US Marines and Japanese army aviators stage their first joint elephant walk at Futenma

US Marine Corps and Japan Ground Self-Defense Force aircraft lined up together on the runway at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Okinawa on Tuesday, 20 October, in what the Marines described as the first joint elephant walk held at the base. The event took place during Keen Sword 27, the large US-Japan joint exercise that opened the day before.

An elephant walk is a tight formation of many military aircraft taxiing along a runway or taxiway. Marine Aircraft Group 36 led the formation alongside its Japanese counterparts. The Marine Corps said the aim was to demonstrate the two forces' ability to project air power across the Pacific.

The two published accounts differ slightly on the size of the formation. Stars and Stripes, citing a spokesman for the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, put the total at 26 aircraft and called it the largest such event in recent memory. The Okinawa newspaper Ryukyu Shimpo reported 27 aircraft, 11 from the Ground Self-Defense Force and 16 from the Marine Corps.

According to the Stars and Stripes breakdown, the Marine contingent was made up of five CH-53 Super Stallion heavy-lift helicopters, nine MV-22 Osprey tiltrotors and one Cobra attack helicopter. The Japanese side, from the Ground Self-Defense Force's Western Army, brought one OH-1 scout helicopter, two AH-64 Apache attack helicopters, two V-22 Ospreys, three CH-47 Chinooks and three HH-60 Rescue Hawk helicopters. That breakdown adds up to 15 Marine aircraft, one fewer than the Ryukyu Shimpo count.

Some aircraft began warming up their engines on the apron at 8 a.m. local time. Every aircraft except the Ospreys took off and landed during the walk. The Marines had met their Japanese counterparts the previous Friday to plan the event and held a rehearsal on Monday.

Marine officers involved told Stars and Stripes that the walk enhances the two countries' capacity to act as a bilateral team in competition, conflict or other uncertain security situations. The air mission controller, Maj. Katrina Lamsa of Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 367, said earlier work with many of the same Japanese personnel during the Resolute Dragon exercise in the spring had made planning easier. A Japanese-speaking Marine captain helped bridge language gaps during the preparations.

The group's operations officer, Maj. David Vanrooy, described the walk as a sign of the enduring strength of the alliance and said Keen Sword was the largest exercise the unit had conducted locally in Okinawa. Keen Sword runs until 29 October and involves about 56,000 US and Japanese troops as well as forces from seven partner nations, with a focus on improving the two militaries' readiness and their ability to operate together.