New York City National Guard Head to Far East

By New York State Division of Military & Naval Affairs

STATEN ISLAND, NY (11/27/2009)(readMedia)– New York Army National Guard Soldiers from the 42nd Infantry Division Headquarters deploy next week to Hokkaido, Japan for a two-week training exercise alongside troops of the Japanese Ground Self Defense Forces (JGSDF).

Appproximately 50 Citizen Soldiers from from the division’s tactical command post on Staten Island will fly to Northern Japan and Fort Lewis, Washington next week to support the training. In all, about 100 Citizen Soldiers from across the state will deploy to Japan and 60 will support the battle simulation exercise from Fort Lewis, Washington.

The bilateral training exercise known as Yama Sakura, brings together U.S. and Japanese forces to better develop the U.S. and Japanese military to military relationship and provide a forum for training senior leaders and staffs for conflict.

Yama Sakura means Mountain Cherry Blossom in Japanese.

Since its inception in 1982, Yama Sakura has focused on the development and refinement of the Japan Ground Self Sefense Forces and the U.S. Army’s efforts in coordination and interoperability. The expercise exemplifies a continued commitment by the United States and Japan to work as dedicated partners in support of the U.S. – Japan security alliance and for continued peace and stability in the region.

The training involves a command post exercise, a battle simulation that will challenge the senior leaders of both U.S. and Japanese forces for high intensity conflict.

“This is our profession and our craft,” said Brig. Gen. Steven Wickstrom, the 42nd Infantry Division Commander to his assembled staff leaders during a combined arms rehearsal prior to deployment. “We need to do this training to improve our profession and continue to learn.”

The training for high intensity conflict is a return to a more conventional employment of an Army ground combat divisoin headquarters. The 42nd Infantry Division deployed to Iraq in 2005 and conducted stability and support operations as part of the wider counterinsurgency fight during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Gen. George Casey, the Army Chief of Staff, has emphasized the training for conventional warfare since 2008.

“When I was a divisional commander in Germany in ’99 to 2001, if you had asked me where I should optimize my training on the spectrum of conflict so I could be the most versatile, I would have said, If I can do conventional war, I can do anything,” Casey said in remarks to the Army News Service in August 2008.

“After 32 months in Iraq, I don’t believe that… (and) mostly the Soldiers that have been to Iraq and Afghanistan don’t believe that, either,” Casey said. “There’s enough difference, some fundamental differences between irregular warfare and major conventional warfare that we need to…be more versatile,” Gen. Casey said.

For more information about the deployment of the 42nd Infantry Division Soldiers or the Yama Sakura 57 training exercise, visit our microsite at http://dmna.state.ny.us/blog/journal.php.