U.S. Army Lt. Cmdr. James Lucas, left, a Joint Task Force (JTF) Maritime Component Commander liaison, works with Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Lt. Cmdr. Abe Naoki, a Japan JTF Maritime Component Commander liaison, to plan simulated ship deployments during Yama Sakura (YS) 65 at Camp Higashi-Chitose, Japan, Dec. 7, 2013. YS is an annual, bilateral exercise between the U.S. military and the Japan Self-Defense Forces. YS is the largest command post exercise that focuses predominantly on the bilateral and joint planning, coordination and interoperability of ground-based elements of the U.S./Japan security alliance.