 Members of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force recently worked together with soldiers from U.S. Army Japan and a U.S. Airman to conduct tactical combat casualty care training or TC-3 at Sagami General Depot, Japan. The training was meant to enhance the soldier's ability to efficiently provide medical care in a combat environment and also to develop a better understanding among the U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force and the JGSDF on how each service provides medical care. The JGSDF members are currently attending the 101st iteration of a 10-week bilateral cooperative work program class or co-op for short at Camp Zama, Japan. This is a mandatory training that we're doing. It's something that's going to not only is it mandatory, but it helps out soldiers, right? We want to have at least one CLS personnel for every squad is the minimum we're going for, but really the U.S. Army and DHA has asked that we do everybody TC-3 trained. So everyone should have some form of TC-3 training, whether it's all combatants, CLS, or up to my combat medics and paramedics. The training consisted of three distinct phases, care under fire, tactical field care, and tactical casualty evacuation care. The participants were tested in realistic, simulated scenarios on the skills and techniques they learned over four days of instruction. It was great to be able to receive training from U.S. Army soldiers who have actual combat experience. I will definitely bring this experience back with me and share it with my unit. The most impressive moment was the pressure delivery device training, in which they used a bottle to apply pressure to stop bleeding from the groin. It was my first time seeing that, so I was very impressed. After participating in the TC-3 training, I got a sense of how kind the U.S. Army soldiers were. When I had a hard time understanding some of the medical terms in English, everyone in the class tried to explain it in an easier way. I was also impressed by the energy of the female soldiers. They were very strong, and I felt like I wanted to be like them in the future. Nearly 20 U.S. Army, Air Force, and JGSDF members participated in the training as a way to enhance U.S.-Japan bilateral relations and interoperability. Everyone's just so nice and ready to get hands on. We were working with some higher-ups. I had a first lieutenant, a mass sergeant, and a sergeant's first class, and a sergeant major in my group, but everyone was just so willing to be hands-on, and it's just a humbling experience, so it was great. I appreciated it. As the only Air Force person in the class, the biggest thing that I wanted to achieve was just proving to the other members that, hey, even though there's not a lot of Air Force people here, we're still part of the team, and we're still able to participate and communicate, and if they need us for anything, like, hey, guess what? We're going to raise our hand, and we're going to be a part of the team, and just do absolutely anything that needs to get done, so you can count on us. What I always tell my attendees to take away is these are guidelines. Build to them. All right? I gave you a basis. Now, I want you to go back to your individual units. Find what works for you. Find ways to make it better. Find things that you can educate yourself on and that you can keep learning. This is Kevin Crates-Ark reporting for U.S. Army Gears in Japan.