U.S. Retains Military Deployment Around Japan After Joint Drills

On September 8th, the U.S. Army’s Pacific Commander General Charles Flynn said the United States would not immediately withdraw rocket launchers and other equipment at the East China Sea after the joint U.S.-Japan military training. The Japanese Army base on the U.S. Island but will keep some equipment until the next joint drills. He saw this as an opportunity for them to keep capabilities forward. He pointed out that increasing the scale, complexity, and duration of the joint drills of US and Japanese troops is an important goal of the US-Japan joint military exercises. Flynn stressed that from the Russia-Ukraine War, it can be seen that timely and adequate equipment supply is an extremely important wartime function.

Camp Amami was opened in 2019, as one of a string of new bases established by Japan on its southwestern islands for anti-ship and anti-aircraft missile units that it will deter any attack from Communist China.

According to the reports, The United States and Japan will hold two joint military exercises in 2022, and U.S. military equipment, including two High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) that can fire projectiles up to 500 kilometers (310 miles), can continue to stay in the Amami Oshima island for several months.

It was believed that at a time when the relations between U.S. and Communist China are becoming increasingly tense because of Taiwan, large-scale joint military drills may be a good way for the United States to achieve rapid deployment of troops in East Asia.