2023-06-25 12:01:00
In a shooting incident in which three members of the Self-Defense Forces were killed or injured at a firing range of the Self-Defense Forces in Gifu City, Gifu Prefecture, a man who was a “Self-Defense Officer candidate” during training was arrested. We interviewed active members of the Self-Defense Forces to find out if being a SDF officer candidate had an effect on the incident.
■ “If I was a member before I was completely dyed…” The actual situation told by an active duty SDF officer
On June 15, the day following the incident, a man in his 30s who is currently serving as a Ground Self-Defense Force officer responded to a telephone interview.
Active Ground Self-Defense Force Officer (30s):
“You can’t shoot anywhere. All units and all Self-Defense Forces have been banned from shooting this time. Everyone was surprised because it was an incident that would not normally occur.”
[See images]3 casualties at a shooting range “I wonder if there is a new member…” The gap between the ideal and reality that cadets tend to fall into
Hearing the news of the incident involving an 18-year-old self-defense officer candidate, he was surprised and had a different impression.
Active duty JGSDF personnel:
“He’s a new member… I got the impression that if he was a member of the Self-Defense Forces before he was completely tainted, there was a possibility of causing an incident.”
A man who graduated from high school and enlisted in the military is not a “SDF officer candidate,” but following undergoing the same rigorous three-month training, he became a SDF officer.
Active duty JGSDF personnel:
“There are physically demanding training sessions, such as walking 25 kilometers. Group living is physically demanding.”
■ Pay special attention to “candidates fresh out of high school”
The Self-Defense Force Shizuoka Regional Cooperation Headquarters has released a video of the training of the Self-Defense Force candidates. Combat training with guns, crawling through muddy water with barbed wire.
Self-Defense Officer Candidates is a fixed-term recruitment system for Self-Defense Forces personnel that began in 2011 to expand the frontage of enlistment. Through a three-month training period, such as learning the knowledge necessary for basic movements and techniques such as saluting, and living together in a dormitory, trainees train their minds and bodies, and are appointed as Self-Defense Force personnel.
Active duty JGSDF personnel:
“Waking up at 6:00 in the morning, doing various roll calls, and starting work at 8:00. I’m used to it, and I’m used to it, so I can easily get used to it. Personally, it was fresh and fun.”
The man also served as an instructor several years ago. At that time, he said, the person he was paying attention to was a candidate who had just graduated from high school.
Active duty JGSDF personnel:
“Because they are still immature in mind and body, there are some people who do not understand the way of thinking of the Self-Defense Forces. ”
■ Curriculum to cultivate obedience so that incidents do not occur
An important training period of 3 months to raise immature candidates to one level.
A man who used to belong to the Ground Self-Defense Force and has experience teaching as an instructor at the Hino Basic Firing Range where the incident occurred, says that in the first half of the training, he cultivates the “obedience” necessary for live fire.
Yuan Ground Self-Defense Forces:
“This kind of incident is something that should not happen, so we are shooting to prevent it from happening. By the time they start shooting, they are able to follow orders properly, and the curriculum is designed to make them do so.”
During live-fire training, multiple instructors are stationed around the candidate firing the gun.
He said it was “unbelievable” that the incident happened amid “extreme surveillance.”
Yuan Ground Self-Defense Forces:
“I’m watching. I mightn’t believe it.”
However, according to interviews with investigative sources, the man first fired a shot not at the center of surveillance, but at a waiting area waiting for his turn to fire.
■ “Environment where it is easy to consult…” Representative of a company that supports the second career of Self-Defense Forces personnel
What made the man commit crimes? A male active-duty Ground Self-Defense Force officer says that many candidates quit during the training period.
Active duty JGSDF personnel:
“When I was in charge, there were quite a few (people who quit), maybe 10 or 15 people. First of all, in the first three days or so, they said, ‘I don’t fit in with the atmosphere anymore,’ and five or so. There are regarding 6 people who quit.(Instructors) It was tough in my time.It’s tough, but I don’t say unreasonable things.It’s a class society, so there’s a strict hierarchical relationship.( Instructors have different ways of teaching, so I think there were things that suited each other.”
A training period that is also to test the aptitude as a “Self-Defense Officer”.
What kind of problems do the candidates have during the period? We spoke with Yuichi Kimura, who served in the Ground Self-Defense Force for 17 years and is currently the president of a company that supports the second careers of Self-Defense Force personnel.
Mr. Yuichi Kimura, representative of Military Works:
“[Consultation]is regarding 10 to 15 cases a month. I joined the military following seeing the disaster dispatch, but there are many people who say, ‘I’m a little worried’ because everything is different from what I thought.”
He has received many consultations from retired SDF personnel and candidates who quit during the training period, but most of them are regarding the “gap between ideal and reality.”
It can happen in any job, but he points out that the special environment unique to Self-Defense Forces personnel also has an impact.
Kimura-san:
“In the case of Self-Defense Forces personnel, since they have entered the Self-Defense Forces with a real sense of reason, I think that they should not give up at this point. It’s too nonsense (among the members of the Self-Defense Forces) to consult with a doctor.
Were there any such circumstances behind this incident? Mr. Kimura emphasizes the need for a “contact point” in line with the actual situation.
Kimura-san:
“If we don’t create an environment where it’s really easy to ask for help, even if someone says, ‘We’re dealing with people who can provide counseling,’ it’s not going to help them at all… We need to do more to protect businesses that do things like ours.” I want the officials to know regarding it, and if they do, I can create an escape route for them, and I can give them advice.
Broadcast on June 16, 2023
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