During his 35-year career with the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF), retired Lt. Gen. Koichi Isobe served as a helicopter pilot and held senior command and staff positions, including chief of the Defense Policy and Programs Department at the Ground Staff Office, deputy commander of the Central Readiness Force, director of defense programs at the Joint Staff Office, commander of the 7th Armored Division, and vice chairman of the Joint Staff Office. He retired in 2015 as commanding general of the JGDSF Eastern Army, which is tasked with defending the Kantō region, including Tokyo.

Isobe is an advisor in domestic and international security for Japan-based organizations including Kawasaki Heavy Industries and the Network for Security Business and Technology, as well as a director of the Japan Association for International Security. A 1980 graduate of Japan’s National Defense Academy, he is a lecturer at the Defense Ministry’s Joint Staff College, where he focuses on joint operations, the Japan-United States alliance and strategic studies. Since 2019, he has been a JGSDF advisor for the Australia-Japan-U.S. command post exercise Yama Sakura, and he was a senior research fellow at the Harvard University Asia Center from 2017-19 and at the Asia Pacific Initiative from 2017-21.

He has a master’s degree in military studies from the U.S. Marine Corps University and a master’s in national resource strategy from the U.S. National Defense University. He is the author of many articles and books, including “On the Frontlines of Operation Tomodachi: Japan-U.S. Coordination During Crisis,” which received the Japan Society for Defense Studies’ Inoki Masamichi Special Award in 2019.

Isobe spoke with FORUM about initiatives among the Japan Self-Defense Forces and its Allies and Partners, including Australia and the U.S., to enhance interoperability and integrate command and control (C2) capabilities. “Japan can directly contribute to regional stability by firmly protecting the strategically important Japanese archipelago,” he said.

The conversation has been edited to fit FORUM’s format.

FORUM: What advances in joint C2 integration are essential for Australia, Japan and the U.S. to operate effectively in a fast-moving contingency?

Lt. Gen. Isobe: Before........

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