U.S. Marines, Japanese Forces to Drill in Southwestern Japan in Iron Fist Exercise

U.S. Marines and the Japanese Ground Self Defense will join for a bilateral exercise on Japan’s southwest islands, Japanese officials announced on Friday. The III Marine Expeditionary Force and the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force will drill in Okinawa and Kyush from Feb.19 – Mar.7 according to a JGSDF release on Friday. At the same time, Japan Defense Minister Gen Nakatani on Wednesday stated that the Ministry of Defense would strengthen the resilience of its defences in the southwest island along with preparing infrastructure to support the eventual deployment of a surface to air missile unit. Iron Fist 25 is focused