Strengthening Japanese and U.S. friendships through exercise

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Phillip Butterfield
  • 35th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
MISAWA CITY, Japan --  Practicing emergency management on base is one thing.  Practicing outside the gate in a foreign land -- priceless.

Airmen from the 35th Fighter Wing teamed with their host nation's emergency responders for a Misawa City major accident exercise Feb. 23, 2011, at Misawa City's fishing port.

The scenario the joint Japanese-U.S. emergency response team worked through was a UH-60 Black Hawk accident in which two Airmen and one Japanese bystander are injured.

"This was a great experience," said Staff Sgt. Tye Reed, 35th Civil Engineer Squadron fire protection crew chief. "Working with the Japanese is always a wonderful thing; you don't always get these opportunities to interact with off-base emergency management agencies. It's refreshing to work with different people and techniques in situations like this."

In planning since August 2010, the Misawa City exercise at the fishing port was the culmination of professionals working hard at what they do.

"What we saw here today was a validation of lots of hard work between the professionals on base and at Misawa City," said Lt. Col. Dwayne Robison, 35 CES commander. "These types of exercises allow us to ensure that if something bad was to happen, we as a community are ready to respond."