News

USS Fort Worth Arrives in Jakarta for First Southeast Asia Port Visit
December 22, 2014 — Littoral combat ship USS Fort Worth (LCS 3) arrived in Jakarta, Indonesia, Dec. 22 as part of a 16-month rotational deployment in support of the Indo-Asia-Pacific rebalance. The port visit is Fort... MORE

Forest Light 15-1 Marked Success at Closing Ceremony
December 22, 2014 — 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... MORE

Arrival of Ship Tangible Symbol of US Rebalance to Asia-Pacific
December 22, 2014 — 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... MORE

Soldiers Escort Santa to Special Needs School
December 22, 2014 — 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... MORE

Japan, Australia to Provide F-35 Maintenance Sites in Pacific Region
December 19, 2014 — 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... MORE

Wharf Extension on Guam Improves Support for Navy Mission
December 19, 2014 — 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... MORE

Joint Statement by U.S.-Japan Security Consultative Committee
December 19, 2014 — 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... MORE

Papua New Guinea Defense Force Receives Medical Supplies and Equipment from the U.S.
December 19, 2014 — 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... MORE

Airborne Artillery Warms Up Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson Winter Nights
December 19, 2014 — "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... MORE

JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska (Dec. 9, 2014) - Paratroopers with the 2nd Battalion, 377th Parachute Field Artillery Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, prepare a 105 mm howitzer for a live-fire training exercise on the Malemute Drop Zone. The 2/377 loaded up several aircraft of paratroopers and equipment to jump out onto the darkened drop zone in Arctic conditions for the multi-day training event.

Experiencing a Ride on the Marine Corps Osprey Firsthand
December 18, 2014 — 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... MORE

PACFLT Commander Conducts All Hands Call in Singapore
December 18, 2014 — 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... MORE

Marines team up with Singaporean Armed Forces for Valiant Mark
December 18, 2014 — CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- Marines with 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, alongside elements of the 7th Singaporean Infantry Brigade cleared a simulated combat town while... MORE

Yokota brings holiday cheer to islanders
December 18, 2014 — ULITHI ATOLL, Micronesia (AFNS) -- More than 1,200 miles from the nearest western civilization, a man stands on a beach wearing only his lavalava. He lifts the bright orange flag with yellow... MORE

Pacific's harbormaster, watercraft Soldiers ensure readiness, synchronization
December 18, 2014 — KAWAIHAE PORT, Hawaii - The many ports, beach heads and other water terminals throughout the massive, Island-filled Pacific region are busy places. But "busy" doesn't do justice to their traffic... MORE

KAWAIHAE PORT, Hawaii (Dec. 17, 2014) - Troops from the 545th Harbormaster Detachment, 545th Transportation Company, deployed from their home-station at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam to the port of Kawaihae on Hawaii's Big Island, where they set up their Harbormaster Command and Control Center (HCCC) for a field training exercise, Dec. 1-8. The HCCC is a deployable and tactically mobile system that provides Army logisticians the sensors and knowledge management tools to establish and maintain situational awareness and command and control of any harbor and/or littoral environment. 141217-A-ZZZ00-135

Navy develops 'GhostSwimmer' drone that looks like a shark. Seriously
December 18, 2014 — Washington — It is the latest offering in what the US military calls its science-fiction-turned-reality projects: the GhostSwimmer, a reconnaissance robot with an exterior shell built to look a lot... MORE

A new way to exercise
December 17, 2014 — MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan (AFNS) -- When 1st Lt. Matt Lavigne's phone rang late Dec. 10, he knew it was time to scramble into action. As a fighter pilot, preparedness is engraved into his DNA,... MORE

Operation Christmas Drop supplies islands with bundles of joy
December 17, 2014 — ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam (AFNS) -- The men and women from Andersen Air Force Base, Guam and Yokota Air Base, Japan, dropped its last bundle of joy Dec. 13, to the Micronesian Islands as Operation... MORE

U.S., Japan students make music
December 17, 2014 — The Marine Memorial Chapel hosted a holiday concert for Matthew C. Perry Schools and Higashi Junior High School students aboard Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, Dec. 15, 2014.This event is... MORE

Coast Guard provides SAR planning support to Republic of Korea
December 17, 2014 — Coast Guard search and rescue crews were relieved by Republic of Korea assets on Saturday in their search for 26 crewmembers from the fishing vessel 501 Oryong that capsized Nov. 30, 2014, near... MORE

Marines, JGSDF rapidly respond to simulated contaminations
December 17, 2014 — (Dec. 2, 2014) A field and an abandoned structure sustain an unknown, potentially dangerous, contamination leak. U.S. Marines and Japan Ground Self-Defense Force service members hastily suit up in... MORE