News Story: US military conducts controversial parachute drill in Okinawa

Parachute Training from a C-130 (File Photo)

NAHA -- The U.S. military carried out controversial parachute training at the Kadena Air Base in Okinawa Prefecture on Sept. 21 -- an act that contravenes an agreement between the Japanese and U.S. governments.

Under the pact, which was made in 1996, parachute training by the U.S. military is specifically designated to take place at the Ie Shima Airfield on the remote Okinawan island of Iejima, and should only take place at the Kadena Air Base under "exceptional circumstances."

Although the Japanese government was warned about the training in advance on Sept. 15, it later requested that the training be canceled. This is the third time this year that the U.S. military has conducted parachute training at the Kadena Air Base -- much to the displeasure of the Okinawa Prefectural Government and local municipalities, which think that the training went ahead with no regard for the agreement.

Read the full story at The Mainichi

News Report: US Conducts Drills in Okinawa Violating Agreement on Relocation to Ioto

US military forces conducted on Monday paratrooper drills over a military base in Japan's Okinawa prefecture despite the agreement prohibiting parachute drop exercises in this area, local media reported.

TOKYO (Sputnik) — Nearly 30 US paratroopers practiced parachute jumps out of MC-130 special mission aircraft with all of them landed on the Okinawa territory, what violated the agreement of 1996 stipulating relocation of paratrooper exercises to the island of Ioto, Kyodo news agency reported.

The Japanese Defense Ministry informed the authorities of the Okinawa's Kadena city about the drills only late on Sunday, the news agency specified.

News Story: Okinawans call for U.S. military to go home after further provocations

TOKYO, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Local residents of Kadena on Okinawa's main island said the United States military conducting parachute training drills over Okinawa's mainland on Monday morning was completely unacceptable with the latest provocation coming amid rising anti-U.S. military sentiment on the island.

Local media reported that residents in the area still remember a tragic incident that occurred in 1965 involving an elementary schoolgirl being crushed to death by a trailer being parachuted down to a village during such a drill.

The area hasn't seen parachute drills by the U.S. military since a drill at the base in 2011, that saw 30 personnel deploy from a MC-130 special mission aircraft, official accounts showed.

The aircraft used to deploy the airmen are designed for infiltration and exfiltration missions and can also be used for resupply of special operation forces.

The large transporter-looking planes can also be configured to be used for air refueling of primarily special operation helicopters and tilt-rotor aircraft like the controversial Osprey, also hosted in Okinawa and mainland Japan, and the cause of great condemnation here for its checkered safety record.

The latest drill saw the local residents notified of the parachute exercise less than a day before it occurred, when notice was sent out on Sunday night by the Japanese Defense Ministry.

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: U.S. parachuting drill over Okinawa's Kadena irks host town

NAHA, Japan (Kyodo) -- The U.S. military conducted a parachuting drill over Kadena Air Base on Okinawa's main island on Monday morning, irking the host town as Japan and the United States have agreed to hold such drills only at a different airfield in the southwestern prefecture.

The town of Kadena, which had called for the military not to conduct a parachuting exercise at the air base, said Monday the drill was unacceptable.

Read the full story at The Mainichi

News Story: New US Air Force Wish List Adds Billions for More Aircraft

F-35A Lightning Stealth Fighter

By: Valerie Insinna

WASHINGTON — An update to the US Air Force’s 2017 wish list bumps its unfunded requirements to $10.6 billion, with the service seeking funding for more F-35s and a light attack aircraft experiment, among other new efforts. 

Congress has not passed a defense spending bill for 2017, opting instead to extend current funding until April — a tactic that gives the Trump administration and the Republican-controlled legislative branch time to figure out how to direct the budget for the remainder of the fiscal year. The services have responded by enlarging their own unfunded priorities lists to reflect growing demands. 

In its first $7.2 billion unfunded priorities list, the Air Force restored funding for five F-35s and eight C-130Js, which had been cut in the fiscal 2017 budget request, Defense News reported in March. The new list, likely updated within the past couple months, doubles the number of F-35As the service would fund if it had money available. It also calls for 11 C-130Js, including two MC-130Js used by special operators and an HC-130J search and rescue variant. 

But besides the expected procurement increases, the wish list contains a slew of new line items that reflect emerging priorities, such as $8 million for a light attack aircraft experiment that could precede a future program of record termed OA-X. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein and other top officials have endorsed the flight demo as a way to test whether a buy of inexpensive aircraft can help the force ameliorate readiness challenges and affordably perform missions in permissive environments. Goldfein said in January that no money had been directed toward the experiment, but that the service would like to hold the event as early as this spring.

Read the full story at DefenseNews

News Story: US sending commandos to Philippines

HH60 Pave Hawk (Image: Wiki Commons)

The United States said Thursday it will send troops and combat aircraft to the Philippines for regular, more frequent rotations, and will conduct more joint sea and air patrols with Philippine forces in the West Philippine Sea.

The announcement by US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter, he said the United States will keep nearly 300 troops, including Air Force special operations forces armed with combat aircraft and helicopters, in the Philippines through the end of the month.

Up to 75 Marines will stay at Camp Aguinaldo to support increased US and Philippine combined military operations.

Read the full story at Tankler