Total Army approach to Yama Sakura 85
U.S. Army Maj. Justin V. Padua and Lt. Col. Patrick Blankenship, both with the civil affairs cell for America’s First Corps, attend a civil affairs working group at Camp Asaka, Saitama, Japan, Dec. 6, 2023. As a part of U.S. Army Pacific's Operation Pathways, the 43rd iteration of Yama Sakura exercise, YS 85, is the first U.S. Army, Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, and Australian Army command post exercise based in Japan. Participants from the JGSDF and the Australian Army train together with Soldiers of the U.S. Army I Corps, 7th Infantry Division, 11th Airborne Division, U.S. Army Japan, U.S. Army Reserve and U.S. Army National Guard in a Joint environment to strengthen multi-domain and cross-domain interoperability and readiness to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific. (U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Elijah Magaña)