MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- In order to test and strengthen the air station’s defenses, Iwakuni service members will be conducting Operation Total Force Tuesday through Thursday.
The exercise simulates a terrorist attack here while many personnel are forward deployed supporting a local contingency. With limited manpower and resources, service members will be tasked with defending the base while continuing to support the deployed forces.
“With this, the air station will be able to validate what we require to run the air station, i.e. to validate a [training order] that’s logical,” said Maj. Mike K. Jeron, Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron training officer-in-charge. “Secondary for the station, it will also validate our force protection procedures - how we defend the base and how we operate, if war should ever come, to support the operational units.”
During Total Force, residents can expect an increased use of the “Big Voice” loudspeaker system between the hours of 7 a.m. and 10 p.m., temporary television and radio interruptions throughout the day and possible temporary closures of facilities such as the commissary, post offices or Seven-Day stores. With so much training being squeezed into a three-day period, Jeron said measures are being taken to lessen the burden on those not participating.
“We’re minimizing the impact as best we can by scheduling some scenarios that would impact (non-participants) to non-peak hours,” Jeron said. “Everything we’re doing is for the better of the base. It’s not meant to inconvenience anyone.”
Drills testing operational readiness and section/division interoperability will require exercise participants to carry full mission-oriented protective posture gear as well as a weapon during daily activities.
Defending the base while simultaneously performing their normal jobs is a good training experience for Marines and sailors given the current environment in Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom, Jeron said.
Total Force coincides with Exercise Foal Eagle in Korea, which many service members will be deployed in support of. Fleet assistance program (FAP) personnel will also be sent back to their home units, further challenging some understaffed offices and organizations.
“It was decided as part of the exercise that we would do this during Foal Eagle,” Jeron said. “In a real world event, the operating units would go forward to fight the war, and we would be left back here to support them.
“It’s another level of realism because the station depends heavily on the FAP system,” he added. “Worst case scenario, our FAPs do go away because of an operational war.”
Noncombatant evacuation operations will also be conducted in which 50 volunteers will be processed and flown to Yokota Air Base for the duration of the exercise.