Operational exercises carried out by USFJ-JSDF bilateral coordination center

In the joint Japan-U.S. combined command post exercises in February 2002, the Bilateral Coordination Center (BCC), organized as a de facto commanding organization combining the Japan Self-Defense Forces and the U.S. Forces in Japan, carried out operational exercises. This is the first time that such exercises were confirmed, according to Akahata of January 4.

Akahata reported:

The BCC was established in 2000 under the Japan-U.S. Guidelines for Defense Cooperation (1997) in order to get the SDF to more effectively support U.S. military interventions in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Defense Agency released this information from its declassified documents in answer to a request Akahata made based on the Free Access to Information Law.

The document, compiled by the SDF Joint Staff Council (JSC), analyzes the result of 2002 joint Japan-U.S. combined exercises (command post exercises) which took place at U.S. Yokota Air Base in Tokyo in February 16-20 by the JSDFJSC and the U.S. Forces in Japan Command.

According to the document, the exercises are aimed at acquiring and upgrading capabilities of cooperative command and control operations in the event of "situations in areas surrounding Japan" required by the new Japan-U.S. Guidelines.

The major aim is to coordinate BCC's function, it says. However, details of the operational exercises are censored out in black.

The course of events show that both forces are steadily reinforcing preparedness for making concerted interventions in the East Asian region, while jointly carrying out operations in the anti-terrorism war.

Also, staff members of five Japanese ministries, including the Foreign Ministry, National Police Agency, and Coast Guard, attended the BCC exercises as observers. The document says that it was a good chance for these ministries to recognize how the Japan-U.S. coordination mechanism, such as by the BCC, has been working.

This also indicates that Japan's government agencies are more deeply involved in the Japan-U.S. bilateral coordination mechanism to provide full-fledged support for U.S. military operations. (end)