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Japan Recruitment and Conditions of Service
The total strength of the three branches of the SDF was
246,400
in 1992. In addition, the SDF maintained a total of 48,400
reservists attached to the three services. Even when
Japan's active
and reserve components are combined, however, the country
maintains
a lower ratio of military personnel to its population than
does any
member nation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO). Of
the major Asian nations, only India and Indonesia keep a
lower
ratio of personnel in arms.
The SDF is an all-volunteer force. Conscription per se
is not
forbidden by law, but many citizens consider Article 18 of
the
constitution, which proscribes involuntary servitude
except as
punishment for a crime, as a legal prohibition of any form
of
conscription. Even in the absence of so strict an
interpretation,
however, a military draft appears politically impossible.
SDF uniformed personnel are recruited as private, E-1,
seaman
recruit, and airman basic for a fixed term. Ground forces
recruits
normally enlist for two years; those seeking training in
technical
specialties enlist for three. Naval and air recruits
normally
enlist for three years. Officer candidates, students in
the
National Defense Academy and National Defense Medical
College, and
candidate enlist students in technical schools are
enrolled for an
indefinite period. The National Defense Academy and
enlisted
technical schools usually require an enrollment of four
years, and
the National Defense Medical College require six years.
When the SDF was originally formed, women were
recruited
exclusively for the nursing services. Opportunities were
expanded
somewhat when women were permitted to join the GSDF
communication
service in 1967 and the MSDF and ASDF communication
services in
1974. By 1991 more than 6,000 women were in the SDF, about
80
percent of service areas, except those requiring direct
exposure to
combat, were open to them. The National Defense Medical
College
graduated its first class with women in March 1991, and
the
National Defense Academy began admitting women in FY 1992.
In the face of some continued post-World War II public
apathy
or antipathy toward the armed services, the SDF has
difficulties in
recruiting personnel. The SDF has to compete for qualified
personnel with well-paying industries, and most enlistees
are
"persuaded" volunteers who sign up after solicitation from
recruiters. Predominantly rural prefectures supply
military
enlistees far beyond the proportions of their populations.
In areas
such as southern Kyushu and Hokkaido, where employment
opportunities are limited, recruiters are welcomed and
supported by
the citizens. In contrast, little success or cooperation
is
encountered in urban centers such as Tokyo and Osaka.
Because the forces are all volunteer and legally
civilian,
members can resign at any time, and retention is a
problem. Many
enlistees are lured away by the prospects of highly paying
civilian
jobs, and Defense Agency officials complain of private
industries
looting their personnel. The agency attempts to stop these
practices by threats of sanctions for offending firms that
hold
defense contracts and by private agreements with major
industrial
firms. Given the nation's labor shortage, however, the
problem is
likely to continue.
Some older officers consider the members of the modern
forces
unequal to personnel of the former Imperial Army and
Imperial Navy,
but the SDF are generally regarded as professional and
able.
Compared with their counterparts in other nations, members
of the
SDF are remarkably well educated and in good physical
condition.
Literacy is universal, and school training was extensive.
Personnel
are trained in the martial arts, judo, and kendo,
and
physical standards are strict. The SDF probably does not
attract
the same high level of personnel as other institutions in
Japan.
Graduates of the top universities rarely enter the armed
forces,
and applicants to the National Defense Academy are
generally
considered to be on the level of those who apply to
second-rank
local universities.
General conditions of military life are not such that a
career
in the SDF seems an attractive alternative to one in
private
industry or the bureaucracy. The conditions of service
provide less
dignity, prestige, and comfort than they had before World
War II,
and for most members of the defense establishment,
military life
offers less status than did a civilian occupation. Those
people who
enter the SDF are often unfairly perceived by the
citizenry as
unable to find a better job.
As special civil servants, SDF personnel are paid
according to
civilian pay scales that do not always distinguish rank.
At times,
SDF salaries are greater for subordinates than for
commanding
officers; senior NCOs with long service can earn more than
newly
promoted colonels. Pay raises are not included in Defense
Agency
budgets and can not be established by military planners.
Retirement
ages for officers below flag rank range from fifty-three
to fiftyfive years, and from fifty to fifty-three for enlisted
personnel.
Limits are sometimes extended because of personnel
shortages. In
the late 1980s, the Defense Agency, concerned about the
difficulty
of finding appropriate postretirement employment for these
early
retirees, began providing vocational training for enlisted
personnel about to retire and transferring them to units
close to
the place where they intend to retire. Beginning in
October 1987,
the Self-Defense Forces Job Placement Association provided
free job
placement and reemployment support for retired SDF
personnel.
Retirees also receive pensions immediately upon
retirement, some
ten years earlier than most civil service personnel.
Financing the
retirement system promises to be a problem of increasing
scope in
the 1990s, with the aging of the population.
SDF personnel benefits are not comparable to such
benefits for
active-duty military personnel in other major
industrialized
nations. Health care is provided at the SDF Central
Hospital,
fourteen regional hospitals, and 165 clinics in military
facilities
and on board ship, but the health care only covers
physical
examinations and the treatment of illness and injury
suffered in
the course of duty. There are no commissary or exchange
privileges.
Housing is often substandard, and military appropriations
for
facilities maintenance often focus on appeasing civilian
communities near bases rather than on improving on-base
facilities.
Data as of January 1994
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