Japan Ground Self-Defense Force

For the Imperial Japanese Army (1871–1947), see Imperial Japanese Army. For the Ministry of the Military (Ritsuryō) (701–1871), see Ministry of the Military (Ritsuryō).
Japan Ground Self-Defense Force
Founded July 1, 1954 – present
Country  Japan
Type Army
Size 170,000 active personnel
Part of Japan Self-Defense Forces
Garrison/HQ Ichigaya, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
Nickname GSDF
Commanders
Commander-in-Chief PM Shinzō Abe
Chief of the ground staff General Eiji Kimizuka

The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF; Japanese: 陸上自衛隊; Rikujō Jieitai), is the main branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the de facto army of Japan. The JGSDF was created on July 1, 1954. It is sometimes also referred to as the G-SDF.

New military guidelines, announced in December 2010 will direct the Jieitai away from its Cold War focus on the Soviet Union to a focus on China, especially regarding the dispute over the Senkaku Islands. The largest of the three services of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force is tasked with maintaining internal security in Japan and operates under the command of the chief of the ground staff, based in the city of Ichigaya, Shinjuku, Tokyo. The present chief of the ground staff is General Eiji Kimizuka (Japanese: 君塚 栄治).

The JGSDF numbered around 170,000 soldiers in 2014.[1]

History

For a long period, the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force possessed a dubious ability to hold off a Soviet invasion of Hokkaido. Zbigniew Brzezinski observed in 1972 that it seemed optimized to fight ‘a Soviet invasion conducted on American patterns of a quarter of a century ago.’[2] While the force is now an efficient army of around 170,000.[3] its apparent importance had, until recently, seemingly 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.

Today

Personnel

JGSDF soldiers from the 22nd Infantry Regiment train with U.S. Army soldiers in a bilateral exercise at Fort Lewis' Leschi Town in October 2008.

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 officer 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 all four-year universities. Advanced technical, flight, medical and command and staff officer courses were also run by the JGSDF. Like the maritime and air forces, the JGSDF 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 and urbanization on the Japanese islands, only limited areas are available for large-scale training, and, even in these areas, noise restrictions are extensive. The JGSDF has adapted to these conditions by conducting command post exercises, map maneuvers, investing in simulators and other training programs, as well as conducting live fire exercises overseas at locations such as the Yakima Training Center in the United States.

The JGSDF has two reserve components: the rapid-reaction reserve component (即応予備自衛官制度) and the 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.[4]

Equipment

Organization

Operational Structure of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force 2011. Click to enlarge.

Armies

Disposition of JGSDF combat units

Other Units

JGSDF Chief of Staff Eiji Kimizuka, speaks with a U.S. Marine officer aboard the USS Essex (LHD-2), in March 2011.
JGSDF Middle Army headquarters in Itami, Japan

Tactical organization

The GSDF consists of the following tactical units:

JGSDF divisions and brigades are combined arms units with infantry, armored, and artillery units, combat support units and logistical support units. They are regionally independent and permanent entities. The divisions strength varies from 6,000 to 9,000 personnel. The brigades are smaller with 3,000 to 4,000 personnel.

Special Forces

Special Forces units consist of the following:

Ranks

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


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

Officers

Officer & Warrant Officer
（幹部・准尉）
InsigniaGeneral
（統合・陸上
幕僚長たる陸将）		Lieutenant
General
（陸将）		Major
General
（陸将補）		 Colonel
（1等陸佐）		Lieutenant
Colonel
（2等陸佐）		Major
（3等陸佐）		 Captain
（1等陸尉）		First
Lieutenant
（2等陸尉）		Second
Lieutenant
（3等陸尉）		Warrant
Officer
（准陸尉）
Type A
（甲階級章）
Type B
（乙階級章）
Miniature
（略章）

Enlisted

Enlisted
（曹・士）
InsigniaSergeant
Major
（陸曹長）		Master
Sergeant
（1等陸曹）		Sergeant
First
Class
（2等陸曹）		Sergeant
（3等陸曹）		Leading
Private
（陸士長）		Private
First
Class
（1等陸士）		Private
（2等陸士）
Type A
（甲階級章）
Type B
（乙階級章）
Miniature
（略章）

See also

References

  1. ↑ IISS Military Balance 2008, Routledge, London, 2008, p.384
  2. ↑ Zbigniew Brzezinski, The Fragile Blossom (Harper, 1972) p.95, in James H. Buck, ‘The Japanese Military in the 1980s,’ in James H. Buck (ed.), The Modern Japanese Military System, Sage Publications, Beverly Hills/London, 1975, p.220
  3. ↑ IISS 2010, pp. 408–411
  4. ↑
  5. ↑ https://ja.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/レンジャー_%28陸上自衛隊%29

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Japan Ground Self-Defense Force.