Overview
- The U.S. military used a KC-130 to move about 33,000 bottles of drinking water — roughly 16 tons — from Yokota Air Base to Vice Camp Takayubaru in Mashiki for earthquake relief.
- Japan’s Self-Defense Forces will carry the water by land to relief goods management stations for distribution to people affected by the July 28 quake.
- Senior U.S. and Japanese officials, including U.S. Ambassador George Glass and USFJ commander Lt. Gen. Stephen Jost, inspected the operation on site and met Kumamoto Governor Takashi Kimura.
- Additional U.S. airlift activity was reported from Yokota on Monday with a C-130J flight and plans for more flights to move emergency supplies to communities facing outages and extreme heat.
- Officials framed the mission as part of a pattern of U.S. disaster aid to Japan — citing past responses such as Operation Tomodachi in 2011 and relief after the 2016 Kumamoto and 2024 Noto quakes — to underscore sustained operational cooperation.