Coast Guard conducts joint exercise with Japanese military near Dutch Harbor

Joint maneuvers between the U.S. Coast Guard and Japanese military were held recently in the Aleutians. A statement from the Coast Guard on Saturday says Dutch Harbor hosted the Japanese Military Special Defense Force training vessel Kashima along with the U.S. cutter Kimball.

The two crews performed a uniformed salute at sea, as part of a ceremony rendering honors to the Japanese crew.

The Japanese vessel’s two-month mission began in the port city of Hiroshima before transiting Arctic waters and back to Japan via the U.S. Navy’s base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. The release says the ship’s crew practiced search and rescue missions and exercises with its U.S. counterparts. 

The Kashima is used to train new Japanese officers and bore 110 newly commissioned officers and a total of 300 crewmembers for its Arctic mission.