With MV-22 Ospreys and CH-47 aircraft operating overhead, U.S. Marines and Japanese soldiers manned machine guns, managed interlinked sensor screens, and provided targeting information for long-range fires assets in preparation to defend against an amphibious assault and enable a fast-hitting counterattack into enemy-held territory. The soaring mountains, chilling snow, and thick mud of northwest Niigata Prefecture played host to countless iterations on these scenes from December 7 through 17 as part of exercise Forest Light Eastern Army, the latest in the long-running bilateral exercise…
December 21, 2020
