ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY

More than 7,000 U.S., Japanese and Australian troops participated in an Indo-Pacific Army warfighter exercise that for the first time in decades was held in Japan.

The warfighter exercise, which is the Army’s premier training event for corps and division headquarters to prepare for mission command in large-scale combat operations, was notable in that it took place at the same time as Yama Sakura, an exercise that has been held annually in Japan since 1982.

If Europe was the consequential theater of the 20th century, the relationship between the United States and China will define the 21st century, said Gen. Charles Flynn, commanding general of U.S. Army Pacific.

Reflecting on his four years at the helm of the largest Army service component command, Flynn said his time as commander of the 25th Infantry Division from 2014 to 2016 was vastly different than it is now.

Mastery of the fundamentals is crucial in the Indo-Pacific, a region where soldiers may find themselves operating anywhere from the Arctic to the jungle to a megacity, a panel of experts said May 15.

“If you’re not well versed in the fundamentals, you’re not going to be able to do collective tasks,” said Lt. Gen. Christopher LaNeve, commanding general of 8th Army in South Korea. “You have got to be able to do the basics, the fundamental blocking and tackling, at the platoon, at the company and at the battalion, synchronizing all those efforts.”

In remarks to open the Association of the U.S. Army’s 2024 LANPAC Symposium and Exposition, the commander of U.S. Army Pacific emphasized the importance of land power in a region often considered a maritime domain.

“Land power is the security architecture that binds this region together,” Gen. Charles Flynn said May 14. “While all forms of military power are important in this region, land power is often overlooked or just discounted.”

The commander of Army forces in the Indo-Pacific said partner nations are demonstrating a growing “collective commitment” to securing the region as China continues to flex its adversarial might.

“The unity and collective commitment I’m witnessing is growing, increasing, it’s strengthening,” said Gen. Charles Flynn, commander of U.S. Army Pacific, who will be a keynote speaker at the Association of the U.S. Army’s LANPAC Symposium and Exposition when it begins May 14 in Honolulu.

The Army is in a full-court press to prevent conflict in the Indo-Pacific, the commander of U.S. Army Pacific said.

“We already have a limited regional war going on in Europe. We’ve got a limited regional war going on in the Middle East. The last thing that we can afford is to have another war out here in the Pacific,” Gen. Charles Flynn said recently during Defense One’s 2024 State of Defense series. “And we’re doing everything we can to prevent that from happening.”

Commanders from U.S. Army Pacific, U.S. Army Futures Command and the Japanese, South Korean and Australian armies are among the leaders scheduled to speak at the Association of the U.S. Army’s LANPAC Symposium and Exposition in Hawaii.

An international symposium dedicated to land forces in the Indo-Pacific, the three-day event is May 14–16 at the Sheraton Waikiki in Honolulu. It is expected to draw military leaders from more than 26 countries, including at least 15 army chiefs.