Iron Fist 2025: USMC and JSDF Troops Train for Amphibious Warfare

On April 1, 1945, a mere five days after the bloody Battle of Iwo Jima ended, U.S. and Imperial Japanese forces were once again locked in mortal island combat, this time in the Battle of Okinawa, which was part of Operation Iceberg. Part of the Ryukyu Islands and the smallest and least populated of the five main islands of Japan—measuring approximately 106 kilometers (66 mi) in length and 11 kilometers (7 miles) in width—the fierce fight for this tiny piece of territory ended up claiming the lives of 12,520 American troops, 110,000 Japanese soldiers, and between 40,000 and 150,000 Okinawa civilians. 

Now, seventy-nine years and eleven months later, American and Japanese military forces are still interacting in Okinawa, only this time as friends and allies. Instead of fighting the Imperial Japanese Army, the U.S. Armed Forces are partnering with the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF).

America and the JSDF

The latest display of U.S.-Japan military cooperation comes to us from Stars and Stripes reporters Brian McElhiney and Keishi Koja in a March 3, 2025, article titled “

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