Japan Ground Self Defense Force

For Imperial Japanese Army (1871–1947), please see that article.

For Ministry of the Military (Ritsuryō) (701–1871), please see that article.

Japan Ground Self-Defense Force
陸上自衛隊 (Rikujō Jieitai)

Command

Ground Staff Office
Components
Northern Army
North Eastern Army
Eastern Army
Middle Army
Western Army
Central Readiness Force
JGSDF Reserve
JGSDF Reserve Candidate

The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (陸上自衛隊, Rikujō Jieitai^?), or JGSDF, is the military ground force (army) of Japan. The largest of the three services of the JSDF, the Ground Self-Defense Force operates under the command of the chief of the ground staff, based in the city of Ichigaya, Tokyo. The present chief of ground staff is General Yoshifumi Hibako. The JGSDF numbers around 147,000 soldiers.

History

Japan accepted the Potsdam Declaration in 1945, and, based on Potsdam Declaration Article 9, the Imperial Japanese Army and Imperial Japanese Navy were dismantled. Both were replaced by United States Armed Forces occupation force, which assumed responsibility for the defense of Japan.

The National Security Board started in 1952. The National Security Board oversaw police reserve forces, Maritime Guard and Maritime Safety Agency minesweeping corps, and were reorganized by the National Security Force. These changes were influenced by the Korean War.

The building of the defense ability advanced, and, on July 1, 1954, the National Security Board was reorganized by the Defense Agency, and the National Security Force and the garrison were reorganized afterwards by the Ground Self-Defense Force, the Marine Self Defense Force, the Air Self-Defense Force.

For a long period, the effectiveness of the Japan Ground Self Defence Force to hold off a Soviet invasion of Hokkaido was in doubt, as Zbigniew Brzezinski observed in 1972 that it seemed optimised to fight ‘a Soviet invasion conducted on American patterns of a quarter of a century ago.’^[1] While the force is now an efficient army of 148,000,^[2] its apparent importance has declined with the end of the Cold War, and attempts to reorient the forces as a whole to new post Cold War missions have been tangled in a series of internal political disputes.

Organization

JGSDF Middle Army headquarters in Itami, Japan

Tactical organization

The GSDF consists of the following tactical units:

one (the 7th) armored division,
nine infantry divisions, reduced from 12, each with three or four battalion-sized infantry regiments,
one airborne brigade,
two (1st and 2nd) combined brigades,
four training brigades,
one artillery brigade with two groups,
two air defense brigades with three groups,
one helicopter brigade with twenty-four squadrons and two anti-tank helicopter platoons.

There are two sizes of JGSDF divisions: 9,000 men and 7,000 men.

A JGSDF brigade is a combined arms unit with infantry, armored, and artillery units, combat support units and logistical support units. It is a regionally independent and permanent entity. Though its function is similar to a division in that it possesses the capability to engage in operations on one front, it is smaller with only 3,000 to 4,000 personnel.

Special Forces

Special Forces units consist of the following:

CRF: Central Readiness Force (中央即応集団 Chūō Sokuō Shūdan): Nerima, Tokyo
- Japanese Special Forces Group
- 1st Airborne Brigade
- 1st Helicopter Brigade
- Central Readiness Regiment
Western Army Infantry Regiment (西部方面普通科連隊 Seibu Hōmen Futsū-ka Rentai)
Rangers

Reserves

The JGSDF has two reserve components: rapid-reaction reserve component (即応予備自衛官制度) and main reserve component (一般予備自衛官制度). Members of the rapid-reaction component train 30 days a year. Members of the main reserve train five days a year. As of December 2007, there were 8,425 members of the rapid-reaction reserve component and 22,404 members of the main reserve component.^[3]

Regional organization

A Japan Ground Self Defense Force officer candidate tries on a AN/PVS-14 Aug. 29 during the Japanese Observer Exchange Program on Camp Schwab

Type 88 Helmet

Members of the JGSDF.

White Mitsubishi Type 73 jeeps used by JGSDF Military Police units.

The Northern Army, the largest, is headquartered on Sapporo, Hokkaidō, where population and geographic constraints are less limiting than elsewhere.
- 2nd Division
- 7th Division(Armored)
- 5th Brigade
- 11th Brigade
- 1st Artillery Brigade
- 1st Antiaircraft Artillery Brigade
- 3rd Engineer Brigade
- Hokkaido Depot(Northern)

The North Eastern Army is headquartered in Sendai, Miyagi
- 6th Division
- 9th Division
- 2nd Engineer Brigade
- North Eastern Army Combined Brigade
- Tohoku Depot(North Eastern)

The Eastern Army is headquartered in Nerima, Tokyo
- 1st Division
- 12th Brigade
- 1st Engineer Brigade
- 1st Training Brigade
- Kanto Depot(Eastern)

The Middle Army, headquartered in Itami, Hyōgo
- 3rd Division
- 10th Division
- 13th Brigade
- 14th Brigade
- 4th Engineer Brigade
- 2nd Training Brigade
- Kansai Depot(Middle)

The Western Army, is headquartered at Kengun, Kumamoto
- 4th Division
- 8th Division
- 15th Brigade
- 2nd Antiaircraft Artillery Brigade
- 5th Engineer Brigade
- 3rd Training Brigade
- Kyusyu Depot(Western)

JGSDF uniform.

Other Units and Organizations
- Materiel Control Command
- Ground Research & Development Command
- Signal Brigade
- Military Police
- Military Intelligence Command
- Intelligence Security Command
- Ground Staff College
- Ground Officer Candidate School
- Others

Training

Japan Ground Self Defense Force officer candidates

In 1989, basic training for lower-secondary and upper-secondary academy graduates began in the training brigade and lasted approximately three months. Specialized enlisted and non-commissioned officer (NCO) candidate courses were available in branch schools and qualified NCOs could enter an eight-to-twelve-week second lieutenant candidate program. Senior NCOs and graduates of an eighty-week NCO pilot course were eligible to enter officer candidate schools, as were graduates of the National Defense Academy at Yokosuka and graduates of four-year all universities. Advanced technical, flight, medical and command and staff officer courses were also run by the GSDF. Like the maritime and air forces, the GSDF ran a youth cadet program offering technical training to lower-secondary school graduates below military age in return for a promise of enlistment.

Because of population density on the Japanese islands, only limited areas were available for large-scale training, and, even in these areas, noise restrictions were a problem. The GSDF tried to adapt to these conditions by conducting command post exercises and map maneuvers and by using simulators and other training devices, as well as conducting training exercises overseas (see Yakima Washington).

Current equipment

Tank Type 10 of Japan Ground Self Defense Force

Tank Type 90 of Japan Ground Self Defense Force

Tank Type 74 of Japan Ground Self Defense Force

Infantry Fighting Vehicle Type 89 of Japan Ground Self Defense Force

Armored Personel Carrier Type 96 of Japan Self Defense Force

Komatsu LAV of Japan Ground Self Defense Force

Self Propelled Anti-Aircraft Gun Type 89 of Japan Ground Self Defense Force

Armoured vehicles

Type 82 Command and Communication Vehicle (250) Japan
Type 87 Reconnaissance and Warning Vehicle (100) Japan
Chemical Reconnaissance Vehicle Japan
Light Armored Vehicle (1524) Japan

Armoured personnel carriers

Type 73 Armored Personnel Carrier (340) Japan
Type 96 Wheeled Armored Personnel Carrier (322) Japan [1]

Air defense vehicles

Type 87 Self-Propelled Anti-Aircraft Gun (41) Japan

ATGMs and ASMs

SAMs

Other vehicles

Small arms

Howa Type 89 (100000) Japan
Howa Type 64 (230000) Japan
Type 06 rifle grenade Japan
Minebea 9mm Machine Pistol Japan
Sumitomo MINIMI 5.56mm Machine Gun (4244) Belgium
Sumitomo M2 12.7mm Heavy Machine Gun United States
Howa Type 96 Japan
M4 carbine United States (Only Japanese Special Forces Group.)
NTK/Sumitomo Type 62 machine gun Japan
SCK/Minebea 9mm Pistol Switzerland
M24 Sniper Weapon System (1027) United States
Howa 84RR Sweden
Nissan/IHI Aerospace 110mm LAM Germany

Future equipment

Type 10 tank - Production to start in 2010–2011
NBC Reconnaissance Vehicle - Successor to the Chemical Reconnaissance Vehicle and the Biological Reconnaissance Vehicle.^[4]

Aircraft inventory

The JGSDF operates 469 aircraft, including 458 helicopters^[5].

JGSDF AH-64 Apache

JGSDF AH-1S

Aircraft	Origin	Type	Versions	In service	Notes
Beechcraft Super King Air	United States	Utility transport	LR-2	6
Bell 205	United States	Utility helicopter	UH-1H UH-1J	146	Built by Fuji(118 UH-1J in service by April 2010)
Bell AH-1 Cobra	United States	Attack helicopter	AH-1S	84	Built by Fuji
Boeing AH-64 Apache	United States	Attack helicopter	AH-64DJP	50	Under delivery
Boeing CH-47 Chinook	United States	Transport helicopter	CH-47J CH-47JA	54	Built by Kawasaki
Eurocopter EC 225	European Union	VIP helicopter	EC 225LP	3	Replacing the AS332L^[6]^[7]
Kawasaki OH-1	Japan	Scout helicopter		30	Under delivery
MD Helicopters MD 500	Japan	Scout helicopter	OH-6D	111	Built by Kawasaki.Being slowly phased out
Mitsubishi MU-2	Japan	liaison	LR-1	5
UH-60 Black Hawk	United States	transport helicopter	UH-60JA	29	Built by Mitsubishi