WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd January, 2020) A two-week bilateral training exercise with US Marines and Japanese soldiers now underway features vertical assaults with the MV-22B Osprey vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, the US Pacific Command (PACOM) said in a press release.
"The exercise will consist of field training events to include basic infantry skills training, vertical assaults integrated with MV-22B Osprey flight operations, and combined-arms operations," the release said on Tuesday.
PACOM explained that more than 145 Okinawa-based US Marines from Battalion Landing Team, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, joined about 500 Japan Ground Self Defense Force counterparts for the January 18-31exercise.
The 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit - the Marine Corps' only continuously forward-deployed unit - serves as the Primary US crisis response force in the Indo-Pacific region.
