Japan Ground Self-Defense Force Lt. Col. Shunichi Hiroyama,

Japan Ground Self-Defense Force Lt. Col. Shunichi Hiroyama, deputy chief, JGSDF Reserve Personnel Office (left), and Army Sgt. Maj. Bennie B. Nunnally, Jr., senior enlisted advisor, U.S. Army Reserve Engagement Team-Japan, shake hands at the conclusion of a Sept. 29, 2015, meeting at the Japan Ministry of Defense near Tokyo. The senior leaders offered ways to encourage their commands to work and train together on a more frequent and engaged level. Hiroyama and his superior officer, JGSDF Col. Kei Hasegawa, emphasized the expansion of the Japan Observer Exchange Program and increasing the number of bilateral engagements between U.S. Army Reserve Soldiers and the JGSDF's regional Army commands. Nunnally and Army Col. Timothy M. Snyder, director, ARET-J, invited their JGSDF counterparts to participate in a two-week civil affairs course hosted by U.S. Army Japan and proposed that both commands collaborate in creating the first formal private-public partnership program to connect U.S. Army Reserve and the JGSDF Reserve Component service members with major civilian employers based in Japan. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. John L. Carkeet IV, U.S. Army Japan)