No wait...why here?
BTW why I cannot no more "edit" in the past pages..? Just ask
And that's only a little taste...![]()
No wait...why here?
BTW why I cannot no more "edit" in the past pages..? Just ask
TORA, this is great stuff.
I enjoy this thread very much. I've got a question though.
Does the Japanese Navy have a "Marine" detacment or branch of some sort? Or do such kind of personell fall under the Army's responsability?
A pure naval infantry force never existed since 1945.
During the last war there was the Special Naval Landing Force that was a naval infantry force of the IJN.
But, actually there is the Western Army Infantry Regiment, an elite force formed in 2002, is part of the Land branch. It is composed by around 650 personell that have several duties and qualifications, they are also all divers qualified.
And one of their duties is retake fallen islands together with the U.S. Marines,so we could consider them a semi-naval infantry force.
The WAIR is part of the Japanese Central Readiness Force that comprise also the 1st Airborne Brigade, the SOG and the 1st Helicopter Brigade.
Like Kadrun said, a naval infantry force hardly will be formed in the near future as have primarily an offensive duty and this is against a defensive Japanese policy.
I see, thank you
So such duties such as ship security and the like, fall under the Army's responsability? or are there Navy units that specify in that.Western Army Infantry Regiment, an elite force formed in 2002, is part of the Land branch. It is composed by around 650 personell that have several duties and qualifications, they are also all divers qualified.
You're welcome
No, ship security is another matter and obviously it fall under the naval branch.So such duties such as ship security and the like, fall under the Army's responsability? or are there Navy units that specify in that.
The WAIR (Western Army Infantry Regiment) is mainly an elite but conventional infantry force with also an assault/landing capability but regarding ships security and others maritime duties there is the notorius SBU (Special Boarding Unit) and the not so famous MIT (Maritime Interception Team).
Some SBU operatives will be dispatched to Somalia for anti-piracy security.
I'l post pics of the WAIR and the SBU soon...![]()
An unit of the Western Army Infantry Regiment in training during a seaborne infiltration
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28th May, 2008
A SBU unit in training during a rescue simulation
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Great photos, tora.
Do you have those photos in higher resolution?
The SBU is a special unit established the 27th March, 2001. The unit belong to the naval branch of the SDF. The force is composed by 70 operatives and their main duty is maritime counter-terrorism.
Some operatives will be dispatched to Somalia for counter possible threats that could threaten the Japanese maritime civil convoys.
Hope you enjoyed the pics![]()
Last edited by TORA; 03-06-2009 at 02:21 AM.