9th Army Division

Col. Junichiro Ikeda, Chief of Staff of the 9th Division, Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF), and Col. Dale E. Roth, Chief of Staff, U.S. Army Japan, formally opened exercise ORIENT SHIELD on 2 November 1998. ORIENT SHIELD was the result of over a year of planning and preparation designed to improve U.S. and JGSDF tactical interoperability at the squad, platoon, and company level. Approximately 860 Japanese and 500 U.S. soldiers participated in this 13-day event at Camp Iwatesan in the northern part of mainland Japan. The interoperability training in ORIENT SHIELD was undertaken by the 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division (Light) "Wolfhounds," from Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, and the 5th Infantry Regiment, 9th Division, Northeastern Army, JGSDF from Camp Iwate, Japan.