By SETH ROBSON | STARS AND STRIPES Published: March 12, 2021 YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan “The biggest US-Japan airborne operation in history” involved hundreds of Japanese soldiers parachuting from Air Force transport planes in the shadow of Mount Fuji, according to the 374th Airlift Wing. Photos of Tuesday’s training, dubbed Airborne 21, show paratroopers from the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force’s 1st Airborne Brigade jumping from a C-130J Super Hercules assigned to Yokota’s 36th Airlift Squadron. They landed at Combined Arms Training Center Camp Fuji. The Air Force was fortunate to be able to support Airborne 21, an event led by the JGSDF, wing spokeswoman Capt. Caitlin Mott wrote in an email Friday to Stars and Stripes.
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US, Japan conduct historic airborne operation
In the bright Japanese morning sun, stretched across the flightline, more than 500 Japan Ground Self-Defense Force members talk, rehearse jump procedures and shimmy parachute packs onto their backs. All the while, U.S. Air Force Airmen prepare 12
C-130J Super Hercules for a surge unlike any other on record.
The first day of history in the making for the U.S. and Japan partnership was full of energy, excitement and critical focus.
The
374th Airlift Wing supported the JGSDF, 1st Airborne Brigade, for the largest static-line personnel jump and cargo drop between the U.S. and Japan, for exercise Airborne 21, March 9 to 11.
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Japan, U.S. conduct historic parachute exercise
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The largest airborne parachute exercise in the history of the U.S.-Japan military alliance, involving over 500 paratroopers, was conducted this week in Japan. Photo by Yasuo Osakabe/U.S. Air Force
March 12 (UPI) An airborne parachute exercise this week in Japan was the largest in the history of the U.S.-Japanese alliance, the U.S. Air Force reported on Friday.
Over 500 paratroopers of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force s 1st Airborne Brigade performed a static-line jump from 12 C-130J Super Hercules aircraft of the U.S. Air Force s 374th Airlift Wing from Yokota Air Base, Japan.
The 11th of March 2021 marks the 10th anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami that devastated northeastern Japan, killing more than 16,000 people and leading to the Fukushima nuclear accident. On hearing of the disaster, Australia’s well-practised and disciplined crisis-response mechanism swung into action. The government decided to send an urban search and rescue, or USAR, team, which was to fly to Japan on a Royal Australian Air Force C-17 heavy transport aircraft.
In Japan, unsurprisingly, there was a great deal of confusion. The devastation was widespread, communication systems were down and the government was mobilising national resources to respond to the catastrophic event. The Japanese were also attempting to coordinate the many offers of assistance they had received from around the world, all the while enduring multiple aftershocks. In the 24 hours following the initial quake, more than 70 aftershocks above magnitude 5.0 were recorded.