My message this month comes from Camp Higashi-Chitose, Japan where I Corps is engaged in Exercise Yama Sakura 65. I’m glad to be back in this beautiful country, recounting so many fond memories of my time here while serving as the United States Army Japan Command Sergeant Major.
One of the highlights has been my visit to the Japanese noncommissioned officer academy. It is their equivalent to our Warrior Leaders Course. The Northern Army recently modeled much of their course from our training programs. The class I visited is the first to use NCOs instead of officers to train future NCOs - and their reports so far are calling it a success.
I’ve been part of four of the past five Yama Sakura exercises, and Japanese NCOs have made great strides in proving their value in that short time. Much of that is because of their willingness to adapt and learn. That’s a great lesson for all of us.
After years of war, we’ve become accustomed to a role as trainers. However, we are not always in that role. While we’re comfortable teaching our counterparts we have to figure out how to learn from them. Japan and most of our other Pacific allies have successful, well-established militaries. They are well-trained and disciplined.
We can learn much from these NCOs. During my visit to the Japanese NCO academy, I saw Soldiers who had recently marched 28 miles in full combat kit followed by three days of non-stop battle drills. I met a Soldier who low-crawled 200 meters through the mud into an obstacle belt earlier that day to emplace a Bangalore torpedo. The spirit of determination and readiness in these Soldiers is truly amazing.
Our seven Army Values (Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity and Personal Courage) are very similar to the ancient Japanese Seven Virtues of Bushido (Loyalty, Morality, Respect, Benevolence, Honor, Honesty and Courage).
We tend to focus on the differences between ourselves rather than concentrate on the similarities. I’m proud to say that during Yama Sakura 65, I’ve seen more similarities than differences. Five years ago, during my first Yama Sakura, I experienced what seemed to be an invisible wall between the Japanese and Americans in the operations center. Instead of a bilateral exercise, we seemed to be conducting two separate unilateral exercises at the same time.
This year, it’s much different. Communication and collaboration are now the norm. I Corps staffs are working side-by-side and solving problems with their Japanese counterparts. We are building relationships and establishing trust. While there is still a long way to go, we are learning tactical patience. One meeting won’t get it done – and neither will one exercise.
One of the objectives of Yama Sakura is that we learn something from our Japanese partners and in turn, they learn something from us. My experiences over the past five years have shown me that we are not as different as we might think we are. If we focus on the similarities, I believe the differences will be transparent.
