Navy and other foreign fleets has helped open the door for women in the JMSDF. The USS Germantown, an amphibious landing ship assigned to the 7 th Fleet in Sasebo, Japan, is currently commanded by a female officer. In 2010, a woman took command of a carrier strike group – the very centerpiece of U.S. Navy ships since 1990, when Battleland contributor Darlene Iskra became skipper of the salvage vessel USS Opportune. Destroyers are relied on for surveillance, anti-submarine warfare and anti-ship missions, as well as detecting and shooting down aircraft and ballistic missiles.įemale officers have commanded U.S. 7 th Fleet, which is home-ported in Yokosuka, Japan. The powerful but low-profile JMSDF is built around fast, multi-purpose destroyers and training is vital to both the Japanese and their American allies. Both warships are used primarily for training purposes, so it’s unlikely they’ll be headed into combat soon.īut the appointments are significant nonetheless. The two female officers, Commander Miho Otani, 41, and Commander Ryoko Azuma, 39, took command of the JS Shimayuki and JS Setoyuki, respectively, on Friday. No shots were fired but the incident produced a formal protest from Japan and demonstrated the increasing volatility of the dispute. A Chinese warship last month locked its fire-control radar on the Japanese destroyer JS Yudachi near the uninhabited islands, called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China. The milestone comes as Japan is locked in a dangerous standoff with China over ownership of islands in the East China Sea. “It’s long overdue, and it’s part of a pattern of increasing responsibility being given to women in the Japan Self Defense Forces,” says Garren Mulloy, an associate professor of international relations at Tokyo’s Daito Bunka University. It’s the first time that women have been given command of frontline warships since Japan’s modern navy was formed seven decades ago.
The Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF) this week appointed female officers to command two naval destroyers. Follow – The next time Chinese sailors lock radar onto a Japanese warship, they may discover they’re aiming at a woman.
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