Japanese troops to train for new overseas tasks under revised security laws

[Ceewan]

The Self-Defense Forces will begin training for new missions abroad under the revised security laws that took effect this spring, a government source said Friday.

Training will begin as soon as Thursday. It will focus on preparing troops for two new missions: rescuing U.N. staffers and other people under attack and defending facilities where U.N. peacekeepers are stationed.

Defense Minister Tomomi Inada will make a formal announcement Wednesday, according to the source.

The criteria for the use of arms by SDF members were eased under the new laws.

The legislation marks a major shift by explicitly enabling Japan to engage in collective self-defense and by expanding the sorts of missions the SDF can engage in abroad.

Concern persists that the changes could erode Japan’s postwar pacifism.

The laws became effective in March, but no new training has yet been conducted, as the government apparently was concerned about a potential negative impact on public opinion ahead of last month’s House of Councilors elections.

The sorts of new missions envisioned by the legal revisions could be carried out by an SDF unit set to join a U.N. peacekeeping operation in South Sudan in November, the source said. Japan has participated in the U.N. operation in that African country since 2012.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government is likely to make a final decision on whether to assign the new duties to the troops after assessing the situation in South Sudan, and whether the SDF unit is suitably prepared, the source said.

 

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Japan’s SDF to hold evacuation drill in Djibouti


The Defense Ministry says it will conduct a transport exercise in Djibouti to practice evacuating Japanese nationals in a crisis situation.

It will the first drill in the northeastern African country for transporting Japanese expatriates, ministry officials said Monday.

The exercise is designed to improve the overseas deployment capabilities of the Self-Defense Forces using long-range aircraft and strengthen SDF cooperation with the U.S. military.

Djibouti is being used as a base for the SDF’s anti-piracy mission off Somalia.

The exercise was to start Tuesday and run until Sept. 1 with participation by some 150 personnel, including from the Ground Self-Defense Force’s Central Readiness Force Regiment based in Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture, and the Air Self-Defense Force’s 1st Tactical Airlift Wing based in Komaki, Aichi Prefecture. A KC-767 air refueling and transport aircraft will be used.

In July, an ASDF C-130 transport aircraft was used to evacuate four officials at the Japanese Embassy in Juba to Djibouti after the security situation deteriorated in the South Sudanese capital.

The KC-767 has a flight range of about 7,200 km, nearly double that of the C-130.

In Djibouti, the SDF will also conduct a tabletop exercise with the U.S. military on land transportation and other operations.

 

[Ceewan]

SDF set for training ahead of peacekeeping missions: 'Can they pull the trigger?'



Japan's Self-Defense Forces (SDF), which have not fired a shot in anger since the country's defeat in World War II, are set to step into uncharted territory. Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF) personnel, due to be dispatched to South Sudan to take part in U.N. peacekeeping operations later this year, are poised to begin training with new missions assigned under new security-related laws.

The new missions to be assigned to the GSDF troops as early as November involve so-called "kaketsuke-keigo," in which SDF personnel may use force to come to the aid of and rescue U.N. staff, foreign troops and others who have come under armed attack in distant locations during U.N. peacekeeping operations. Some of the GSDF personnel are asking themselves, "Can we pull the trigger aiming at people?" Their families are also voicing concerns, saying, "They could be embroiled in combat."

An SDF member in his 50s in eastern Japan said about the training for the new missions that he felt "the time has come at long last." The SDF's missions for U.N. peacekeeping operations have heretofore been mainly to build and improve infrastructure and provide humanitarian assistance. The new SDF missions abroad are different in nature from the previous missions in that SDF troops are given more leeway in their use of weapons during U.N. peacekeeping operations.

There is a high possibility of SDF troops getting embroiled in combat where they move in to provide assistance. The SDF member gave much thought to GSDF personnel due to be sent to South Sudan, saying, "I think the training will be harsh. Would they fire a shot or not in a situation they encounter? Both the commander and troops at the front line will have to make very difficult situational judgments."

Uncertainties and questions are endless. What is the meaning of the SDF, tasked exclusively with defending Japan, being dispatched overseas? They will be faced with risks of losing their lives. Public opinion remains split over the security-related legislation. While being unconvinced about many aspects of the new missions, the SDF member simply said, "I hope they will all come back safe."

A former GSDF member in his 60s in the Hokkaido Prefecture city of Chitose said worriedly, "There are these acquaintances who are still agonizing because the sounds of bullets refuse to disappear from their heads even after coming back from their overseas missions. I hear that the training has been becoming more practical year after year. I wonder what it's going to be like in the future."

A woman in her 30s in Chitose, whose husband is a GSDF member, looked worried. "I was thinking that someday..., but I am scared once the training is actually to start."

Would they in fact be able to fire shots at people? An SDF member in his 30s in the Hyogo Prefecture city of Itami, home to two GSDF posts, said, "There are strong reservations about shooting people. Even in regular shooting practice, some SDF members see their scores drop as soon as the shape of the targets is changed from round to human." As for these new missions abroad, it is assumed that SDF personnel may fire at people. The SDF member said, "There may be SDF members who cannot fire, but it is not clear if they actually can until that time actually comes. I myself think that 'I can do it in order to protect my colleagues or someone else.' But is that really true? I feel uneasy."

A former SDF member in his 30s in the Kyoto Prefecture city of Uji, which hosts two GSDF posts, who had been sent to the Golan Heights for U.N. peacekeeping missions, said, "It is important to make international contributions, but we cannot say that thorough public debate on the security-related legislation has been held. Have conditions for use of weapons clearly been set? SDF members will be put at risk as long as gray zones remain."

 

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Abe thanks Djibouti for hosting SDF troops

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has expressed his gratitude to the east African country of Djibouti for hosting a base for a Self-Defense Force unit engaged in anti-piracy operations off Somalia.

Abe met Djibouti's President Ismail Omar Guelleh in Nairobi on Sunday on the sidelines of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development.

Abe told Guelleh that Japan will provide food aid worth nearly 1.4 million dollars to Djibouti.

The 2 leaders agreed on the importance of ensuring freedom of navigation.

Later on Sunday, Abe met Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.

The prime minister announced that Japan will extend yen loans worth about 133 million dollars to help build infrastructure such as power grids in the Ugandan capital, Kampala.