CAMP HIGASHI-CHITOSE, Japan (Dec. 5, 2009) – Command Sgt. Maj. Joseph P. Zettlemoyer, command sergeant major, United States Army, Pacific and Command Sgt. Maj. William P. Franklin, command sergeant major, United States Army, Japan and I Corps Forward, meet with their Japanese counterparts during the welcome social before the start of Yama Sakura 57. More than 1,500 U.S. military personnel and nearly 3,500 members of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force are scheduled to conduct the exercise here December 7-14. Yama Sakura, which means “mountain cherry blossom,” is an annual, bilateral exercise designed to strengthen military operations and ties between the U.S. Army and the JGSDF. (photo by Sgt. Gerardo DeAvila, 124th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment)