The are

military education and training Military education and training is a process which intends to establish and improve the capabilities of military Military personnel, personnel in their respective roles. Military training may be voluntary or compulsory duty. It begins with recru ...

courses oriented toward

Commando A commando is a combatant, or operative of an elite light infantry or special operations force, specially trained for carrying out raids and operating in small teams behind enemy lines. Originally, "a commando" was a type of combat unit, as oppo ...

operations in the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF).

History

The original course that is still held at Fuji School was established in 1956 by two JGSDF officers who had graduated from the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

Ranger School The Ranger School is a 62-day United States Army small unit tactics and leadership course that develops functional skills directly related to units whose mission is to engage the enemy in close combat and direct fire battles. Ranger training w ...

. This course was basically the Japanese version of the American Ranger School at the beginning. In 1960, local ranger courses were started by each infantry regiment. As ranger courses continued to be carried out in various JGSDF units, they developed according to the country's geography.

Ranger Courses

Generally, there are four types of Ranger Courses as follows, but all courses are known for their severe harshness so only eligible soldiers can take these courses: ; Local courses :

Enlisted rank An enlisted rank (also known as an enlisted grade or enlisted rate) is, in some armed services, any rank below that of a commissioned officer. The term can be inclusive of non-commissioned officers or warrant officers, except in United States ...

s can take Ranger Courses with their divisions,

brigade A brigade is a major tactical military unit, military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute ...

s and

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, military service, service, or administrative corps, specialisation. In Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of l ...

s. These courses are conducted by instructors who have completed the Fuji School course, but are localized according to the area in charge of each unit. For example, there is the

Japanese Alps The is a series of mountain ranges in Japan which bisect the main island of Honshu. The peaks that tower over central Honshu have long been the object of veneration and pilgrimage. These mountains had long been exploited by local people for raw m ...

in the

area of responsibility Area of responsibility (AOR) is a pre-defined geographic region assigned to Combatant commanders of the Unified Command Plan (UCP), that are used to define an area with specific geographic boundaries where they have the authority to plan and c ...

for the 13th Infantry Regiment (

Matsumoto, Nagano is a Cities of Japan, city located in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. Matsumoto is designated as a Core cities of Japan, core city since 1 April 2021. , the city had a population of 239,466 in 105,207 households and a population density of 240 perso ...

), so its Ranger Courses focus on

mountain warfare Mountain warfare or alpine warfare is warfare in mountains or similarly rough terrain. The term encompasses military operations affected by the terrain, hazards, and factors of combat and movement through rough terrain, as well as the strategies ...

and are known as the "Alpen Ranger". : After heavy physical training, nine exercises are held in the ordinary local course for nine weeks while enduring great mental and psychological stresses and physical fatigue, and the following skills are acquired: :*

Navigation Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the motion, movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navig ...

Demolition Demolition (also known as razing and wrecking) is the science and engineering in safely and efficiently tearing down buildings and other artificial structures. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction (building), deconstruction, which inv ...

Military communications Military communications or military signals involve all aspects of communications, or conveyance of information, by armed forces. Examples from '' Jane's Military Communications'' include text, audio, facsimile, tactical ground-based communica ...

:* Waterborne infiltration :*

Air assault Air assault is the movement of ground-based military forces by vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft, such as helicopters, to seize and hold key terrain that has not been fully secured, and to directly engage enemy forces behind enemy l ...

Survival skills Survival skills are techniques used to sustain life in any type of natural environment or built environment. These techniques are meant to provide basic necessities for human life, including water, food, and shelter. Survival skills also sup ...

Mountaineering Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become mounta ...

skills :*

Special reconnaissance Special reconnaissance (SR) is conducted by small units, such as a recon team, made up of highly trained military personnel, usually from special forces units and/or military intelligence organizations. Special reconnaissance teams operate behind ...

; At Fuji School (at the base of

Mount Fuji is an active stratovolcano located on the Japanese island of Honshu, with a summit elevation of . It is the highest mountain in Japan, the second-highest volcano on any Asian island (after Mount Kerinci on the Indonesian island of Sumatra), a ...

) : Course instructor candidates and

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

s need to complete the 13-week course at the Fuji School. Those who complete this course are specifically qualified to wear a gold badge. ; At

Narashino is a Cities of Japan, city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 175,292 in 81,985 households and a population density of 8400 persons per km2. The total area of the city is Geography Narashino is loca ...

(

Chiba Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Chiba Prefecture has a population of 6,278,060 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Chiba Prefecture borders Ibaraki Prefecture to the north, Saitama ...

) : The 1st Airborne Brigade aims to give ranger training to all the members and implements its own Airborne Ranger Courses. ; At Niseko (

Hokkaido is the list of islands of Japan by area, second-largest island of Japan and comprises the largest and northernmost prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own list of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō fr ...

) : is established by . This is advanced post-graduate ranger training for

cold-weather warfare Cold-weather warfare, also known as cold-region warfare, arctic warfare or winter warfare, encompasses military operations affected by snow, ice, thawing conditions, or cold, both on land and at sea, as well as the strategies and tactics used ...

, thus soldiers who have completed this course are entitled to wear special badges, in addition to regular ranger badges. JGSDF soldiers are not the only ones to participate in the courses. Air Self Defense Force paramedics (Japanese counterparts of the

United States Air Force Pararescue Pararescuemen (also known as Pararescue Jumpers or PJs) are United States Air Force Special operations, special operators who conduct personnel recovery and combat search and rescue operations as well as other missions for the U.S. military and ...

men) have also participated in Airborne Ranger Courses. JGSDF rangers are known as pioneers of

rope A rope is a group of yarns, Plying, plies, fibres, or strands that are plying, twisted or braided together into a larger and stronger form. Ropes have high tensile strength and can be used for dragging and lifting. Rope is thicker and stronger ...

and mountain rescue techniques, thus eligible members of civilian

law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of the government or other social institutions who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by investigating, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms gove ...

and rescue organizations ( Mountain security squads of the

police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

and Rescue Technicians of the

fire department A fire department (North American English) or fire brigade (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), also known as a fire company, fire authority, fire district, fire and rescue, or fire service in some areas, is an organi ...

s, for example) can take Ranger Courses arranged for

search and rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...

operations. File:25.06.10 ４４ｉ・１０マイル走6753 教育訓練等 179.jpg, Physical training: 10-mile run with the Ranger flag in the lead File:34i-IM-2 (レンジャー教育・＃３想定) R 教育訓練等 116.jpg, Waterborne infiltration by an

inflatable boat An inflatable boat is a lightweight boat constructed with its sides and Bow (watercraft), bow made of Inflatable, flexible tubes containing pressurised gas. For smaller boats, the floor and Hull (watercraft), hull are often flexible, while for ...

File:ＵＨ－１Ｊ（レンジャー教育空路潜入・第４４普通科連隊）.jpg, Air assault:

rappelling Abseiling ( ; ), also known as rappelling ( ; ), is the controlled descent of a steep slope, such as a rock face, by moving down a rope. When abseiling, the person descending controls their own movement down a static or fixed rope, in cont ...

from a Bell-Fuji UH-1J File:13i-1 (レンジャー教育・冬季山地訓練) R 教育訓練等 258.jpg, "Alpen Ranger" course File:２６普連：レンジャー帰還 R 教育訓練等 24.jpg, Marching at the end of the final exercise while other soldiers cheer them on. File:レンジャー旗返還教育訓練等 143.jpg, Return of the Ranger flag in the completion ceremony

Deployment

Unlike the

United States Army Rangers The United States Army Rangers are U.S. Army personnel who have served in any unit which has held the official designation of "Ranger". The term is commonly used to include graduates of the Ranger School, even if they have never served in a ...

, the JGSDF has adopted a policy to improve the level of the whole forces by distributing rangers to each units, thus the unit consisting only of rangers was not established except for the training units in the Fuji School and CWCT. But in case of

special operations Special operations or special ops are military activities conducted, according to NATO, by "specially designated, organized, selected, trained, and equipped forces using unconventional techniques and modes of employment." Special operations ma ...

disaster response Disaster response refers to the actions taken directly before, during, or immediately after a disaster. The objective is to save lives, ensure health and safety, and meet the subsistence needs of the people affected.UNGA (2016)Report of the open- ...

commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or commander, or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually give ...

s may gather Rangers and organize Ranger units temporarily. When Western Army Infantry Regiment (WAiR; later expanded to Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade) was launched in 2002, Ranger platoons were set up in this regiment. These platoons are certified as special operation units. In 2012, they conducted joint landing exercises with the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

Guam Guam ( ; ) is an island that is an Territories of the United States, organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. Guam's capital is Hagåtña, Guam, Hagåtña, and the most ...

Notes

References

Books

* * *

External links

* , Official Channel of the GSDF * , Defence Graphics Channel {{Japanese Special forces Military education and training in Japan Special forces of Japan Japan Ground Self-Defense Force