The Brigade serves as Japan's elite paratrooper unit meant to counter against either guerrilla warfare or commando and airborne units enemy.[4][5] Since 1999, the Brigade has a Guide Unit (誘導隊, Yūdō-tai), serving as its NEO (Non-combatant Evacuation Operations) unit.[2] Currently, they are attached to current homeland defense and international combat operations under the JGSDF's Ground Component Command (Japanese: 陸上総隊) (formerly under the Central Readiness Force).[6]
1st Airborne Brigade paratroopers in formation in the grounds of Camp Narashino.
In 1958, the Airborne Brigade's first platoon was formed after Hayao Kinugasa was made the first commander of the unit. It continued to increase in numbers as ranger and free-fall training were added in 1962 and 1969.[7] An additional armed transport unit was established in 1973.[7]
A Guide Unit was established on October 20, 1999, and based at Funabashi, Chiba.[2] Preparations to create a new special forces unit went underway in the Brigade in 2000.[7] In 2003, the framework of the Special Operations Group was established as an anti-guerrilla/terrorist unit embedded in the Brigade,[7] but was established and separated from the Brigade in 2004 and placed under the control of the Defense Agency via the JGSDF like most of the JSDF's special forces units.[7]
Brigade paratroopers were involved in Iraq as the Brigade rotated ground personnel as part of the Japanese government's commitment to Iraq. They were withdrawn alongside the bulk of the Japanese Iraqi Reconstruction Support Group in the middle of 2006. The brigade was added to the Central Readiness Force on March 28, 2007.[9]
On October 9, 2006, members of the Oregon National Guard had a hand in assisting soldiers of the 1st Airborne Brigade in establishing a sniper school to train the unit's first generation of highly skilled snipers during Orient Shield '07.[10]
In March 2018, the brigade was integrated into the Ground Component Command after the Central Readiness Force was disbanded.[5]
On March 4, 2020, the brigade recruited Sergeant Reina Hashiba, the first female paratrooper who passed selection process.[11][12]
Due to ongoing COVID-19 outbreak in Japan, the brigade has conducted protective measures by letting its paratroopers wear facemasks and limiting the presence of spectators with its first exercise on January 13, 2021.[13]
In 1994, Colonel Yasunobu Hideshima was arrested by JGSDFmilitary police officers for violating both the Self-Defense Forces Law and the Firearm and Sword Control Law when he allowed three of his friends to use JGSDF firearms without prior authorization.[14]Lieutenant Colonels Yoshiharu Amano and Michihiko Suzuki were suspended for 20 days for neglect of duty.[15]
Another scandal emerged from within the unit when a 38-year-old 1st Airborne Brigade paratrooper was arrested in Inzai, Chiba Prefecture for shoplifting. He admitted to officers that he did it to demonstrate that he was serious in his effort to avoid deployment to Iraq.[16] When JGSDF officials heard about this, they told press officials that they require the consent of the troopers and their relatives. Otherwise, they would not be deployed. The Iraq deployment had caused a national debate in Japan, and a new public consensus was necessary for the military to develop a modern role and structure.[16]
JGSDF 1st Airborne Brigade organizationJGSDF 1st Airborne Brigade Battalion Type flag.Members of the 1st Airborne Brigade who participated in the Cobra Gold exercise (2012)
1st Airborne Brigade paratroopers fast rope from a Kawasaki CH-47 chopper during a public exhibition at Camp Narashino.
1st Airborne Brigade paratroopers have only been seen in action through annual new year JSDF exhibition shows in Narashino.[20]
On January 8, 2023, the 1st Airborne Brigade conducted its first parachute drop training of the year joined by paratrooper units from the US, British and Australian armies in the Narashino training area in Chiba Prefecture. A total of 300 personnel participated in the drill involving a scenario where they recaptured an island occupied by enemy forces. Members of the brigade parachuted down to the ground as part of the drill.
170 paratroopers were sent to Samawah, Iraq as part of the JGSDF's commitment to the international effort.[16][5] Training was conducted for a short time in a joint exercise with American soldiers of the Oregon Army National Guard's 2nd Battalion, 162nd Infantry Regiment.[21] All of them were withdrawn following the end of the Japanese commitment in Iraq.
^神奈川）陸自の中央即応集団が廃止 座間駐屯地に5年 [Kanagawa) GSDF's central ready group abolished in Zama station for 5 years]. asahi.com (in Japanese). 2018-03-27. Archived from the original on 2022-07-11. Retrieved 2019-09-26.
^Staff Sergeant Russel Bassett (2006-10-19). "Japanese sniper school"(PDF). The Observation Post. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2012-03-18. Retrieved 2013-06-15.
Japan
Japan Ground Self-Defense Force
