The Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Antietam (CG 54) hosted an Air Defense Syndicate along with U.S. Air Force and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) personnel, Feb. 19.
Held quarterly, these ongoing interactions between Antietam and the JMSDF are designed to help maintain interoperability and air defense capabilities between the two nation’s fleets as well as support training exercises conducted during underway evolutions.
Senior Chief Operations Specialist Douglas Reece, Antietam’s operations department leading chief petty officer, said:
This is a tactics discussion with our JMSDF counterparts. Anytime we have the chance to get in a room and talk tactics, it just helps to reinforce what we do in a real-world setting, and make sure we are operating on the same wavelength.
The syndicate is part of continuing efforts to further integrate operations and increase capabilities between U.S. forces and the Japan Self Defense Forces (JSDF).
For the first time, members of the U.S. Air Force attended the syndicate in an effort to further streamline communications and tactics.
These conversations are reinforced with bilateral exercises while on patrol, giving the U.S. and JSDF the ability to respond in a unified way to new challenges.
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Image: US Navy