Dempsey Hosts Japanese Defense Chief

Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey last week hosted Gen. Shigeru Iwasaki, his Japanese counterpart, at the Pentagon as part of ongoing activities to strengthen bilateral security ties. Dempsey called the two countries’ alliance “long and very enduring” and said the United States and Japan are committed to improving and building on that partnership. Among the topics during their Aug. 23 meeting, Dempsey and Iwasaki discussed joint operations and expanding cooperation into areas like cyberspace and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, according to a Pentagon release. They also spoke about the US deployment of Marine Corps V-22 tiltrotor airplanes to Okinawa. “The Osprey is our next generation of tactical airlift, and so very important to our modernization efforts in our future,” said Dempsey. The United States wants “very much to assure the people of Okinawa, and the Japanese people, in general, that it will be safe to operate,” he added. (AFPS report by Amaani Lyle)