Marines train with Japanese soldiers at Camp Pendleton

Mark Brighton

Members of the U.S. Marine Corps and the Japanese Ground Self Defense Forces will take part in a joint military training program at Camp Pendleton over the next three weeks.

The program, known as Operation Iron Fist, seeks to improve the amphibious battle capabilities of soldiers from both countries.

More than 100 Japanese soldiers have made the trip to the California installation from their home port of Kyushu, in an effort to more firmly establish protocols for water-based defense. Pendleton's Red Beach provides a larger training ground for these soldiers than the typically smaller and more crowded beaches back at home in Okinawa and Chiba

"It's great for them and it's great for us," Colonel David Coffman, commanding officer of the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit at Camp Pendleton, explained to the Marine Corps Times. "It's one of our mission sets."

Company Commander Hiroshi Inoue said it was an honor to work alongside the Marines, and was quoted by the news provider as saying that the Japanese soldiers view the Marines as the strongest military unit in the world.