By William Yale
On Thursday, February 22nd, 2024, YCAPS hosted a wargaming night in Sasebo for junior officers from both the U.S. Navy (USN) and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF). Participants played the recently-published wargame, “Littoral Commander: Indo-Pacific.”
This event was aimed at enhancing participants’ understanding of the strategic, operational, and tactical considerations associated with military contingencies between the U.S. and the People’s Republic of China (PRC), and at building mission-oriented comradery among USN and JMSDF officers. It also builds on efforts made over the course of 2023 and early 2024 by YCAPS members in Sasebo to organize a joint USN-JMSDF junior officer group, tentatively called the “Junior Officer Friendship Association – Sasebo,” dedicated to its members’ professional development and enhancing the mil-to-mil relationship through friendships at the grassroots level.
This work aligns with YCAPS’ long-standing commitment to strengthening the U.S.-Japan alliance, and YCAPS hopes to both organize similar events in the future and further expand people-to-people ties between the USN and JMSDF.