Photo/Illutration In a joint drill with the Ground Self-Defense Force, two U.S. Marine Corps Osprey aircraft fly at the GSDF Hijiudai training site in Oita Prefecture on Feb. 18. (Jun Kaneko)

Japan’s Ground Self-Defense Force and the U.S. Marine Corps on Feb. 18 allowed media outlets to view their joint drill designed to defend and recapture remote Japanese islands.

The “Iron Fist” drill was held at the GSDF Hijiudai training site in Oita Prefecture, the first one staged west of Hawaii, according to the Ground Staff Office.

The Iron Fist drills, which date back to fiscal 2005, had previously all been held in the United States.

In the scenario for the Feb. 18 drill, an enemy force takes control of a remote island. After an aerial and naval attack against the enemy, GSDF amphibious vehicles land on the island to secure a position to repel the invaders. U.S. Marines then descend from Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft for a cleanup operation.

Media representatives could watch two Ospreys flying at the Hijiudai site with a low-pitched sound. Marines disembarked from the rear hatch of the aircraft and made their way to a zone supposedly occupied by enemy forces.

GSDF training involving the Osprey and parachute drops scheduled for that day were canceled due to bad weather.

The joint drill will continue until March 12 at Tokunoshima and Kikaijima islands in Kagoshima Prefecture and the U.S. Marines’ Camp Hansen in Okinawa Prefecture.

The Hijiudai site hosted a live-fire drill by the U.S. Marines in April last year.

Oita prefectural officials said this is the first fiscal year in which the site has hosted both the live-fire drill and the joint Iron Fist drill.

(This article was written by Masayuki Shiraishi and Takeshi Takashima.)

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