Across the IDL: Partnership Begins Before Yama Sakura 91
CAMP HIGASHI-CHITOSE, Japan — Somewhere over the Pacific Ocean, the calendar changed.
Soldiers assigned to the 11th Airborne Division departed Anchorage, Alaska, crossed the International Date Line and arrived in Japan one day ahead on the calendar as they traveled to Hokkaido for Exercise Yama Sakura 91. Crossing the International Date Line marked more than a change in time. For the Arctic Angels, it marked the transition from training and operating in Alaska to working alongside Japanese and Australian counterparts thousands of miles across the Pacific.
The work began before the exercise officially started.
Upon arriving at Camp Higashi-Chitose, Soldiers joined members of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force and Australian Army to begin the coordination required for three nations to operate together during a complex command post exercise. Before the first exercise scenario, simulated operation or major staff action, personnel from the three nations began establishing relationships, comparing processes, testing communications and building a shared understanding of how each force operates.
“A lot of the work happens before STARTEX,” 11th Airborne Division Chief of Staff, Col. Stewart C. Lindsay said. “Our staffs are already sitting together, working through processes, communications and responsibilities so there is a shared understanding across all three nations.”
That preparation is where interoperability begins.
Yama Sakura 91 is a joint, trilateral command post exercise co-sponsored by U.S. Army Pacific and the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force. The exercise is designed to enhance U.S., Japanese and multinational partner combat readiness and interoperability while strengthening relationships among participating forces.
For the 11th Airborne Division, achieving that interoperability does not begin at the official start of the exercise. It begins in the days before, as staff sections work alongside their Japanese and Australian counterparts to identify differences in procedures, establish communication methods and understand how each organization contributes to the larger mission.
The goal is not to make three armies operate the same way. It is to understand each other's capabilities, procedures and decision-making processes well enough to operate together without unnecessary friction.
That preparation becomes increasingly important in a trilateral environment. Each nation arrives with its own doctrine, systems, terminology and methods of conducting operations. Bringing those capabilities together requires deliberate coordination before the pace and complexity of the exercise increases.
A conversation between staff members can identify a difference in terminology. A communications check can uncover a system limitation. Working through a planning process together can show where liaison officers or additional coordination may be required. Each problem solved before the exercise begins removes potential friction later and strengthens the ability of the three forces to work together.
More importantly, those interactions build relationships. Soldiers who begin as counterparts from three different armies develop the familiarity and trust required to operate as a combined team working toward the same objectives.
“The goal is to be fully integrated with our partners before the exercise begins.” Lindsay added.
The journey to Yama Sakura also highlights the geography connecting Alaska to the broader Indo-Pacific. The 11th Airborne Division departed from its home in Alaska, traveled west across the Pacific and crossed the International Date Line before arriving in another northern operating environment in Hokkaido.
The distance between the two locations is significant, but exercises like Yama Sakura demonstrate why relationships across that distance matter. Forces cannot wait until a crisis to learn how to work together. Interoperability is developed through repeated training, shared experiences and relationships established before they are needed.
As the three nations prepare for the exercise, Soldiers are working through the differences that naturally exist among separate military organizations while identifying the capabilities each brings to the combined force. The work may begin in command posts and coordination meetings, but its purpose extends beyond the exercise by building familiarity, trust and the ability to operate together.
For the Arctic Angels, that process began with a flight out of Anchorage and a crossing of the International Date Line. One day became the next somewhere over the Pacific, but by the time Soldiers reached Camp Higashi-Chitose, the focus was no longer on the distance traveled. It was on closing the distance between three armies and ensuring they are ready to work together when Yama Sakura 91 begins.
The exercise had not officially started, but the partnership already had.
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