The Perfect Soldier: Special Operations, Commandos, and the Future of Us Warfare by James F. Dunnigan
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Dirty Little Secrets
Japan Reorganizes For War
by James Dunnigan
April 15, 2006
Discussion Board on this DLS topic
Until recently, the three services of
Japan's "self defense forces" have been strictly autonomous. There was
no such thing as "jointness" and each service chief reported directly
to the civilian leadership. This situation was the result of a
deliberate decision to avoid "unification" of the armed forces, given
the country's history of militarism. This despite the extraordinary
state of inter-service rivalry between the old Imperial Army and
Imperial Navy. This is about to change.
The
Self-Defense Agency, the equivalent of a Ministry of Defense, recently
created the equivalent of a "Chairman of the Joint Chiefs," and this
officer will shortly take "command" of all three services. The
long-term goal is to integrate as much of the administrative side of
the self-defense forces as is possible, including procurement,
logistics, and so forth. For now, however, the authority of the
"chairman" will be limited to operational matters, under the watchful
eye of the Prime Minister.
This is an
extraordinary, and long overdue, reform. During World War II, and
before, the army and navy (there was no independent air force) would
regularly refuse to cooperate, even when the lack of cooperation hurt
both services. Each service, for example, had its own fleet of cargo
ships and tankers, and would not coordinate their use, letting ships
return empty, for example, rather than move some material for the other
service. Both services often developed plans that contradicted each
other, even through both services were on the same islands threatened
with attack by the United States. There was more cooperation post-World
War II, but not to the degree that was required to make the most of
Japan's military forces.
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