Concealed behind sandbags and bamboo, Japan Ground Self-Defense Forces this week peered through binoculars, keeping watch over the waters surrounding Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan.

Along with American and Japanese guards roaming the fence line, boats circling the harbor and lookouts positioned throughout the base, Yokosuka was prepared for any threat, base security officials said.

It was all part of a three-day joint security exercise that started Tuesday. Yokosuka Security Department officials said the American and Japanese forces carried out dozens of scenarios, facing off with mock intruders, bomb threats, hostile takeovers and suspicious boaters.

The joint force-protection exercise is an annual training event putting base security forces and JGSDF troops together under a simulated high-threat condition.

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