In such a contingency, prepositioned equipment would be waiting at Sagami Depot, near Camp Zama, for 25th Infantry Division units from Hawaii, which would be the first to arrive in Japan, Johnson said. Most Japanese favor the U.S. presence in Japan, due largely to these exchanges, Boylan said. They pay for our buildings and provide a large part of our work force. It ranks number two in gross national product and has a modern army, some 180,000 strong, outfitted with equipment manufactured in the United States or in Japan, with U.S. specifications. And Japanese NCOs don't have the authority NCOs in the U.S. Army have.
Aviators participate in field exercises, transporting fuel, ammunition and personnel.
Ordnance specialists transport and issue ammunition, and medical and administrative personnel and others perform the countless other functions critical to success on the battlefield. Following such natural disasters as typhoons, floods and earthquakes, the command has sent humanitarian-aid supplies and assistance to Vietnam, the Philippines, Cambodia and Russia, he said. They can go from Army post to Air Force base to Navy base, all in several hours, and spend their entire tour in Japan doing that. You really have to be adventurous here. If you're not, you can become a hermit.