日米上陸部隊が共同訓練　沖縄で離島奪還を想定

　離島の防衛や奪還を想定して実施中の日米共同訓練「アイアン・フィスト２４」で、着上陸作戦を担う陸上自衛隊の水陸機動団と米海兵隊の指揮官が１２日、沖縄県金武町の米軍ブルービーチ訓練場で記者会見を開いた。同団長の北島一陸将補は「戦争を未然に防ぐために極めて意義深いものだ」と述べた。
　北島陸将補は「ロシアのウクライナ侵略から学んだ教訓は、国を守る十分な力を持っていないと相手に思われれば、実際に侵略する国家が２１世紀にも存在するということだ」と強調。米海兵隊第３海兵遠征旅団の司令官トレバー・ホール准将は着上陸訓練について、「この地域で演習し熟練度を保つことが重要だ」と指摘した。（2024/03/12-15:47）

High-ranking Japanese and U.S. defense officers on Tuesday stressed the importance of joint exercises now going on at sites in Japan's southernmost prefecture of Okinawa and the nearby Kyushu region.
   The Iron Fist 24 exercises are of extreme significance in order to prevent a war from happening, Maj. Gen. Hajime Kitajima, commander of the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force's Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade, said in a press conference at the U.S. military's Kin Blue Beach Training Area in the Okinawa town of Kin.
   The lesson learned from Russia's aggression against Ukraine is that there still is a country in the 21st century that actually invades another state if it is considered as not having enough power to defend itself, he added.
   It is important to carry out the exercises in this region to maintain proficiency, Brig. Gen. Trevor Hall, deputy commanding general of the U.S. Marine Corps' 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force and commanding general of the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade in Okinawa, said at the same press conference, referring to landing practices being conducted as part of the Japan-U.S. joint exercises.
   Participants in Iron Fist 24, totaling about 2,100, are practicing the defense and recapturing of remote islands, including landing exercises using air-cushion landing crafts and amphibious vehicles launched from transport ships.