Military police share tactics in Japan

Managing internment and detention operations, riot control and forensic investigations are some of the military police (MP) capabilities personnel trained for on Exercise Orient Shield.

Personnel from the 1 Div, the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) and the United States Army shared techniques and procedures on the annual exercise, which included an MP component this year.

Deployed to Camp Higashi-Chitose, Japan, as an observer, Lt Sean Payne said Orient Shield reinforced the importance of the relationship between the three countries.

“Training with our military police counterparts enhances our understanding of each other’s techniques and tactics to ensure we maintain the best practices and enable better integration in the future,” Lt Payne said.

Military police officers cover a much broader range of tasks than their civilian policing counterparts.

“We have worked through some traditional policing problems, such as self-defence techniques and forensic investigation, but also things specific to military policing, such as internment and detention operations,” Lt Payne said.

“It’s been great to watch how the JGSDF and US Army have approached each task, picking up different techniques and learning from each other.”

Although operating in an observer role, Lt Payne provided input on how Australian MPs would handle scenarios presented.

“Being able to train and test our methods, comparing them against the JGSDF and the US, has helped broaden my understanding of the different techniques we can use to achieve the mission,” he said.