Twelve Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) sailors and 12 members of the U.S. armed forces graduated, March 7, from the 4th Bilateral Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) Leadership Continuum, held at Commander, Fleet Activities Yokosuka (CFAY), Japan.

"The Bilateral Non-Commissioned Officer Leadership Continuum is an opportunity for students from the Kaijo Jieitai, or the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force, to integrate with students from the U.S. Navy, U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force and U.S. Marine Corps," said Command Master Chief Steven Snyder, Naval Forces Japan/Navy Region Japan (CNFJ/CNRJ). "While we do teach rudimentary leadership skills and concepts, this is not really a leadership class. It is more about teaching them to interact with one other across international and force boundaries to form bonds, communicate with each other and collaboratively identify issues and build solutions."

At the end of the course, graduates expressed their feelings in a survey about what they learned. Most of the Americans responded that they knew almost nothing about their Japanese counterparts.

While the Japanese and U.S. armed forces may take part in the same exercises and operations, true cooperation and understanding can only happen by building trust and bonds, said Snyder.

To help facilitate those ties, Snyder said he paired the participants to match their gender, approximate service time, and occupation and family situations. He said he hoped those similarities would help ease what can be an awkward transition from stranger to friend.

Sailors from both sides expressed great interest in building bonds, which was a core focus of the class.

"From the JMSDF side, we had people from all different ships, all different commands who I didn't know. And then we had the U.S. Navy, U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Marine Corps, so I got to learn about an entire new world that I didn't know about anything about," said JMSDF Sonar Technician 2nd Class Fukushima Hajime, Bilateral NCO Leadership Continuum honor graduate. "That was a really wonderful opportunity and I got a chance to speak and practice my English."

Even though the participants said the language barrier was a challenge, they didn't shy away from getting to know their partners.

"The most interesting part of this course is most definitely the people," said Gunner's Mate 1st Class Oscar Hernadez, Bilateral NCO Leadership Continuum honor graduate. "We all talk about our military experiences, culture and the language barrier, but the most interesting part to me was to learn what I had in common with people who have grown up in such different circumstances, thousands of miles away from where I grew up."

The course is semi-annual event funded by the local JMSDF and the U.S. Navy chief petty officers association. It is slated to expand to other naval installations such as Naval Air Facility Misawa and Commander, Fleet Activities Sasebo.

For more news from Commander, Naval Forces Japan, visit http://www.navy.mil/.
For more information, visit http://www.navy.mil,
http://www.facebook.com/usnavy, or http://www.twitter.com/usnavy.