The is a

counter terrorism Counterterrorism (also spelled counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, incorporates the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that Government, governments, law enforcement, business, and Intelligence agency, intellig ...

tactical unit of the

Japan Coast Guard The is the coast guard of Japan. The Japan Coast Guard consists of about 13,700 personnel and is responsible for the protection of the coastline of Japan under the oversight of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. Th ...

, based at the . The

acronym An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...

of its Kanji name has already been used by other units, the abbreviation "SST" is used for this team.

Background

In 1985, the Maritime Safety Agency established the to protect the maritime side of the

Kansai International Airport Kansai International Airport ( ja, 関西国際空港, Kansai Kokusai Kūkō) commonly known as is the primary international airport in the Greater Osaka Area of Japan and the closest international airport to the cities of Osaka, Kyoto, and ...

cooperating with the land-side

Riot Police Unit are the rapid reaction forces of Japanese prefectural police. These units are not only riot police, but a type of emergency service unit to maintain public order against large civil disorder, disaster response, or other emergency situations ...

of the

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

Prefectural Police. At the beginning of the establishment there were only 8 members. But due to the airport construction, the unit's manpower was increased to have 24 operators. In 1990, due to the plutonium transport mission, the number of members was increased to 37 and the equipment was updated. A detachment corp for the escort mission was organized and called , but after the mission ended it joined again with Kaikei-tai. In 1996, it was renamed to its current unit name.

Organization

Operators of the Special Security Team of the JCG

Structure

Although detailed organization is not disclosed, it is said that under command of the

team leader A team leader is a person who provides guidance, instruction, direction and leadership to a group of individuals (the team) for the purpose of achieving a key result or group of aligned results. Team leaders serves as the steering wheel for a group ...

, seven

section Section, Sectioning or Sectioned may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Section (music), a complete, but not independent, musical idea * Section (typography), a subdivision, especially of a chapter, in books and documents ** Section sig ...

s consisting of eight operators are organized. Specialists such as EOD and EMT are assigned for each sections. SST is based at the , adjacent to the Kansai International Airport, and able to be deployed nationwide by

Saab 340 The Saab 340 is a Swedish twin-engine turboprop aircraft designed and initially produced by Saab AB and Fairchild Aircraft. It is designed to seat 30-36 passengers and, as of July 2018, there were 240 operational aircraft used by 34 different o ...

B and

Eurocopter EC225 Super Puma The Airbus Helicopters H225 (previously Eurocopter EC225 Super Puma) is a long-range passenger transport helicopter developed by Eurocopter as the next generation of the civilian Super Puma family. It is a twin-engined aircraft and can carry up ...

of the Japan Coast Guard.

Recruitment and training

Members at the time of the establishment of Kaikei-tai were mainly scouted from Tokkei-tai. After establishing the structure as SST, it is recruiting personnel from the entire Japan Coast Guard. Because it was the first counter-terrorism unit for MSA, Kaikei-tai faced considerable difficulties. However basic

close quarters combat Close-quarters combat (CQC) or close-quarters battle (CQB) is a tactical situation that involves a physical fight with firearms involved between multiple combatants at short range. It can occur between military units, police/corrections officer ...

and

marksman A marksman is a person who is skilled in precision shooting using projectile weapons (in modern days most commonly an accurized scoped long gun such as designated marksman rifle or a sniper rifle) to shoot at high-value targets at longer-than- ...

techniques were acquired in the GSDF Ranger Course at Fuji School, maritime counter-terrorism operations was an unknown field even for Rangers, so the MSA officers had no choice but to conduct

trial and error Trial and error is a fundamental method of problem-solving characterized by repeated, varied attempts which are continued until success, or until the practicer stops trying. According to W.H. Thorpe, the term was devised by C. Lloyd Morgan (18 ...

by themselves about how to apply those techniques in maritime operations. In 1991, Kaikei-tai got an opportunity to invite combat advisers from the United States Navy SEALs under the financial support of the Sasakawa Foundation and with their instructions, its techniques and tactics were improved to international standards.

Equipment

At the beginning, Kaikei-tai used 4-inch model of

Smith & Wesson Model 19 The Smith & Wesson Model 19 is a revolver produced by Smith & Wesson that was introduced in 1957 on its K-frame. The Model 19 is chambered for .357 Magnum. The K-frame is somewhat smaller and lighter than the original N-frame .357, usually known a ...

revolvers as its main sidearms. In 1987,

Howa Type 64 The , is a Japanese battle rifle used exclusively by the Japan Self-Defense Forces and the Japanese Coast Guard. It is a gas-operated, selective fire weapon which is chambered for the 7.62×51mm NATO round and uses a detachable 20-round box ...

designated marksman rifle A designated marksman rifle (DMR) is a modern scoped high-precision rifle used by infantrymen in the designated marksman (DM) role. It generally fills the engagement range gap between a service rifle and a dedicated sniper rifle, at aroun ...

s and Howa M1500 sniper rifles were added to its equipment. In 1988,

Heckler & Koch MP5 The Heckler & Koch MP5 (german: Maschinenpistole 5) is a 9x19mm Parabellum submachine gun, developed in the 1960s by a team of engineers from the German small arms manufacturer Heckler & Koch. There are over 100 variants and clones of the MP5, ...

A5/SD6 submachine guns were adopted. American advisers, while admiring the shooting skills of the MSA officers, pointed out that these revolvers were fundamentally lacking in firepower, so pistols were updated to

SIG Sauer P228 Sig used as a name may refer to: *Sig (given name) * Sig, Algeria, a city on the banks of the Sig River *Sig Alert, an alert for traffic congestion in California, named after Loyd Sigmon * Sig River, a river of Algeria also known as Mekerra sig ( ...

by 1992, and

Howa Type 89 The , referred to as the , is a Japanese assault rifle used by the Japan Self-Defense Forces, the Japan Coast Guard's Special Security Team units, and the Special Assault Team. It has never been exported outside Japan due to its strict Japanes ...

assault rifles were also introduced. And it also has

anti-materiel rifle An anti-materiel rifle (AMR) is a rifle designed for use against military equipment, structures, and other hardware (materiel). Anti-materiel rifles are chambered in significantly larger calibers than conventional rifles and are employed to elimi ...

s manufactured by the McMillan Firearms.

Operational history

In 1989, Kaikei-tai operatives were involved in storming a Panama-registered vessel after receiving requests via radio for assistance in the East China Sea near Okinawan waters after British officers were attacked by Filipino crewmembers during a riot. All of the arrested crew members were then taken into custody. In 1992, the Keijou-tai was deployed on board to guard ships carrying nuclear waste from France all the way to Japan, protecting them from any sort of staged attacks from any radical anti-nuclear activist groups. In 1999, patrol vessel ''Mizuho'' was dispatched to

East Timor East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-west ...

for non-combatant evacuation operation, and at this time, there is information that two sections of SST were on board to ensure the security of port facilities. The SST has participated in several

Proliferation Security Initiative The Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) is a global effort that aims to stop trafficking of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), their delivery systems, and related materials to and from states and non-state actors of proliferation concern. L ...

exercises recently in Australia. The SST was also responsible for apprehending

Sea Shepherd The sea, connected as the world ocean or simply the ocean, is the body of salty water that covers approximately 71% of the Earth's surface. The word sea is also used to denote second-order sections of the sea, such as the Mediterranean Sea, ...

protesters in 2008 after they were confronted by crewmembers of the

Nisshin Maru The is the primary vessel of the Japanese whaling fleet and is the world's only whaler factory ship. It was the research base ship for the Institute of Cetacean Research for 2002 to 2007. It has a tonnage of and is the largest member and flagshi ...

Notes

References

Books

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Articles

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External links

Unofficial SST information page
{{Japanese Special forces Japan Coast Guard Non-military counterterrorist organizations