Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni will conduct a bilateral Mass Casualty Mutual-Aid exercise in conjunction with Iwakuni City Fire, Yamaguchi Prefecture Police (Hq)/Iwakuni Police Station, Iwakuni Clinical Center DMAT, Japan Coast Guard, Iwakuni City Risk Management Office and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s FAW-31 and others as part of the air station’s annual first-responder exercise at Atago Hills in Iwakuni City on Feb. 13, 2018.

Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni conducts a first-responder exercise yearly prior to its annual JMSDF/MCAS Iwakuni Friendship Day. The exercise is designed to validate and refine incident-response procedures and to train personnel on actions required in the event of an emergency.

Our relationship with our local Japanese counterparts is strong, and we continue to train and build interoperability in order to ensure the safety of all, especially in respect to emergency situations. In the spirit of the tenets of the Mutual Support Agreement, the Mass-Casualty Mutual-Aid bilateral exercise increases interoperability through the rehearsal of bilateral communication plans and tactics, techniques and procedures among first responders and emergency operations centers during any mass-casualty scenario occurring off the main installation.

“Atago Hills welcomed its first occupants in the beginning of December; therefore, it is very important that the air station conduct bilateral exercises like this one at Atago Hills in order to ensure all first responders can react appropriately in any emergency situation,” said Col. Richard Fuerst, commanding officer of Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni. “We have a long history of working together, and this exercise is the next logical step in a continuing relationship of cooperation and teamwork.

This day-long training exercise is an example of Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni’s dedication to mission readiness, realistic training and ability to interoperate with Iwakuni City and other Japanese first responders.

Media members inquiring about the U.S. aspects of the Mass-Casualty Mutual-Aid bilateral exercise are encouraged to contact Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni Communication Strategy and Operations by emailing queries to IwakuniPAO@usmc.mil or calling 0827-79-5551. With queries regarding Japanese first-responder participants, please contact the appropriate agency.

The visual footage of the exercise will be available at DVIDS for professional media service. https://www.dvidshub.net/unit/MCAS-I