U.S. honors SDF's Adm Saito for helping beef up alliance

— The United States awarded the Legion of Merit with a degree of commander Friday to Adm Takashi Saito, chief of staff of Japan's Self-Defense Forces, for his contributions to strengthening the bilateral security alliance and defense cooperation.

U.S. Naval Operations Chief Adm Michael Mullen handed the award to Saito at a ceremony at the U.S. Defense Department. 'Admiral Saito displayed strong leadership and exceptional vision in guiding the MSDF's policies of strong cooperation, close operational coordination, robust interoperability with the U.S. Navy in support of the U.S.-Japan alliance,' the citation said."