YCAPS & the Sasakawa Peace Foundation are pleased to announce the next event in the Community Conversations seminar series focused on the Okinawa Community! This event will feature General (ret.) Nozomu Yoshitomi, who will talk about the U.S.-Japan Alliance's Amphibious Future. We will also be joined by Lieutenant General (ret.) Wallace "Chip" Gregson Jr. as a discussant who will add comments and views on the topic.

The U.S.-Japan Alliance has been a keystone in building Japan's amphibious capabilities. Please Join us for our inaugural seminar in Okinawa looking forward towards further partnerships between the U.S. Marines and the Japanese Self Defense Force in amphibious capabilities.

Schedule:

17:30-18:30 Welcome Reception (food & drinks)
18:30-20:00 Seminar and Q&A

Location:

Tapic Kenso Hiyagon Stadium, "Operation headquarters room"

Okinawa Comprehensive Athletic Park

5 Chome-3-1 Hiyagon, Okinawa, 904-2173

〒904-2173 沖縄県沖縄市比屋根５丁目３−1

https://okinawa-kenso.com/?page_id=213

Google Map

*IMPORTANT* This event will be an In-Person Seminar. Please note that during the seminar, all attendees, presenters and staff are required to wear a face mask due to health and safety policies. *During the socializing time before the lecture begins, masks may be removed while eating and drinking but we request that when you are not eating and drinking, please keep your face mask on. Additionally please refrain from attending if you have Flu-like symptoms. All attendees will be asked to sign in for the purposes of contact tracing. Thank you for keeping this event safe for everyone.

Speakers:

Professor Nozomu Yoshitomi retired from Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) on April 1st, 2015 after serving for more than thirty years. He served as a field artillery officer for ten years, as an intelligence analyst for ten years, and in teaching/research assignments for ten years. His last military assignment was a chief of Division for Strategy / Concept, JGSDF Research and Development Command. Other recent assignments were professor of the School of Defense Sciences at the National Defense Academy of Japan, Commander of the 1st Surface to Ship Missile Regiment, JGSDF and as a councilor of the Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office. He graduated from the National Defense Academy in 1983 with a major in international relations and completed Command and General Staff Course and Advanced General Staff Course at the JGSDF Staff College. He received a master’s degree in international security from the Graduate School of Takushoku University in 2006 and completed the doctoral program in the Graduate School of Takushoku University in 2012.

Professor Yoshitomi’s research covers a wide range of issues including Japan’s defense strategy, JGSDF’s posture, Japan’s civil-military / international collaboration in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HA/DR). His recent works include “The Role of the Ground Self-Defense Force in Maintaining Maritime Traffic Security: For Japan’s National Interest as a Global Maritime Nation” (Japan Association for International Security, The Journal of International Security, Vol. 43 No. 1, June 2015),“Japan’s Capacity Building for Vietnam: Cooperating with the United States for Maritime Security in the South China Sea” (Research Institute for Peace and Security, RIPS Policy Perspectives, No.22, February 2015), “Military-Military Cooperation on HA/DR in the Indo-Pacific Region: JSDF’s Perspective” (Center for Excellence in Disaster Management & Humanitarian Assistance, LIAISON, vol.6, 2014),.

Lieutenant General Wallace C. Gregson, Jr., retired from the Marines in 2005. He last served as the Commander, U.S. Marine Corps Forces Pacific; Commanding General, Fleet Marine Force, Pacific; and Commander, U.S. Marine Corps Bases, Pacific, headquartered at Camp H. M. Smith, Hawaii. He previously served as Commander III Marine Expeditionary Force and Commander Marine Corps Bases Japan. Following retirement from the Marine Corps he joined the US Olympic Committee as Chief Operating Officer. In 2006 he formed his own consulting company. On 13 May 2009, following Senate confirmation he assumed responsibility as Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs, a post he held until 1 April 2011. He is now in business as President of WC Gregson & Associates.

Format: This event will be off-the-record.

Registration: None required
Moderators: Jeff Mazziotta & Jenna Lindeke Heavenrich

Co-Sponsor: Sasakawa Peace Foundation
Seminar Cost: Free of charge