The Japanese Afrika Korps
I had the somewhat unique experience of coaching the Japanese on the ground in Goma, Zaire in their first out of area deployment since WWII. There was most definitely an unreal element to it; they--and these were fairly senior officers--were most out of place and they knew it. The Japanese DATT in Nairobi made a special trip to Kigali just to ask me to go talk to them. I did and gave them my pitch of the FAZ (Zairian military) as uniformed bandits. The Japanese Colonel looked at me and said, "Colonel you know what you have said to us is very different from what the French said." I simply pointed to some FAZ bandits outside his wire (the US wire left behind by the JTF) and asked him if those guys made him feel secure. As I recall the Japanese had 3 maybe 4 light troop carriers with no crew served weapons. Their small arms were secured inside the carriers and total numbers were around 80 men including officers. Their "mission" was to somehow provide security in the camps. I told the Colonel the best thing he could do was go home and not risk his men.
Best
Tom
Bomb by Bomb, Japan Sheds Military Restraints
23 July NY Times - Bomb by Bomb, Japan Sheds Military Restraints by Norimitsu Onishi.
Quote:
... But from here in Micronesia to Iraq, Japan’s military has been rapidly crossing out items from its list of can’t-dos. The incremental changes, especially since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, amount to the most significant transformation in Japan’s military since World War II, one that has brought it ever closer operationally to America’s military while rattling nerves throughout northeast Asia.
In a little over half a decade, Japan’s military has carried out changes considered unthinkable a few years back. In the Indian Ocean, Japanese destroyers and refueling ships are helping American and other militaries fight in Afghanistan. In Iraq, Japanese planes are transporting cargo and American troops to Baghdad from Kuwait...
Richard J. Samuels, a Japan expert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said that revisionist politicians like Mr. Abe and Mr. Koizumi, once on the fringes of Japan’s political world, succeeded in grabbing the mainstream in a time of uncertainty. They shared the view “that the statute of limitations on Japan’s misbehavior during the Pacific War had expired” and that Japan, like any normal country, should have a military...
Japan nuclear disaster (new title)
Military begins voluntary evacuation of families in Japan
http://www.stripes.com/news/pacific/...japan-1.137999
Quote:
YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — The U.S. military authorized voluntary evacuations of eligible family members of Defense Department personnel Thursday from bases in mainland Japan following increasing worries over nuclear reactors damaged in the country’s largest recorded earthquake.
Quote:
Officials don’t know how heavy the demand will be, but the potential number of evacuees is in the thousands, Pentagon spokesman Col. David Lapan said. The primary means of evacuation will be commercial airlines and chartered flights, but if the demand is heavy, military aircraft will participate.
Quote:
“This does not affect U.S. military personnel, does not affect civilian personnel. Only eligible family members,” Lapan said.
He added that the voluntary evacuation was precautionary and that he knew of no elevated radiation measurements at U.S. bases that prompted it.
The evacuations could start Friday morning, Navy officials in Japan said.
Quote:
At bases across the country, families wrestled with whether to evacuate, splitting their families during the stressful time.
http://www.stripes.com/polopoly_fs/1...3732511302.jpg
". . .the voluntary evacuation was precautionary and that he knew of no elevated radiation measurements at U.S. bases that prompted it."
Voluntary means self-inflicted. A NEO of choice and not of necessity. What are we strategically communicating to Host Nation when we abandon ship like this?
Seems to me that all U.S. military personnel sponsoring dependents in Japan are affected. Every last one of them now has to explain their personal decision to their spouse rather than just kiss 'em good-bye and tell 'em to quit crying and get on the G. D. bus. And not knowing what the demand is going to be ensures a Charlie Foxtrot at the departure airfields.
Oprah is on AFN Japan.
First military evacuation flight leaves Japan
http://www.stripes.com/first-militar...and+Stripes%29
Quote:
About 233 of the 240 seats on the flight from Yokota to Seattle were filled, according to the Air Force, which said it was able to place all residents who wanted to leave Saturday on the flight.
Quote:
As of 3 p.m. Saturday, 556 people at Yokota have signed up for the flights, according to the base public affairs office. There are expected to be 11 flights between now and March 27 out of Yokota.
Quote:
Misawa base officials couldn’t say by 2 p.m. Saturday how many family members they think will want to fly out of Misawa. They were also still coordinating flights, and were unable to predict when the first planes carrying families would depart.
Misawa AB is the closest USFJ installation to the reactors, and a reasonable candidate IMHO for mandatory NEO.
Quote:
At Naval Air Facility Atsugi, near Tokyo, officials began mustering families with pregnant women, infants and special needs at the base movie theater around 9:30 a.m., only to cancel the muster shortly afterward. Dozens of families had shown up at the theater with their luggage and pets. Officials issued a statement apologizing for the inconvenience, stating that things are very fluid right now.
Base officials were meeting Saturday afternoon to discuss departure times for the first flights.
USAEUR did no NEO for Chernobyl. By the time they knew what had happened everybody had pretty much absorbed their dose, sucked it up and drove on.
Nuclear security after Fukushima
I know this matter slipped from view, but an IISS Strategic Comment is worth a read, partly as it identifies an issue which officialdom would rather keep from public view - nuclear security as illustrated by:
Quote:
It was a missed opportunity that, for reasons of national security, nuclear-security issues were not included in stress tests of 143 reactors ordered by the European Union after Fukushima.
Link:http://www.iiss.org/publications/str...ter-fukushima/
I noted that at the 2011 summit the UK became the 'lead' for one of the nine areas for work 'Protecting sensitive information related to nuclear security (United Kingdom)'. Given the history of HMG over the UK's own nuclear history an excellent choice, as one insider recently commented akin to "There are many decisions made where there are no official records".
Radiation levels in Japan
1) Those interested in recently (?) measured radiation levels (at different distances from the Fukushima reactors in Japan) should see:
#http://www.meti.go.jp/earthquake/nuc...nitor02_01.pdf #
(dose levels measured 1 meter above the ground)
#http://www.meti.go.jp/earthquake/nuc...nitor02_02.pdf
(dose levels measured 1 centimeter above the ground)
Note that the color code is explained near the lower left corner of each display. Radiation levels are expressed in micro-Sieverts per hour. [The 10 micro-sieverts, for example, is the same as 0.01 mSv, etc. And 10 micro-Sievert/hour is the same as 0.24 mSv/day, or 7.2 mSv/month.]
2) How significant are these levels? The effect of penetrating radiation on a person depends on the dose received. The common unit of dose is Sievert (Sv). Smaller doses are expressed in milliseverts (mSv) or microseveret.
A dose of 10 Sv will most likely results in death, within a day or two.
5 Sv would kill about 50% of exposed people.
2 Sv can also be fatal, especially without prompt treatment.
0.25 Sv = 250 mSv is the limit for emergency workers in life-saving operations.
0.10 Sv = 100 mSv dose is clearly linked to later cancer risks.
0.05 Sv = 50 mSv is the yearly limit for radiation workers.
0.004 Sv= 4 mSv typical yearly dose due to natural radiation (cosmic rays, etc).
0.003 Sv= 3 mSV typical dose from mammogram
Ludwik Kowalski (see Wikipedia)
.
Radiation:Fukushima reactors update
Radiation:Fukushima reactors update
The accident phase was enden in Fukushima, as described at:
http://tinyurl.com/8yshwhy
But the process of “decommisioning reactors” is expected to take 40 years.
Ludwik Kowalski
.