KANOYA AIR BASE, Japan -- Leadership from the 374th Airlift Wing and 432nd Air Expeditionary Wing visited with members of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Fleet Air Wing One, JMSDF Air Patrol Squadron One leadership, and the Airmen of the 319th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron, deployed to Kanoya Air Base, Japan, Feb. 23.

The visit served as an opportunity to discuss maintenance updates, tour the deployed aircraft, and recognize members of the 319th ERS for their work to build relationships with their host JMSDF partners and the local Japanese community.

Visitors included Col. Eric Schmidt, 432nd Air Expeditionary Wing commander, Chief Master Sgt. Adrienne Warren, 432nd Air Expeditionary Wing command chief, Col. Andrew Roddan, 374th Airlift Wing commander, and Chief Master Sgt. Jerry Dunn, 374th Airlift Wing command chief.

The 319th ERS MQ-9s support Japan–U.S. intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance priorities throughout the Indo-Pacific, sending information they capture to the Bilateral Intelligence Analysis Cell on Yokota Air Base for review and processing by a combined U.S.-Japan team. Pacific Air Forces deployed MQ-9s, a medium-altitude, long endurance remotely piloted aircraft, and personnel to JMSDF Kanoya Air Base to conduct airborne reconnaissance operations in close coordination with the Japan Ministry of Defense in furtherance of the U.S.-Japan treaty and to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific.

Photo Caption: U.S. Air Force Col. Andrew Roddan, 374th Airlift Wing commander, right, shakes hands with Lt. Col. Alexander Kelly, commanding officer of the 319th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron, at Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Kanoya Air Base, Japan, Feb. 23, 2023. Yokota and Creech Air Force Base leadership visited the 319th ERS to meet with and thank Airmen for their work maintaining and operating the squadron's MQ-9 Reaper aircraft and recognize superior performers for their work to build relationships with their host JMSDF partners and the local Japanese community. The 319th ERS MQ-9s support Japan–U.S. intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance priorities throughout the Indo-Pacific, sending information they capture to the Bilateral Intelligence Analysis Cell on Yokota Air Base for review and processing by a combined U.S.-Japan team.

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