U.S., Japan Airmen join sister services in year's first bilateral exercise

  • Published
  • By Capt. Will Powell
  • 5th Air Force Public Affairs
YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan --  U.S. Air Force Airmen from Japan and other locations around the world joined their Japanese counterparts and sister services Jan. 22 to kick off the year's first bilateral exercise here.

The command post exercise, known as Keen Edge '10, runs until Jan. 27 and is designed to increase combat readiness and interoperability of U.S. forces and Japan Self-Defense Forces. Exercise participants practice responding to events ranging from non-combatant evacuations and force protection scenarios to integrated air and missile defense to enhance bilateral coordination and cooperation.

"These exercises are invaluable to both U.S. forces and our Japanese partners in building common bonds of trust and understanding as we work together to accomplish exercise objectives," said Maj. Gen. Sam Angelella, 5th Air Force vice commander and 13th AF deputy commander. "There's no doubt that the alliance between our two countries is strong - we just celebrated the 50th anniversary of the signing of the current security agreement. But Keen Edge is designed to display and enhance that strength as a means to deter aggression and maintain peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region."

Hundreds of U.S. personnel are participating at locations throughout Japan and Hawaii, but the primary operating locations are at the U.S. Forces Japan Headquarters here and 13th Air Force Headquarters at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii. This year even the PACOM commander and his staff are participating.

At Yokota, most of the Airmen are from 5th AF Headquarters, 13th AF's permanent "forward element" in Japan called Detachment 1, and augmentees from as far away as Langley AFB, Va. In addition, all three Air Force wings in Japan are participating. Det. 1 personnel make up most of the exercise's bilateral air component coordination element.

The U.S. and Japanese Airmen assigned to the BACCE serve as a linchpin between the two organizations that decide how to employ the air power assigned to their respective countries - the air operations center at Hickam AFB and the combat operations center at Japan's air defense command headquarters at Fuchu Air Base. The BACCE ensures the decisions and directives between those two organizations are complementary.

"Without the BACCE there wouldn't be a bilateral mechanism to do air coordination," said Col. Larry Bowers, Det. 1 commander and BACCE deputy director.

The BACCE concept is successful because of the inherent close cooperation that exists between the U.S. and Japan Airmen.

"We have a Japan Air Self-Defense Force Airman sitting beside a U.S. Air Force Airman, so each position is literally bilateral," said the colonel. "That way we get inputs from both sides to make sure we're coordinating."

Airmen assigned to 5th AF Headquarters man the similarly named air component coordination element, which focuses on issues facing the three Air Force wings in Japan. The ACCE provides USFJ leadership with situational awareness on Air Force operations that are supporting USFJ missions such as non-combatant evacuation operations. The new function here comes with a "steep learning curve," said Lt. Col. Garth Doty, 5th AF Operations and Plans deputy director and ACCE chief, "but everyone is taking advantage of the training opportunity within the robust scenario."

The BACCE and ACCE are just two of the many important sections participating in this exercise, but the story remains the same throughout the operations center here - Airmen, Soldiers, Sailors and Marines from all over the globe are working side by side with their Japanese counterparts to strengthen bilateral cooperation and the U.S.-Japan alliance.

"This exercise is a very good opportunity for the U.S. and Japan to confirm our bilateral plans and how we would operate in a real contingency," said Maritime Self-Defense Force Capt. Isao Watanabe, lead joint staff liaison officer for USFJ and the exercise.

Army Maj. Jim Hewitt agreed. He's serving as a USFJ ballistic missile defense liaison officer to 13th AF.

"A bilateral, joint exercise like Keen Edge allows us to find out what our capabilities and limitations are between our two nations and between our own sister services," the major said. Some exercise scenarios simulate crises or other tragedies, but he said those scenarios "prepare us for what could happen in real life. We essentially get to exercise what we don't normally get to practice on a daily basis, and that benefits everyone."