NEW YORK  - Citizen Soldiers from the New York Army National Guard's 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry deploy early this week for field training in Japan for the Joint Multinational Training Exercise Orient Shield 2010.

The bilateral exercise is conducted annually to allow the two military forces to train together and learn from each other.

Approximately 200 troops will train for the next two weeks alongside their counterparts from the Japanese Ground Self Defense Forces' 7th Infantry Regiment in the mountains northwest of Kyoto at the Camp Aibano Training Area in the Shiga prefecture.

The exercise will begin with an opening ceremony on October 9. Leaders, staffs and Soldiers will train collectively through October 17 with the New York troops returning home around October 22.

The Soldiers will jointly conduct weapons familiarization firing, sniper and scout training, helicopter assault drills and training for combat operations in urban terrain, including close quarter combat drills and improvised explosive device (IED) drills.

"The Orient Shield excercise is a bi-lateral exchange with the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force. It is ideal training for our Soldiers and it gives them a chance to learn about the Japanese customs and culture," said Lt. Col. John Andonie, battalion commander of the 1-69th Infantry. "We look forward to the challenges of training our Soldiers in new environments with new partners and new training scenarios."

The exercise will culminate in mid-October with a comprehensive field training exercise involving Soldiers from both nations.