Newsletter No. 313
News-Analysis
June 23, 2006

 

SAYONARA, SAMAWA!

Reeling under heavy pressure from the Shingetsu Institute [humor alert], Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi finally announced the withdrawal of the GSDF mission from Samawa. In his announcement on June 20th, he cited the notion that “the objective of the GSDF's activities was now been fulfilled.” For Koizumi’s full statement, see below.

When reporters asked Koizumi if his own departure from office in September was the cause for the timing of this announcement, he said that this was not a factor in his decision. On the other hand, Reiji Yoshida of the Japan Times quoted a “top Defense Agency official” as saying, "The prime minister wants to withdraw the GSDF while he is in office because he is the one who sent them to Iraq."

The reaction in Washington was very upbeat. Stephen Hadley, US National Security Advisor, put it this way: “The mission of the forces there, the Japanese forces there, has been successfully completed… we think that this is a positive step." In other words, the Bush Administration line is that the departure of the GSDF from Samawa is simply an indication of Baghdad’s growing strength to manage its own affairs: It is a symbol of “progress” in Iraq.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki had announced on the 19th that Iraqi forces would take over responsibility for security in Al-Muthanna province, where Samawa is located.

The spin from Tokyo, Washington, and Baghdad is predictable considering their respective interests and ideological attitudes, but clearly there is more than meets the eye in this sudden decision to withdraw the GSDF from Samawa. Our very last Shingetsu Newsletter on this topic discussed Prime Minister Koizumi’s comments on the 14th that the GSDF might very well stay in Samawa beyond September. Within a week of those comments, he announces a full and immediate withdrawal.

So… uh… what happened this past week that changed everything?

The real answer is that we don’t know. Something happened behind the scenes that hasn’t been leaked to the press yet.

My best guess is that Tokyo was quietly told by Washington that they no longer felt that the GSDF mission was necessary. The only real reason why the mission was extended this far was because of Japanese fears about the reaction in Washington if they pulled out. If the Bush Administration has privately indicated that they are no longer concerned, then that would have produced the overnight change that we have seen. Also, that would help explain Hadley’s upbeat comments as well.

One little irony is the issue of coordination with London and Canberra, which many voices in Tokyo have been calling a necessity. It was intimated earlier that Japan would not withdraw from Samawa until Britain and Australia did the same. That whole idea seems to have been dropped now. Indeed, there is a small uproar in Australia over how to interpret the GSDF withdrawal. See below for some comments by a rightwing Australian commentator who is on a MOFA-sponsored exchange program in Tokyo.

Photo: GSDF Soldiers in Samawa in June 2006
Source: Ahmad Abdel Razak, AFP-Getty Images

 

The GSDF withdrawal does not mean that Japan is now completely out of Iraq. The Kuwait-based ASDF transport mission will continue, and is even likely to be stepped up and expanded. The UN has recently asked for Japanese transport help, and Prime Minister Koizumi himself mentioned that ASDF flights will now be sent to Baghdad and Arbil. For more on the ASDF mission, see below.

Another interesting statement is that Tokyo’s new ODA program for Iraq will target the oil and gas sectors. Explained one official: “The development of oil and natural gas in energy-rich Iraq is directly linked to its foreign currency earnings, which in turn will drive reconstruction.” Certainly, more oil and gas will mean more money for the Iraqi government, but whether that has a one to one ratio to expanded reconstruction efforts is a somewhat dubious claim. The Iraqi government could use that extra money in many ways -- not all of them benevolent. Also, one wonders if this use of ODA may be linked to efforts by Japanese companies like the Arabian Oil Company to get lucrative contracts in the future.

At any rate, the GSDF will now begin to pull out of Samawa, thus bringing to a close a major chapter in Japan-Iraq relations. Like so much else about Tokyo’s Iraq policy, the real reasons remain opaque. Certainly, Prime Minister Koizumi’s public comments do not throw much light on the real nature of this sudden decision.

 

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PRIME MINISTER KOIZUMI’S PUBLIC STATEMENT ON THE WITHDRAWAL FROM SAMAWA
June 20, 2006

The Japanese Government decided today that it will redeploy the Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF) troops that have been engaged in humanitarian and reconstruction activities in Samawa, Iraq since the beginning of 2003, based on the Special Measures Law for Humanitarian and Reconstruction Assistance for Iraq, judging that the objective of the GSDF's activities was now been fulfilled. In addition, Japan decided to provide support for the UN's activities and the ongoing activities of the MNF, and has reached a decision to newly provide air-lift support to Baghdad and Arbil. In addition, after the redeployment of the GSDF, Japan will be providing assistance with a focus on the improvement of economic infrastructure through Yen loans, in coordination with the Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs) to be organized by the Multi-National Forces (MNF).

The international community has been unified in providing support for Iraq's reconstruction in order to assist the Iraqi people's efforts to reconstruct and rebuild their country. Japan for its part, has been steadily assisting Iraq by combining the contribution by SDF personnel and Official Development Assistance (ODA), as a responsible member of the international community. With such support by the international community, the Iraqi political process has shown concrete progress. In December last year, the National Assembly elections were conducted. More recently, the new Iraqi Government was established. The process of transferring security responsibility to Iraq is moving forward. As seen in such developments, Iraq has taken the first full step to self-sustained reconstruction under the leadership of a democratic government.

In Al-Muthanna Province two and a half years of efforts by the GSDF troops in a wide range of areas including medical services, water provision and repair work on public infrastructure such as schools and roads, as well as Japanese ODA, have yielded visible results including rehabilitation and improvement of local infrastructure and creation of job opportunities. For example, all residents have gained access to basic medical care. In Samawa Maternity and Children Hospital, post-delivery mortality rate of newborns decreased to about one third of the rate in the first half of 2002. Improvements have been achieved in provision of water and educational environment. On employment, Japanese assistance, including repair work on public facilities by the SDF and job opportunity creation projects through ODA, created a maximum of approximately 6,000 job opportunities per day, and a total of 1.56 million job opportunities. Furthermore, with Japanese ODA, construction work has started on a major power plant in Samawa. Once this plant is completed, a leap will be achieved in provision of electricity. In addition, the Government of Japan intends to continue providing reconstruction assistance to this region of Iraq, such as construction of bridges in Samawa, and irrigation projects in Al-Muthanna Province. Such reconstruction assistance projects have lead to high appreciation and confidence by the Iraqi Government and the local people.

It is time that the bilateral relationship between Japan and Iraq be transformed into a broader relationship with stronger political and economic relations. The Government of Japan will endeavor to ensure that the results of Japan's reconstruction assistance provided thus far will take root and will work to foster a broad and long-term partnership with Iraq.

The Iraqi Government fully agrees with Japan's basic policy towards reconstruction assistance for Iraq as mentioned above. The Government of Japan takes this opportunity to express its gratitude to the people and the government of Iraq that have warmly welcomed the GSDF troops as well as the relevant countries that have cooperated with the GSDF in Samawa, including the UK, Australia, the Netherlands and the US.

I ask for the Japanese people's understanding and support concerning the above mentioned decision by the Government of Japan.

 

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JAPANESE AND GLOBAL REACTIONS

Adam Ereli, Deputy Spokesman of the US State Department: “[Japan’s announcement] gives us an opportunity to thank Japan, Prime Minister Koizumi, and the people of that country for their bravery and their sacrifice and their commitment to freedom in Iraq and to playing a strong and positive international role befitting of Japan’s status as a great country.”

Asahi Shinbun Editorial: “We should not forget that the Arab world is disappointed with Japan for supporting the Iraq War and taking part in the occupation. The SDF, which is becoming more integrated in the United States' own strategy, should not be deployed to another Iraq without careful consideration. We cannot but be relieved that the GSDF deployment is over and say 'all's well that ends well'.”

Ghanim Alwan al-Jumaily, Ambassador of Iraq in Tokyo: "Every Japanese should feel proud."

Iraqi Foreign Ministry, “The Government of Iraq thanks the Japanese Self-Defense Force operating within the Multinational Forces in Iraq for the role it has carried out in the province of Al-Muthanna since the overthrow of the bygone regime. The work of the Self-Defense Force has focused on contributions to reconstruction and humanitarian activities. The Iraqi government also extends thanks and expressions of gratitude to the people and government of Japan and to the families of these men who will set out their journey back home following the announcement by Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki that the whole security dossier in Al-Muthanna province will be taken over by the Iraqi forces next month.”

Japan Times Editorial: “The GSDF deployment in Iraq has come to be viewed as a token of Japan's readiness to accept an expanding role in its security ties with the United States, and of Japan's willingness to cooperate with the U.S. in the Iraq War. In this connection, it must not be forgotten that the U.S. invaded Iraq in March 2003 on dubious grounds. U.S. insistence that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction was not proven. The U.S. argument that Iraq had ties with al-Qaida, which was responsible for the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the U.S., also was off the mark. The GSDF's presence in Iraq caused resentment among Islamist extremists, and in April 2004, three Japanese were taken hostage and later released. In October of the same year, 24-year-old Shosei Koda was captured and then beheaded.”

Piers Akerman, rightwing Australian commentator: “To justify his call for Australians troops to quit Iraq, Opposition Leader Kim "Bomber" Beazley wants you to believe the Japanese are scrambling to desert the nation in its hour of need. That is far from the truth. In fact, it is a fair bet Beazley would have a real fight on his hands if he tried to run his defeatist rant about pulling out from Iraq here. Many Japanese are most disturbed their Self Defence Forces cannot remain in Iraq. The decision to leave was largely forced upon them by the restrictions on mounting military enterprises under the constitution they had to accept from the victorious Allies at the end of WWII. While the Japanese may have withdrawn their small defence team from al-Muthanna province, they are actually having a searching debate about how they can make a bigger contribution to the war on terror -- a cause which Beazley used to pay lip-service to -- while their post-war constitution has tied their hands in terms of providing an out-and-out military force.”

Stephen Hadley, US National Security Advisor: “The mission of the forces there, the Japanese forces there, has been successfully completed. [The Japanese Self-Defense Forces are] transitioning to a new way of contributing to the success of Iraq… What we think is that this is useful as an indication, it’s a measure of the progress, it’s an example of what it means, Iraqis stand up, we can stand down; and then our mission begins to transform and how we can support the government to transform. So we think that this is a positive step.”

Taro Aso, Foreign Minister of Japan: "[The GSDF soldiers] have made a very big contribution to improving the brand image of Japan as a country."

 

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Three cheers for the Asahi Shinbun. In April they ran a five-part series about the ASDF mission in Kuwait and the Persian Gulf. I have complained on previous occasions about the near-total lack of information about this mission, and the Asahi series goes some way toward rectifying this problem. The English translation is provided by the Shingetsu Institute.

According to this series, the ASDF has not been transporting ammunition. There have been contradictory reports on this issue in the past.

TWO YEARS OF AIRLIFT SUPPORT FOR IRAQ
By Kuniichi Tanida of the Asahi Shinbun

Part One: The First Flight: Concentrating on Watching Missiles So Much as to Forget to Breathe

There are borders in the desert, too. Fifteen minutes after they left the base, the inside the plane was tense every time they approached the rises and rivers which extend everywhere.

“Combat, Entry, Check!” The seven crew members, wearing helmets, bulletproof vests, and even oxygen masks at the captain’s order, are ready to watch every window below for a missile attacks.

“I might not be able to come back,” says the first unit flight leader, Lieutenant-Colonel Yoshitaka Sakamoto (49), who came here in January 2004.

In that time, attack on planes were reported everywhere in Iraq. A person who called himself an executive of Al-Qaida made a statement which mentioned the detachment of the SDF, and Japan became alert.

After they trained very hard, they started their first mission flight in June of the same year. The freight was two tons of medical machinery, including newborn baby incubators for hospitals. Sakamoto served as the captain, and Colonel Akiyuki Nitta (53), the airlift group’s person in charge, who usually supervises the whole flight and the operations in Kuwait, also boarded.

It takes 55 minutes to Taril Airport near Samawa, in the southern part of Iraq. Everyone concentrates on whether a crewman says the word ‘Break!’, which means that he sees an attack. It was so tense on the first flight that they ‘forgot to breathe.’

They did not have enough time to prepare for the detachment because the work coincided with the election of the House of Representatives in November 2003, and the government, which was concerned about the political effect, refrained from preparations.

“It was like, even if we need to have ten security devices, just go ahead with only two devices!”

Major-General, Takeyoshi Ogawa (56) worked very hard as the No. 2 in the Air Support Command (Fuchu, Tokyo), and recalls those terrible days.

Even though it was aviation, Japan’s C-130 is unarmed. Though they put in a defense mechanism to escape missile attacks, for the first time since their introduction in 1984, they minimized the number that they made available, and postponed reinforcing the planes’ wings.

The reinforcement of the cockpit to make it bulletproof, repainting, training the crews… The first transport unit (about 800 members) which flies C-130s from Komaki base, Aichi Prefecture, had much work to do.

At last, they finished the work at the end of the year, just before they went back to their home towns for the holidays. A big earthquake hit southeastern Iran, and they were ordered to send two C-130s for transport of relief supplies. The members were very disappointed.

Flight leader Atsushi Nishino (48), who had just arrived at his home in Aomori, stayed only one night and came right back to the office.

“The biggest worry is how we can manage to work with the limited numbers of planes and staff.”

The C-130 unit is the only flight unit of its kind in Japan. Since they supported the PKO in Cambodia in 1992, the C-130 unit has become like a star, as they have often been engaged in international support missions.

But the airlift support for Iraq is quite different from the normal missions in terms of the dangers. “My child has an entrance exam,” “My parent is in the hospital…” As the time to select the crews arrives, the leaders could hear these kinds of worried comments from the crew members.

One morning, the former Air Support commander, Major-General Hironobu Mizoguchi (52) gave instructions to all the crews: “This mission will take a long time. Within our physical limits, everyone is going to go to Iraq. Please get ready for it.”

So as not to sound too brutal, he added, “I am also going there.”

It was just then that the commander was ordered to go to the forward command in order to make adjustments with the multinational troops. It was their fifth mission in abroad since the PKO in Cambodia.

It has been about two years since the ASDF transport plane unit has started to support Iraq. Through the eyes of these crews, I will describe their activities and lives.

 

Part Two: Averting Dangers: Depending on the Defense Measures; Always Tense

“Captain, you don’t have to brake so much.”

As soon as they arrived at the landing field in the southern part of Iraq for the first time, Major Osamu Kato (46) was surprised by a crewman he was talking to. He hit the pedal too much. Last September, he had participated as a captain in the seventh unit.

“Maybe I was unconsciously too tense.”

He has flown abroad to places such as Rwanda and Afghanistan, and is an expert whose total flight time is over 7000 hours. “Moderate tension and fear”: He always felt it when he flew between Iraq and Kuwait thirteen times.

The C-130 transport plane was invented for airlift at the front lines. Constantly they practice a special flying technique which is called the “Battle Technique.” But they never cared very much about being shot at from the ground in the middle of a flight. If fired at by a portable missile carried over the shoulders, they rely on their defense measures and flying techniques.

“BREAK! THREE O’CLOCK!”

At the moment when a crewman yelled the direction from which a missile was coming from, the captain swerved the control stick and turned 30 meters sharply. All the crew held on tightly so as not to go flying around the cabin.

If it had been a real missile, an alarm which senses infrared rays would have rung in the cockpit. At the same time, the navigator behind the captain would work a defense device which reflects a heat source in order to foil the attack.

In the unit, they first trained for these maneuvers on Io Island, and still kept training in Kuwait after the detachment. They also have special training in the event that some crewmen are injured and the remaining crew cannot fly the plane, and also for the case in which they have to crash the plane and ground teams go to their rescue.

They changed the plane’s body color to light blue which hides well in the sky, and added a spiral descent, taking off sharply, and changing the flight courses.

The navigator, Satoru Okigawa (50), who took part in this kind of training in August last year, still dreams of a missile hitting the body of the plane. What would happen next? “I am very optimistic, so they would all get back!” He said this and laughed. The first unit flight leader Yoshitaka Sakamoto (49) has experienced the alarm ringing twice. Both times it rang, he took evasive action. He said, “I couldn’t be sure what has happening behind the plane.” However, it was just an error or a reaction to fire or smoke from an oil refinery. They are not really sure.

It was the Gulf War of 1991 when airlifts by C-130s were first noticed as a useful means for missions abroad. The government announced a support plan for emergency transport of refugees. The unit was ordered to stand by in Japan for 85 days. Actually, they did not go there. But they said that the preparations for the Middle East mission became useful for the later detachment to Iraq. The main crews had already experienced these preparations.

But some of the crew doesn’t have experience of the Gulf War or Cambodia in 1992. First Lieutenant Nami Muchima (29), who took part as an assistant captain and one of only three women on this mission, also does not have this kind of experience.

She was just about to get married. Her partner was a helicopter pilot of the same ASDF unit. After they talked about it, they decided to have their wedding just before their detachment to Kuwait. It was ten days before they left.

The newly married couple did not talk about Iraq. As colleagues, “We knew what could happen… If we die, we can’t do anything for the mission or the country. Anyway, all we have to do is come back to Japan.” She thought like that.

 

Part Three: Gathering Information: Finding the Way to Discover Threats

While the ASDF sent a transport unit to Kuwait for the support of Iraq, they also sent ten members to work with the multinational troops in the other Gulf States. The team is called the “Airlift Project Team.”

They work in the frontline command of the U.S Air Force Central Command. However, the Japanese government has not announced the name of country to which Japan has sent the members, due to the country’s request.

The roles of the project team are adjusting the transport supplies and gathering safety information. Because the special legislation calling for assistance in the rebuilding of Iraq puts the safety of the SDF members as the top priority, the latter seems to be more important than the former.

The Central Command covers Afghanistan and Africa, not only Iraq. While Japan’s participation was welcomed, they keenly realized the difference between themselves and the American and British forces which pursue campaigns of war.

“We do not fly if we discover a danger. It is completely different than their standard of safety, because they will fly even if they find a minor threat.”

Major-General Hironobu Mizoguchi (52), who is the first leader to have arrived at that place, had to explain about ‘the unique Japanese way’ again and again.

Even he explained that they have received criticism like, “Why does Japan not fly even when they have three planes here?”

It is not only the difference between “Wartime” and “Peacetime.”

The ASDF has worked for only humanitarian support and disaster relief. They always released and shared information. But they cannot do this in wartime. They must minimize the flow of information.

The information Japan can get is only the minimum information for the flights. And southern Iraq where the ASDF flies is regarded as a “Safe Area,” so they can get little information from the multinational forces.

How can they receive details about the activities of terrorist groups and attack information? The fourth Airlift Team leader, Colonel Yoshihiro Kondo (55) thought about it. He tried to ask many questions in each briefing and make connections. His chance was in the cafeteria. Each person tries to go there often and get important information through having meals with the workers and pilots.

Around one year had passed since the airlift activities had started, and they did not fly more than ten times a month to relieve the GSDF. They needed to “find a new job.”

The airlift unit transported soldiers and supplies for the US, including Japanese humanitarian support supplies. “In any case, we do not transport weapons and ammunition. But the other jobs are directly linked to securing our safety. If we do not find a job ourselves, we cannot have the information.”

They also gather information in Kuwait. They had an “Information Coordinating Center” which connects the ASDF and the local organizations. The first leader was Colonel Nobuyoshi Kojima (48). He started the activity in December 2003 cooperating with the Kuwaiti troops and the multinational troops in Kuwait. When they researched and gathered information about the activity area of the SDF, some American and British troops worked with them.

He cannot forget one thing: May 2004, when two Japanese journalists were attacked and killed by an armed group. At the end of the month, the remains were transported to the ASDF base in Kuwait by a US plane. The duralumin coffin in which Kotaro Ogawa (33) laid was loaded.

The US forces, when they deposit a coffin, form together and salute by the order of the commander. But it was different in this time.

The commander requested politely: “We want you to salute -- He was Japanese.”

In the base, the command of Colonel Kojima was transmitted, and about 50 Air Force soldiers saluted together.

 

Part Four: The Maintenance of the Planes’ Fuselages; Burning Sun, Sandstorms, Severe Conditions

When they start a C-130 engine, they press four metallic buttons for about thirty seconds. In Kuwait, it becomes over 60 degrees in the cockpit. The buttons are so hot that some pilots cannot even touch them, and they try to cool them with wet towels.

The outside of the plane is even hotter. The heated wing and the reflected heat from the airport are scorching. It is the workplace of about forty ground staff. Their enemies are sand and heat. They have a heavy responsibility in these severe conditions.

Sergeant Second Class Yoshihisa Katsumata (35), who has been sent twice, in the first and seventh detachments from Komaki base, Aichi Prefecture, worked in 56 degree Celsius heat in July of last year. “If we just stay out there for five minutes, we would be burned. Even if we put on work clothes; we can feel the heat directly.”

When he took a bath, after he worked on four limbs on the wing, his skin became red. He changed his leather gloves three times in four months because they were shred with sweat and heat. In Japan he changes them only one time in that period of time.

He works on the plane all the time. The check before flights in the early morning; the check after flights at midnight… When the plane returns late, sometimes he has to work through the night.

What made him continue this job?

“A person who maintains the plane and the person who flies it both have their duties: It is quite hard for each of us to work, but it is good to respect each other.”

The ground staff takes care of three planes efficiently, so as not to affect the flight plan. They also take care of reducing the crews’ share of the burden.

“If we can’t be confident about the plane, the crews can’t fly. They are very nervous about their mission. We can’t worry them about maintenance issues,” said First Lieutenant Shunsuke Sasaguchi (28), the maintenance leader of the fourth unit.

They also have to take care of the work environment. They are afraid of sandstorms. The big sandstorms come like a tsunami and spread over the whole airbase. When some members work on the body of the plane, they can lose their balance and fall down. First Lieutenant Sasaguchi is also responsible for observing into the far distance around the base as well.

He also works hard to secure drinking water. It is so dry that they tend to get dehydrated easily. They need to always replenish their water to prevent this. But during Ramadan, the soldiers at the base in Kuwait do not drink water during the day.

“We should avoid drinking water in front of them. What should we do?”

Then he had a good idea. He advised the members to drink water inside the plane when they have a dry throat.

Sergeant Third Class Kosuke Imafuku (47), who has been to Kuwait two times in 2004 and 2005, is the oldest transport member from Komaki base. He takes charge of loading and unloading freight as a crewman. It was very tough for him to adapt to the food as much as the heat. When they arrived for the first time, they rented Kuwaiti Air Force facilities and had Arabian food. It was too hot to eat the main plates. They could only eat breads, vegetables and fruits. He lost 6 kg of weight in a three-month detachment. When he did not have enough salt, he fainted. He felt that it was hard, because he needed strength to work. But he said, “I’m satisfied.”

Before he worked on the C-130s, he had guarded a radar site in Tsushima, Nagasaki Prefecture. But he really wanted to work on the planes: “I would do anything to work with planes!” He applied for the transport crew post, and eventually he was able to change his job.

“I can learn from other countries’ transport units, and I am very satisfied with this job. I am sure that I will go to Iraq even if it is for a third time or a fourth time.”

 

Part Five: Living and Working Together: Communication through Events

Isami Sagae (51), who is the air transport commander, always sees off the C-130s leaving for Iraq saluting at the landing field. And he holds his pocket with his left hand. He has a talisman from his father in that pocket. “Just return home safely.” He is not religious, but it made him believe in something.

When the transport activities began, they went to Kuwait in July 2004. As their goals, they suggested the safety of the flights, mutual understanding, and good health care. Everyone came from all over Japan. He managed 200 men’s daily lives. He arranged that all members see the planes, and he held a non-alcohol party once a month with a wind bell contest and many other materials…

It seems like nothing special in Japan, but it is quite important to live together for a long time without their families.

In Ali Al-Salim Air Base, Kuwait, US and Korean forces live together and they have many sports events. Major Takeji Fujito (47) takes parts in the first unit as a military policeman, and made an unforgettable Kuwaiti friend.

Major Fujito is a seventh grade expert in kendo. In the base, he made a “kendo club,” and a Kuwaiti Army major (43), who had learned kendo himself, joined in. Every Saturday afternoon was the practice day. They could not speak the same language, but Fujito was moved by his earnest attitude about kendo.

“I felt that people, who are attracted to martial arts, could feel something in common.”

After Major Fujito returned to Japan, the Kuwaiti major still kept practicing, and finally he came to Japan to take a test of the first grade of kendo last August. Major Fujito practiced with him, and they went to the test at the SDF base together. He passed the test. Major Fujito felt as glad as if it had been about him.

Second Lieutenant Koji Nishizuka (27), the communications leader of the seventh unit, has been sent from a radar site in Mie, and led a communications unit consisting of about ten members. The way to communicate between Japanese and Kuwaitis is by telephone and the internet using the ASDF’s or commercial lines. They use also mobile phones and radio. The communications unit works to maintain these “lifelines.”

They have to be careful about which lines are by way of satellites and which by underwater cables. The lines are sometimes affected by the weather such as sandstorms. In the evening, even after Second Lieutenant Nishizuka got back to his quarters, he still had to work for his colleagues. The members, who were trying to send an e-mail to their families, exclaimed that “The internet doesn’t work!” He sometimes checked all the computers one by one and referred them to the local provider. “It was like a service center of an electrical appliance shop.”

It is not only the two hundred members of the unit who work for the airlift transport. Members in Komaki base, Aichi Prefecture, also work to support them. They have more responsibility than usual because they have sent their colleagues abroad.

Masuzo Ueda (54), the leader of the detachment and the commander of the first airlift transport unit, has worked here since the autumn of 2003. He has responsibility for the training and the education of the crews.

“Fortunately we have never had a dangerous situation so far. But no one can say that it will never happen. So we should be alert. All my work is having the crew alert and well-trained.”

Last December, the mission was extended for one more year. They still have to be alert in both in Japan and in the lands to which they have been deployed.