America's First Corps Soldiers help make Yama Sakura 75 a success

Photo By Sgt. Erica Earl | America’s First Corps Information Systems Analysts Spc. Aaron Lung (left) and Spc....... read more read more

Photo By Sgt. Erica Earl | America’s First Corps Information Systems Analysts Spc. Aaron Lung (left) and Spc. Justin Patrick review tickets at the help desk in the Combined Operations Integrated Cell during Yama Sakura 75 at Camp Higashi-Chitose, Hokkaido, Japan, Dec. 14, 2018. Lung helped set up the computer systems essential for the exercise and has played a critical role in keeping those systems running. Yama Sakura is a bilateral exercise between the U.S. Army and the Japan Ground Self Defense Force that strengthens the alliance between America and Japan through the exchange of ideas, tactics and military experience. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Erica Earl  see less | View Image Page

CAMP HIGASHI-CHITOSE, HOKKAIDO, JAPAN

12.14.2018

Story by Sgt. Erica Earl 

I Corps

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CAMP HIGASHI-CHITOSE, Japan--- Within the first hour of arriving at the command post at Camp Higashi-Chitose, Hokkaido, Japan, everyone was familiar with the name Spc. Aaron Lung, because everyone needed his help.

As the camp buzzed with the arrival of personnel and equipment, Lung was needed everywhere in the Combined Operations Integration Cell, to include the rafters. It echoed throughout the COIC, “You will need to ask Lung about that. Go get Lung. Lung is the one who would know.”

Lung is an information systems analyst with I Corps Headquarters at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington. He and a team of information technology specialists help set up the network, get personnel established on the domain, get telephones and printers ready, and man the help desk to troubleshoot and fix computer issues.

Lung referred to this as the basics, but around the command post, almost every section uses multiple computers. Technology of some form is critical regardless of the task, and communication is mandatory. Having these systems running smoothly during the exercise is a cornerstone, Lung said.

“In the shortest sense, if no one had any computers to work on, they wouldn’t be able to get anything done,” Lung said.

Twenty three year-old Lung from Decatur, Illinois, said he has been interested in technology since playing with computers as a kid. He found himself enjoying taking things apart and putting them back together, even though he said he would sometimes accidentally break things by disassembling them. He found a joy in the learning experience and figuring out how things most people use daily work.

Lung has been in the Army four years, following the footsteps of his stepbrother, who is also an information systems analyst.

This is Lung’s second time at Yama Sakura, a week-long, bilateral exercise between the U.S. Army and the Japan Ground Self Defense Force.

“It’s nice to get a bigger test of what you’re doing and get insight on how other people do it,” Lung said.

Lung said the most challenging part of Yama Sakura is the “mad rush” that happens when everyone first hits ground at the exercise site. He said he and his colleagues stay consistently busy when this happens.

Staff Sgt. Hayson Gomez, an information systems analyst noncommissioned officer with I Corps, said Lung’s hard work does not go unnoticed.

“People have needs immediately in the beginning of the exercise, and Lung makes it happen,” Gomez said. “I can say he is one of the best; I rely a lot on Lung.”

Lung said he enjoys working with his peers as they assist one another. He says he often asks Soldiers to accompany him when he fixes people’s computers to help walk them through the process, especially Soldiers who are at their first duty station, first exercise, or new to the job. He added that he also has learned a lot from his team and his leadership.

Gomez reiterated the importance of the role of junior enlisted Soldiers in missions like Yama Sakura.

“These are no small tasks,” Gomez said. “Having junior Soldiers play a big part in the operation and conduct tasks that are required for communication will make them great in the future.”

Lung said that while there is some stress around the urgency of having a computers that continuously work smoothly, he and his team members are up for the challenge.

“Occasionally, a problem will pop up that I’ve never seen before,” Lung said. “It’s nice when you can teach yourself something, Actually going through and trying to fix new problems and learn new things breaks up the monotony of having the same old problems over and over again.”

Yama Sakura, which translates to mountain cherry blossom, simulates the defense of Japan strengthens the alliance between the U.S. and Japan through the exchange of ideas, tactics, and military expertise across multiple disciplines.

The exercise rotates to a different part of Japan each year to give the U.S. Army the opportunity to work with each of Japan’s five regional Armies.

This year, around 600 Soldiers from I Corps and the Utah National Guard, augmented by the U.S. Marines, Navy and Air Force, are partnering with the Japan Northern Army Dec. 10-16.

Yama Sakura has been in operation since 1982, giving Soldiers like the information systems team the opportunity to practice their professional skills with counterparts.