By JEFF SCHOGOL
<< Soldiers with the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force perform surf passages while conducting reconnaissance training with the Expeditionary Warfare Training Group Pacific during Exercise Iron Fist 2014 aboard Naval Amphibious Base Coronado, Calif., Jan. 30, 2014. Iron Fist is an amphibious exercise that brings together Marines and sailors from the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, other I Marine Expeditionary Force units, and soldiers from the JGSDF, to promote military interoperability and hone individual and small-unit skills through challenging, complex and realistic training. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Ricardo Hurtado/Released)
The Japanese military plans to create a force of about 3,000 troops modeled after the US Marine Corps and capable of rapidly launching amphibious missions, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.
The new force, which would use amphibious vehicles and V-22 Ospreys, would likely be based out of Kyushu or the Nansei Islands, which include Okinawa, according to the Journal. To accelerate its formation, Japan hopes to increase exercises with the U.S. military, such as “Iron Fist 2014,” a seven-week amphibious exercise at Camp Pendleton, Calif., that is finishing up this week.
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