Japanese soldiers train with Marines at Camp Pendleton during Iron Fist exercise – Orange County Register

Gunfire rumbled across the 409 Delta training range on a summer-like day Wednesday at Camp Pendleton as the carriers plowed along the roads firing their high-powered machine weapon systems at the damaged enemy. structure hidden in a distant hill.

Units from the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force and the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force have been training together since January 10 at Iron Fist 2022. The annual exercises will last six weeks. , ending at the end of this month.

Some 900 Marines and nearly 200 Japanese soldiers trained off the shores of Camp Pendleton, past its beaches, through ranges and canyons, in the air and out in the harsh desert at the War Center. Battle Ground Marine Twentynine Palms.

Marines and soldiers are working on advanced marksmanship, reconnaissance and amphibious transport, logistical and medical support, and fire support operations.

The training is vital to Japan’s maritime defense strategies, especially as tensions with China and North Korea continue over disputed islands and territories.

“We are fortunate to have these exercises in a great area at Camp Pendleton,” Major General Shingo Nashinoki, commander of the Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade, said Wednesday through a translate. “To conduct long-range fire that we were unable to conduct in Japan has become very important to us.”

The Marines are training with their new Armored Amphibious Combat Vehicle, replacing the Vietnam-era Amphibious Assault Vehicle. Older AAVs are being phased out and are no longer used domestically or for deployment. Amphibious vehicles are used to transfer troops between ships and shore and can travel on land and in the ocean.

For the Iron Fist training, the Japanese brought in their own AAVs, purchased in 2017 and overhauled.

As part of their sea training, Japanese marines and soldiers practice gliding heavy tank-like vehicles across the water, retrieving personnel from the water, and transferring crews from them. to another vehicle.

“It was not only beneficial for us to train with our Japanese allies, but also to lay the groundwork,” said Lieutenant General George Smith, commander of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Unit at Camp Pendleton. for our ACV platoon to build. The training incorporates new protocols and procedures in place after an AAV sank in 2020 during pre-deployment training off San Clemente Island. Eight Marines and one sailor were killed.

Among some of the lessons learned from the accident was the importance of “progressive building block training for both crew and Marines engaged,” Smith said.

The ACVs that train in this exercise will be deployed for the first time alongside the Marine Expeditionary Unit.

Japanese officials said the AAV tragedy also resonated with the Japanese military. There are 52 AAVs nationwide and safety checks were carried out on all vehicles in August. Prior to beach drills at Red Beach at Camp Pendleton, each vehicle was inspected to ensure watertight integrity.

Iron Fist has been in development for decades and aims to strengthen the relationship between the US and its ally Japan. While the Marines were mentoring Japanese soldiers in amphibious and live-fire tactics, the Marines were also learning techniques from Japanese soldiers. The goal is to become more familiar with each other’s tactics, technology and strategies, officials said.

Both generals emphasized the values ​​shared by the militaries of the two countries and the goals of freedom of navigation, a free, open Indo-Pacific and compliance with international law.

“When these shared values ​​and goals are threatened, we must show deterrence to those threats,” Smith said. “The Iron Fist exercise is just one example of that deterrence.”