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Japan, U.S. train side-by-side in Cope North

by Heather Hauswirth

Guam - The first Cope North flight exercise was conducted in 1978. The Cope North 10-1 training exercises currently taking place at Andersen Air Force Base Guam for the next two weeks involving units from the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Navy and the Japan Air Self-Defense Force, which will be engaging in joint exercises to practice working together to develop their skills as well as improve their overall capabilities in support of the defense of Japan.

Colonel Larry Bowers is the commander of 13th Air Force Detachment 1 based out of Yakota Airbase.  "The simple fact that Cope North Guam is the tenth time we've done it here but the 81st time we've run a Cope North exercise, it is one of the longest running bilateral exercises in the Pacific," he said.

The U.S. aircrafts participating in the exercise include the F-16 Fighting Falcon from the 18th Aggressor Squadron, Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska; the B-52 Stratofortress from the 20th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron, currently deployed to Andersen AFB; and the U.S. Navy EA-6b Prowler from VAQ-136 Carrier Air Wing Five, Atsugi, Japan.  The JASDF aircrafts include the F-2 Support Fighter Aircraft from the 6th Squadron, Tsuiki Air Base, Japan, and the E-2c Hawkeye from the 601st Squadron, Misawa Air Base, Japan.

For F-2 Fighter Pilo Captain Seiji "Bukon" Ono, this is the only time each year that he is able to drop live bombs on a range rather than over water."In my flight I concentrate on precise how can I make toss precise."

The Japanese F-2 carries 2 - five hundred pound bombs. These will later be dropped on the island of FDM which is 160 miles north of Guam. These exercises represent the US and Japanese working together tactically to achieve their objective of stability in the Pacific Theater.