Tokyo – The U.S. Department of Defense has announced that U.S. forces in Japan will be upgraded to a joint military command led by a three-star general, marking a major step toward strengthening U.S.-Japan defense cooperation in the Indo-Pacific.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is scheduled to announce the changes in Tokyo on Sunday alongside Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara, but defense officials previewing the announcement said some details still needed time to be worked out, such as personnel numbers and needed infrastructure.
The decision to upgrade was made by the Biden administration. April Summit The two leaders, meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, said they would strengthen command and control systems as part of efforts between the two countries to deter a growing Chinese threat.
According to defense officials, the reorganization of U.S. forces in Japan will give the U.S. military primary responsibility for missions such as planning exercises and commanding operations, which have traditionally been conducted primarily in Hawaii, to the U.S. military in Japan. By shifting that responsibility to Japan, the U.S. will have the opportunity to work more closely with the Japanese military.
“We view this as a historic announcement with Japan and the most significant improvement in the U.S.-Japan military relationship in the last 70 years,” the defense official said. “In short, this is a transformative change.”
The move is not an attempt to replicate U.S. Forces Japan, where South Korean and U.S. forces have a unified command structure, but instead will operate in coordination with Japan’s updated joint operational command.
MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images
The Pentagon has been working to implement the changes since the April summit in Washington, D.C., and officials say Adm. Samuel Paparo, who took over as commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command in May 2024, led much of the planning for the proposal.
Defense officials say the announcement is just the beginning of a transition to actually make the changes: There is still work to be done with working groups in Tokyo and with Congress to flesh out exactly what the strengthening of U.S. forces in Japan will look like.
The work is expected to begin in earnest when Austin returns to the United States from a trip this week that first saw him visit Japan and then the Philippines.
