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Col. Marcus Hunter, left, commander of U.S. Army Garrison Japan, addresses the crowd along with Santa Claus during a holiday reception inside the Camp Zama Community Club at Camp Zama, Japan, Dec. 8, 2023. More than 160 local community leaders and Camp Zama personnel came together for the festive event.
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Col. Marcus Hunter, commander of U.S. Army Garrison Japan, and his wife, Caren, take a photo with Japan Ground Self-Defense Force members during a holiday reception inside the Camp Zama Community Club at Camp Zama, Japan, Dec. 8, 2023. More than 160 local community leaders and Camp Zama personnel came together for the festive event.
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Col. Marcus Hunter, right, commander of U.S. Army Garrison Japan, takes a photo with Sagamihara City Mayor Kentaro Motomura during a holiday reception inside the Camp Zama Community Club at Camp Zama, Japan, Dec. 8, 2023. More than 160 local community leaders and Camp Zama personnel came together to attend the festive event.
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Members of the U.S. Army Japan band perform during a holiday reception inside the Camp Zama Community Club at Camp Zama, Japan, Dec. 8, 2023. More than 160 local community leaders and Camp Zama personnel came together for the festive event.
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Col. Marcus Hunter, right, commander of U.S. Army Garrison Japan, greets visitors as they arrive to a holiday reception inside the Camp Zama Community Club at Camp Zama, Japan, Dec. 8, 2023. More than 160 local community leaders and Camp Zama personnel came together for the festive event.
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U.S. Army Garrison Japan hosts a holiday reception inside the Camp Zama Community Club at Camp Zama, Japan, Dec. 8, 2023. More than 160 local community leaders and Camp Zama personnel came together for the festive event.
(Photo Credit: Kei Sasaki)VIEW ORIGINAL
CAMP ZAMA, Japan – More than 160 local community leaders and Camp Zama personnel came together for U.S. Army Garrison Japan’s holiday reception here Friday evening.
Col. Marcus Hunter, commander of USAG Japan, and the rest of the command team greeted guests as they arrived inside the Camp Zama Community Club ballroom for the annual event.
“There is nothing better than to be able to meet together face-to-face and to share in one another’s friendships,” he later told the crowd. “And truly, that is one of my deepest hopes is that we can all build friendships and have a wonderful partnership.”
Japan Ground Self-Defense Force members as well as local government and academic officials joined Soldiers, Army civilians and family members for the festive occasion.
The reception, which had a dinner, group photos with Santa Claus and music by the U.S. Army Japan band, highlighted the many connections between the installation and its surrounding community.
Throughout the evening, a photo slideshow and several poster boards in the ballroom displayed various community engagement activities in which USAG Japan personnel participated with their Japanese counterparts.
Those events included office calls, cleanups, local festivals, professional military engagements and open-post events, such as the Bon Odori and Independence Day celebrations that drew tens of thousands of people to Camp Zama.
“These partnerships and these friendships mean so very much and are an important representation of our deep Japan-America alliance, which is even more important now than ever,” Hunter said.
The colonel also encouraged the attendees to reflect on the year and to continue to build on past efforts to make the alliance even stronger.
“I look forward to this new year and all the friendships and the good memories that we will make,” he said, “and I wish you all a Happy New Year in 2024.”
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