TOKYO —

The Defense Ministry on Monday finalized a basic reform policy for the ministry that will beef up the authority of ranking uniformed officers over the operations of the Self-Defense Forces. The ministry fell short of including in the basic policy measures to handle situations similar to the recent issue involving former Air Self-Defense Force Chief of Staff Gen Toshio Tamogami, who was removed from his post after questioning in an essay the government’s position that Japan invaded Asian neighbors during World War II.
 
‘‘It is our mission to implement organizational reforms in the direction mapped out by a panel held at the prime minister’s office,’’ Vice Defense Minister Kohei Masuda told a news conference. The basic policy, the contents of which are expected to be implemented in the fiscal year starting in April 2010, will be presented to the panel on Thursday when it holds a meeting at the prime minister’s office. The panel is expected to discuss what can be done to ensure civilian control, which critics argue has not been fully implemented, as well as ways to revamp instruction courses for ranking defense force members.
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3 Comments

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  NuckinFutz at 11:26 AM JST - 23rd December

  Doesn't this move go against the principle of civilian control over the military forces? The thought of giving right-wing nationalist officers like Tamogami MORE authority is frightening! Anybody smell another war coming?

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  toadold at 09:58 PM JST - 23rd December

  If I'm reading this right the ranking officers are being given more authority over "operations." This could be in response to the speed in which decisions have to be made especially against an attack.

  Also, if authority to make decisions is too far up the chain of command things can get loose and out of control because people are waiting to long or deciding not to report the onset of a discipline problem until it is too late. Lapse in security procedures have happened because of this.

  If Japanese military law and tradition is anything like the US military's, if you give a public opinion on anything political, left or right, while still serving, your career is over. It could be the SDF feels they could have nipped this in the bud before it became public if they'd had more authority??

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  NuckinFutz at 07:54 AM JST - 24th December

  This article does not provide enough detail for me to really understand what type of operational authority they are speaking of nor what the intent of giving officers that authority is. The quote from Masuda is political speak, alot of words that say very little.

  I'm not sure giving them more authority will help eliminate right-wing thinking. The Chief of Staff of the air Self Defense Force would have all the authority he needs to handle his forces. It took someone else above him to take it away when he crossed the line.

  I don't want to slight the SDF in any way because I have some good friends in the rank and file of the ASDF and they are hard working dedicated people. The leadership has some ideological issues that need to be worked out. Giving officers more operational control may be needed but appropriate civilian controls of the force as a whole must be strictly maintained.

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