Ex. Keen Edge 24 Concludes with Trilateral Successes

Photo By Gunnery Sgt. Jonathan Wright | Members of United States Forces Japan, Japan Joint Staff, and Australian Defence Force coordinate plans during Exercise Keen Edge 24 at the Bilateral Joint Operations Coordination Center on Yokota Air Base, Japan, Feb. 1, 2024. Historically a bilateral JJS and U.S. Indo-Pacific Command exercise that allows the United States and Japan to practice coordination procedures, this iteration will also include the participation of Australia for the first time, further highlighting the multinational commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific region. KE24 is scheduled to continue through to Feb. 8, one of many annual U.S.-Japan operations and exercises that increases readiness to respond to a variety of crises and contingencies, maintaining the Alliance as a credible deterrence in an increasingly complex threat environment.  

YOKOTA AIR BASE, TOKYO, JAPAN

02.15.2024

Story by Gunnery Sgt. Jonathan Wright 

United States Forces Japan

For the first week of February, installations across Japan and Hawaii saw an influx of personnel from across the globe; from Norfolk to Osan, planners and strategists arrived throughout United States Forces Japan. Approximately 150 personnel arrived at Yokota Air Base alone, augmenting those in operations centers in support of the largest command post exercise that U.S. forces in Japan conducts.

Keen Edge 24, a biennial command and control exercise, flexed joint operations in a simulated environment, tying in elements from every warfighting domain between the U.S. and Japan across the country from Feb. 1 through 8. The exercise was conducted to increase both nations’ ability to quickly and decisively respond to a variety of crises and contingencies in the Indo-Pacific region.

“The importance of these bilateral and multilateral exercises cannot be overstated, especially with the security environment we operate in,” said Lt. Gen. Ricky Rupp, commander of USFJ and 5th Air Force. “We continue to refine our communication and procedures with our Japanese Allies in everything we do. Keen Edge is another milestone in our bilateral efforts to advance the Alliance and provide a stronger, integrated deterrence force.”

While this iteration was the 25th such exercise since its commencement in 1985, KE24 included many “firsts” in its execution. The exercise included inputs from U.S. Transportation Command, U.S. Space Command, and U.S. Cyber Command, unique in that a regional exercise had coordination and control effects from three separate global combatant commands mixed in, further speaking to the increased security importance of the region.

Most notably, however, this year was the first time that trilateral elements saw play in the exercise for the first time.

“Exercise Keen Edge has demonstrated that the Australian Defence Force can cooperate and collaborate with our United States and Japanese partners in complex and challenging scenarios,” said Lt. Gen. Greg Bilton, Australian Defence Force Chief of Joint Operations. “We take away from the exercise valuable lessons that will improve our interoperability in working together and readiness to respond to contingencies in the Indo-Pacific region.”

Elements of the Australian Headquarters Joint Operations Command were interspersed throughout the historically bilateral exercise, giving an additional dimension to the exercise and allowing further bilateral and multilateral collaboration across a spectrum of operations. Australia’s participation in Japan-based exercises follows the trend from U.S. Army Japan’s recent Exercise Yama Sakura, which saw elements of the 1st Australian Division participate for the first time.

As KE24 exercises command and control procedures, each U.S. component command was involved in the exercise scenario alongside their Japanese counterparts, all under the operational umbrella of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command in Hawaii. Keen Edge is not an exercise outlier as there are more than 100 annual bilateral or multilateral exercises within the INDOPACOM area of responsibility, all tying into each other as the gamut of security challenges and contingency response capability are refined and expanded.

"In exercise, we got Australia’s participation for the first time, and we were able to improve interoperability at the joint level by conducting training and verification on Japan-U. S. bilateral response procedures and joint operations of JSDF in various situations,” said Gen. YOSHIDA Yoshihide, Chief of the Japan Joint Staff. "JSDF will continue to contribute to maintaining and strengthening a Free and Open Indo-Pacific by promoting the Joint Operation System in a fundamental manner, and further strengthen JPN-US Alliance’s deterrence and response capability, closely cooperating with allies and like-minded countries."

The successes of KE24 are used to refine communication and procedures between the countries, and lessons-learned inform ways-ahead for increasing readiness between the U.S. and Japan, while recognizing that regional security is a holistic concept that all allies and partners recognize and contribute to.

Keen Edge iterations are the culmination of more than a year of planning and independent exercising, with its completion leading into the biennial field training exercise Keen Sword.

• Date Taken: 02.15.2024
• Date Posted: 02.15.2024 02:35
• Story ID: 463932
• Location: YOKOTA AIR BASE, TOKYO, JP