Marines are keeping aid flowing to the victims of the two deadly earthquakes which struck southern Japan last week.
Two MV-22B Ospreys completed four additional supply runs to the beleaguered island of Kyushu on Wednesday, the third day of disaster relief operations led by the Japan Self-Defense Force. The aircraft are with the Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 265, which is part of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit.
"Any time you get to help out, I think the Marines are always ready to go," VMM-265 operations officer Maj. Garret Litfin said in a Pacific Command video statement. "It give us the chance to show what we can do and what we are in this [area of operations] for."
A magnitude 6.2 quake struck the Kumamoto region April 14 and was followed by a stronger 7.0 quake only 27 hours later. Nearly 50 people were killed and almost 100,000 displaced; the area remains in critical need of basic supplies.
Over a three-hour period Tuesday, Marines delivered 18,000 pounds of food, water and other supplies, bringing the total aid to 65,000 pounds thus far, according to the 31st MEU.
On their first run out of Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni — approximately 170 miles northeast of the disaster zone — the Ospreys touched down in a sports park in the devastated village of Minamiaso.
JSDF troops unloaded their cargo and the Ospreys split up for resupply: One headed out to sea and landed on the Japanese destroyer Hyuga, and the other to a Japanese military base at the Aso-Kumamoto airport. They reloaded and flew back in to Minamiaso to deliver a second round.
That they could so smoothly execute these missions is a direct result of bilateral training conducted in the past, VMM-265 commander Lt. Col. Christopher Murray said in a statement.
"Seemingly simple acts like landing an Osprey on a Japanese ship require a great deal of practice, planning and coordination," he said. "Our Japanese friends needed these supplies right now, and we were able to assist our JSDF partners in delivering."
An MV-22B Osprey from Marine Medium Tilitrotor Squadron (VMM) 265 attached to the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit lands aboard JS Hyuga in support of Japan's relief efforts following earthquakes near Kumamoto. The long-standing alliance between Japan and the U.S. allows U.S. military forces in Japan to provide rapid, integrated support to the Japan Self-Defense Forces and civil relief efforts.
Photo Credit: MC3 Gabriel B. Kotico/Navy
About 120 Marines from the 31st MEU are helping with Japan's relief effort, named Joint Task Force Chinzei.
The Marines dispatched four Ospreys from the Philippines to Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni right after the second quake struck.
They were joined Monday by four additional Ospreys and two Air Force C-130H Hercules.
Matthew L. Schehl covers training and education, recruiting, West Coast Marines, MARSOC, and operations in Europe, Africa and the Middle East for Marine Corps Times. He can be reached at mschehl@marinecorpstimes.com.
