International Peace Cooperation Activities Training Unit

International Peace Cooperation Activities Training and Education Unit
Active March 28, 2007 - Present
Country Japan Japan
Branch Japanese Ground Self-Defense Forces
Type Military Training unit
Role Military Direct Action & Peacekeeping education unit
Size 80 soldiers
Part of Under control of the Central Readiness Force[1]
Garrison/HQ Camp Komakado, Shizuoka[1]
Nickname IPCATU
Commanders
Current
commander		 Mizuho Akiba[2]
Notable
commanders		 Colonel Masakazu Karube

The International Peace Cooperation Activities Training Unit (国際活動教育隊 kokusai katsudō kyōiku tai) is the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Forces's training unit to prepare JGSDF soldiers by training them in scenarios that would require the mobilization of JGSDF forces in other countries. It is based in the JGSDF's Camp Komakado in the Shizuoka Prefecture.

The IPCATU aims to have 240 soldiers graduate from the unit's training program annually.[3]

Colonel Karube says training with the IPCATU is an "important point is to verify whether the training now being conducted can really be useful in theaters of activity overseas and to develop unified know-how for personnel education."[4]

History

A provisional unit had been established on March 28, 2006, which was then followed by its expansion on August 1, 2006. The IPCATU's headquarters had been constructed on April 2006 before it was inaugurated on February 23, 2007. A special ceremony was established on September 19, 2008 to inaugurate the beginning of the unit's first official training program.[3]

The unit had been established in conjunction with the Central Readiness Force to the need of educating JGSDF forces to properly conduct operations in foreign soil. Its first commander was Colonel Masakazu Karube, who was unit commander from March 28, 2007 to March 25, 2009.

Training

Training under the IPCATU lasts for one month with graduates expecting to serve overseas in potential peacekeeping operations.[3] All participants are required then to attend a review session after each training session is complete.[4]

Formation

Headquarters

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Central Readiness Force. "Organization". Central Readiness Force. Retrieved 2009-09-01.
  2. ↑ "Senior Specialist Course/Coursework Report: "Japan’s Initiatives, Safety Management, etc."". Hiroshima Peacebuilders Center and Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Retrieved 2010-03-13.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Central Readiness Force Unit Launches Training". Japan Defense Focus, Japanese Ministry of Defense. Retrieved 2009-09-01.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Special Feature: The GSDF Central Readiness Force - This Year's Aim is "Personal Training"". Japanese Ministry of Defense. November 2009. Retrieved 2010-01-27.

External links