS current operations officer, and Jacobs worked together with JGSDF Sgt. Yasuhiro Miyauchi, EAH UH-1J flight engineer, to coordinate the visit.

"Our ultimate goal is to establish connections and relationships which can propel us into the future... to get chances to fly on their aircraft, to have them fly with us and exchanging ideas on how we can conduct SAR with our new hoists," said Poeschl. "This is just the first step."

That relationship is also important to the JGSDF and continues to improve both militaries thanks to these events.

"We have the same type of aircraft so we can learn from each other," said Capt. Kisho Yoshida, EAH liaison and operations officer. "We'd like to strengthen our bonds of friendship as we continue to enhance all of our capabilities."