The recent Yama Sakura 87 exercise marked several historic firsts in multinational military cooperation, bringing together forces from Japan, the United States, and Australia in an unprecedented trilateral command post exercise. As one of only a few companies invited to participate, alongside organizations like Palantir, Dell, and Booz Allen Hamilton, we were honored to bring our expertise to this significant engagement.
This year's iteration, spanning 10 days across multiple Pacific locations, represented the first time the exercise ran concurrently with the U.S. Army's Warfighter command post exercise. Over 7,000 service members participated in operations that stretched from Camp Asaka and Camp Zama in Japan to to Schofield Barracks in Hawaii and Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington.
This year's innovations aimed at improving joint human, procedural, and technical interoperability were instrumental in advancing Cross-Domain Operations (CDO) and Multi-Domain Operations (MDO). These efforts align with the overarching goal of ensuring a free and open Indo-Pacific through enhanced deterrence and response capabilities.
Working alongside I Corps and CIO/G-6, we demonstrated our platform and advanced applications to enhance distributed command and control capabilities, enabling seamless coordination for complex military operations between command nodes across different countries. Our team successfully showcased a demonstration of secure and seamless information sharing bridging disparate networks, helping establish a common operating picture that facilitated informed decision-making across all levels of command.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III emphasized the importance of people over platforms during the exercise, noting, "This is how we ought to be operating... It's all about the people who are committed to going above and beyond the call of duty."
The exercise showcased significant advances in Cross-Domain Operations and Multi-Domain Operations interoperability between allied forces, contributing to the broader goal of maintaining stability in the Indo-Pacific region. As one of several technology partners present, including representatives from leading defense contractors, we were proud, to be present, and played a part in supporting this crucial multinational training event.
Looking ahead, we remain committed to supporting similar initiatives that enhance military readiness and international cooperation. The lessons learned and relationships strengthened during Yama Sakura 87 will continue to inform our approach to developing and implementing solutions that serve the needs of the Department of Defense.