President Takegouchi said “JAAGA was established 10 years ago after overcoming many obstacles during the tenure of Gen (ret) Ed Eberhart, former Commander of Fifth Air Force, Gen (ret) Shigeru Sugiyama, former Chairman of Joint Staff Council and Gen (ret) Koji Muraki, former Chief of Staff of JASDF, and has been hosting various activities to promote the mutual understanding and goodwill between USAF and JASDF ever since. The regular members of JAAGA are retired JASDF members who share the spirit of “Airmanship,” which gives us the advantage of hosting activities that other organizations are unable to do. I believe that our activities will contribute to the reliability of the Japan-US Security arrangements, and also contribute to strengthen the Japan-US alliance.”
Gen.Wright referred to the October 2005 2+2 document and said that “It is clearly stated that both Japan and U.S. need to continue to cooperate in specific areas. The first is air defense and second is BMD. This means that we need to become closer with JASDF and maintain our great relationship. JAAGA’s objective meets exactly what we need to do, and I am very grateful of your efforts.”
After having lunch together, they shook hands said “We’ll see each other at Tama Hills Golf Course on 2 June.” (Reported by secretariat Enoki.)
