JGSDF, US military officers learn humanitarian aid, disaster relief operations

Photo By Lance Cpl. Tyler Ngiraswei | Service members with the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Army sit waiting for a command and staff course to begin July 11 at the Camp Courtney theater. The course included background information on the III Marine Expeditionary Force and Japan’s involvement in Operation Damayan, the humanitarian assistance and disaster relief response following the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan, which struck the Philippines November 8, 2013.  

CAMP COURTNEY, OKINAWA, JAPAN

07.11.2014

Story by Lance Cpl. Tyler Ngiraswei 

III Marine Expeditionary Force   

CAMP COURTNEY, Japan - Officers with the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Army attended a command and staff course July 11 at the Camp Courtney theater.

The command and staff course, also known as the CGS, provides officers with background information on the III Marine Expeditionary Force and its humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations.

“We were able to have them for two hours,” said Maj. Eric J. Mattson, a civil affairs officer and the Japan Observer Exchange Program officer with G-3, operations and training, III MEF. “We were able to cover a III MEF command briefing and background on Operation Damayan.”

Operation Damayan was the HA/DR response of III MEF and the Japan Self-Defense Force following the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan, which struck the Philippines November 8, 2013.

Damayan’s mission was to provide aid to typhoon victims in areas that the Philippine government could not, and it was the first international disaster relief operation the Japan Task Force participated in, according to Mattson, a Plantsville, Connecticut, native. Japan provided 19 aircraft as well as medical support to the Philippines during the operation.

The JGSDF officers are able to see Japan’s side of the operations, but they do not often get a chance to see the III MEF side, according to Mattson. The course offered them a chance to see both sides.

“The instructor provided both the American and Japanese perspective,” said JGSDF Maj. Toshiyuki Aso, a JGSDF Staff College student. “It was a great opportunity to understand III MEF’s organization and function.”

The U.S. Marine Corps has plenty of experience in HA/DR, according to Aso, a Tokunoshima, Kagoshima prefecture, native.

“By training and cooperation, Japan and the U.S. can be useful to each other,” said Aso.

The Marine Corps participates in approximately five HA/DR exercises with the JGSDF every year, according to Mattson. The more informed the JGSDF officers are, the smoother HA/DR missions with the JGSDF will run.

“A lot of these majors will be the future leaders, and it’s good for them to understand III MEF,” said Mattson. “They will be the staff planners and they will be the ones to help coordinate with the U.S. military.”

Courses like these will help in the future by providing a better understanding of the Japan-U.S. alliance, according to JGSDF Lt. Col. Kazuhiro Kuwahara, a JGSDF Staff College instructor.

“The course was brief and efficient for the students,” said Kuwahara, a Yokosuka, Kanagawa, native. “Some of them will be attached to the Ground Staff Office, or the 15th Brigade of the Western Army in Okinawa.”

With the support the III MEF provides, it is building bridges that will help in the long run, according to Mattson. Multilateral relationships provide faster responses to HA/DR and to the Marine Corps’ main mission: combat operations.

“An HA/DR and a combat operation are similar,” said Mattson. “All the elements are still implied: the planning, the logistics and the execution.”

• Date Taken: 07.11.2014
• Date Posted: 07.28.2014 03:37
• Story ID: 137505
• Location: CAMP COURTNEY, OKINAWA, JP
• Hometown: TOKUNOSHIMA, KAGOSHIMA, JP
• Hometown: YOKOSUKA, KANAGAWA, JP
• Hometown: PLANTSVILLE, CT, US