Tokyo activates new joint-operations command to improve country’s armed forces teamwork
This piece, originally published by The Washington Times, heavily quotes CSP Senior Fellow Grant Newsham.
Japan flag waving in the wind
SEOUL, South Korea — Japan launched a new joint command structure for the country’s armed forces Monday that is designed to address decades of inter-service rivalries and communications failures.
The Japan Joint Operations Command was established in the Defense Ministry in Tokyo with 240 personnel under General Kenichiro Nagumo.
“We will respond to situations seamlessly, from peacetime to a contingency, to defend the lives of our citizens and their ability to live in peace as well as our nation’s territory, waters and airspace,” Gen. Nagumo said at a ceremony during which he received the JJOC’s unit banner.
“Our nation is facing the most severe and complicated security environment in the postwar era,” and the launch of the new command is of “great significance,” added Gen Nakatani, the country’s defense minister.
Japan was deeply shaken by Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. It is also threatened by nuclear-armed North Korea and Chinese expansionism around Taiwan as well as Japan’s own southern island archipelagoes.
Prior to Monday’s development, the chief of the Joint Staff of the Japanese Self Defence Force was responsible for coordinating combined operations of the Japanese navy, army and air force.
However, 2011’s disastrous earthquake and tsunami, compounded by a nuclear meltdown in Fukushima, demonstrated that the chief’s workload could be unmanageable in cases of large-scale crises, Kyodo News opined.
The JJOC looks designed to fix this.
“Through Unity of Command, seamless response and Cross-domain operations are accelerated,” Japan’s Ministry of Defence noted on its website.
The JJOC has been hailed by pundits.
“This marks a shift towards a more integrated and responsive military,” Hiroshi Sakamura, who writes on regional policy and naval affairs, stated on X. “This is part of a broader strategy to boost [Japan’s] defense capabilities.”
Others said it was long overdue.
“It’s probably 10 years later than it should be, but it ought to allow the JSDF’s component parts to finally cooperate,” said Grant Newsham, a retired U.S. Marine colonel with extensive experience in the Indo-Pacific theater.
Read more HERE.
