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Ground SDF personnel trained at US Army 1 Corps urban warfare school

About 180 personnel from the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force took part in a joint urban warfare school training at the USA 1 Corps command at Fort Lewis in the State of Washington in October and November. They learned how to fight and kill in urban warfare from the U.S. Army Stryker Brigade units that had been in the Iraq war.

They are from the GSDF Fuji Infantry School Regiment where army personnel from all over Japan receive classes on education and training.

Titled, "Japanese troops benefit from U.S. lessons learned in Iraq," the U.S. Army Fort Lewis-related website on November 10 reported that "(Japan's) army has a lot of lessons learned in MOUT (military operations on urban terrain) training" by the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment and the 2nd Cavalry Regiment, both returned from Iraq.

During the period between October 10 and November 11, SDF personnel learned individual combat techniques and launched attacks against urban mock facilities day and night with their instructors.

A JGSDF man said that they learned how to establish a MOUT operational manual, and the GSDF regimental commander stated, "After returning to Japan, the regiment will carry out similar operations with other infantry units in order to share what we've learned in the U.S.," posted on the same website.

The "interim report" the Japanese and U.S. governments agreed on in late October called for deploying to U.S. Army Camp Zama in Kanagawa Prefecture a new Unit of Employment (UEx) which will command the Stryker Brigade and is expected to cover both the U.S. and Japanese armies. The GSDF participation in the latest MOUT training in the U.S. mainland shows what the UEx to be set up in Japan aims at.

TV Asahi's "News Station" on November 15 aired a photo of the urban warfare training at Fort Lewis, in which SDF personnel are running into a house under the direction of U.S. personnel.
- Akahata, December 2, 2005