Iwakuni City Mayor Yoshihiko Fukuda and Chugoku Shikoku Defense Bureau Director General Haruo Morita toured MCAS Iwakuni and met with Col. Lance Lewis, the air station commanding officer, yesterday to discuss MCAS Iwakuni’s ability to support the dynamic employment of forces across the Indo-Pacific area of operations.

Following the deployment of Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam-based F-22’s to MCAS Iwakuni, Lewis highlighted to his counterparts the importance of remaining strategically predictable and operationally unpredictable in line with the US National Defense Strategy and in deterrence of potential threats to regional security.

“Operational unpredictability is not a new concept for MCAS Iwakuni,” said Lewis. “We will continue to exercise operational unpredictability in the future to the mutual benefit of Japan and the United States.”

During the visit, Lewis emphasized the importance of future security cooperation in order to ensure MCAS Iwakuni is able to meet its defense obligations under the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security and preserve the international order.

During the visit, the three leaders agreed to maintain transparency in operations to the maximum extent possible while preserving operational security concerns, in order to alleviate local concerns related to aircraft noise.

“We continue to take steps to accommodate the concerns of our neighbors while we do what is necessary to keep Japan safe,” said Lewis. “Many noise mitigating measures have already been implemented to reduce the impact of our operations on the local community, beginning years ago with the relocation of our runway one kilometer into the sea and seen today in specifically altering how we fly aircraft.”

Images are available from the link below. The photos are attributed to the U.S. Marine Corps.

U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Paul Lopez, an F-22 Raptor Aircraft pilot with the 199th Fighter Squadron greets Yoshihiko Fukuda, Mayor of Iwakuni City at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Iwakuni, Japan, March 31, 2021. The 199th Fighter Squadron deployed to MCAS Iwakuni to conduct integrated training with Marine and Naval forces as part of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command’s dynamic force employment concept. (Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Tyler Harmon)