Throughout their 2 1/2-year mission in Iraq that concluded Monday, Ground Self-Defense Force troops survived mostly on food transported from Japan, including 420 tons of rice, logistics officers said.
Some 42,000 10-kg sacks of rice were shipped to Iraq and consumed by an aggregate 5,500 GSDF troops who were deployed to the southern Iraq city of Samawah in three-month rotations since early 2004.
With all 600 troops of the 10th contingent having departed the Samawah camp and arrived in Kuwait, they will start returning home Tuesday.
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