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Flying in the Japanese Navy; Ozuki, November 8, 2019

Japan Maritime Self Defense Force, part 1; Text and Photograph's by Alex van Noye

The Japanese navy and the associated naval aviation service is one of the largest organizations of the Japanese armed forces. The units of the aviation service operate from the Japanese naval airfields and from the Japanese navy ships. Every pilot from the aviation service starts his career at Ozuki during the training.

One of the largest aviation departments of the Japanese government is the Marine Aviation Service of the Japanese Navy (Japan Maritime Self Defense Force) (JMSDF). The aviation branch of the Japanese navy contains all aircraft and helicopters that are used in the navy of Japan. The aviation service is a completely independent part within the JMSDF and has a very long history. The Japanese Navy Aviation Service (Koukuushuudan) is the marine aviation branch of the JMSDF. The head quarter of the aviation service is located at Naval Air Facility Atsugi. The headquarters is responsible for both fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters. From 2012 the service was equipped with more than 200 aircraft and more than 150 helicopters. These planes and helicopters operate from airfields throughout Japan and from the ships of the JMSDF. The current JMSDF is a modern variant of the Imperial Japanese Navy, which gained considerable fame especially in the Second World War. Although Japan was the aggressor during this period, the navy of this country played a major role in the course of the war. There was also a great deal of awe on the American side for the Japanese maritime apparatus of that time. After the Second World War, there was not much left of the JMSDF naval aviation service. Only on July 1, 1954 was the Japanese Navy re-established in its current form. Japan had been given a number of offensive restrictions by the Americans due to the course of the Second World War. Because of this, the navy could only act as a defensive organization for the protection of the Japanese country. The Japanese naval aviation service was re-established in its current form on September 1, 1961.

The career of every JMSDF naval pilot starts at Ozuki Air Station in southern Japan. This small airbase is located near the city of Shimonoseki City in the Yamaguchi prefecture. The basic training for all Japanese navy pilots takes place on Ozuki. It does not matter whether the future pilots will fly with planes or helicopters. All students will

receive their basic training here. The new pilots for the coast guard aircraft also receive their basic training at this air base. Ozuki is an airport that was first used from June 1937. The airport was used during the Second World War to house a Japanese air defense unit. After the war, various American and New Zealand units would be based on Ozuki. Only from September 1950, the airfield was transferred again from the Americans to the Japanese government, which immediately stationed a small police unit at the airfield. The Japan Ground Self Defense Force would be the first military force to be based on this airbase after the Second World War. In 1956, the airport was also owned by the Japan Air Self Defense Force for several years before it became part of the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force on July 25, 1964. From 1965, the Educational Aviation Group was based on the airfield of Ozuki for the first time. The establishment of this unit heralded the training task for Ozuki. Soon the 201st Air Corps based on Kanoya was based on Ozuki.

Nowadays, Ozuki is a modern maritime base of the Japanese navy. Only one unit is stationed at this airbase, namely the Ozuki Education Aviation Group which is made up of five components. The first three components are all facility components for the base. These components are: the 201st Maintenance Supply Corps for maintenance of aircraft and facilities, the Ozuki Air Base Corps that provides services to the airbase and finally the Ozuki Police detachment that ensures safety and order. The fourth part is immediately the place where all candidate pilots start their training, namely the Education Air Corps. This unit is responsible for the basic education for flight operations that is given in classical classrooms. The candidates who will start their pilot training here, first completed the National Defense Academy. The theoretical part of the training consists of a period of twelve weeks. The fifth part at Ozuki Air Station is the 201st Educational Air Corps. This unit is the only flying unit present at Ozuki Air Station. In this unit, students, who have successfully completed the theory lessons, will be trained to fly. The unit is limited to the elemental aspects of military flying. The training at this unit will take approximately 50 weeks before the pilots are ready to go to the advanced flight training. For the basic pilot training, the 201st Air Corps has the Fuji T-5 in use. The unit has nowadays still 36 of these aircraft in use.

The Fuji T-5 is a light single-engine propeller aircraft that is produced by Fuji Heavy Industries that is currently part of Subaru. A total of 54 aircraft of this type were built by the manufacturer, all of which were supplied for the JMSDF. The aircraft was when it was introduced in the early 90s the successor of the KM-2 in the Japanese navy. The aircraft was for the first time deployed at the 201st Educational Air Corps on March 22, 1989. In the T-5, the student and the trainer sit side by side in the cockpit. This concept was chosen very deliberately, because both in Japanese maritime helicopters and in patrol aircraft, the JMSDF pilots sit side by side. In this way the students can immediately get used to the configuration of most Japanese maritime aircraft. This configuration is then also the reason that the T-3 and the T-7 were not chosen, as is the case with the JASDF where the pilots sit behind each other. The nickname of the 201st Education Air Corps is "Rookie Flight", which refers to the inexperience of the students. Once the pilots have passed their basic training on the T-5, they will continue on the specialized training courses of the JMSDF. The candidates who continue on the planes will go to 202nd Education Air Corps at Tokushima Air Station to train with the TC-90 and later to the 203rd Education Air Corps at Shimousa Air Station to train there at the P-3C Orion. The pilots who continue on the helicopter type will go to Kanoya Air Station where they will train at the 211th Education Air Corps on the TH-135 helicopter. Their training at Ozuki ends after completing their initial training.




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