| Third Recon Team | |
|---|---|
| |
| Group Info | |
| Name | Third Recon Team |
| Commander | Yōji Itami |
| Troops | 12 |
| Location | Empire |
| Affiliation | Japan Self-Defense Forces |
| Goal(s) | Exploring the Special Region |
| Status | Active (Change of Command) |
The Third Recon Team (第三偵察団 Dai san teisatsu-dan) is a 12-men+women Japanese Self-Defense Force Special Forces Group unit with 3 light vehicles tasked with civil reconnaissance behind enemy lines within Saderan Empire's territory in the Special Region.
Equipment[]
The Third Recon Team have a total of 12 members and they all carry a variety of weapons from the JSDF Arsenal. Their standard mission load-out consists of 3 vehicles.
They use a Komatsu LAV (Light Armored Vehicle) with a Rotational Armored Gun mount on its roof with an additional armour around the gun mount for extra protection (as used in the JSDF's Iraqi deployments), and a licensed built M2 Browning by Sumitomo mounted on the RAG's pintle.
There's also a Mitsubishi Type 73 light truck (shin) with either the cloth roof covering or mounted with a M249 FN MINIMI licensed built by Sumitomo. The final vehicle is the military version of the Toyota High Mobility Vehicle which also has a cloth roof covering.
The infantry are armed with a Howa Type 64 battle-rifle (occasionally with Type 64 bayonet) and a Nissan/IHI 110mm LAM , a licensed built version of the German Panzerfaust-3.
As for side arms, they also have a licensed Minebea P-9 by Minebea carried in Safariland 6004 Holsters. They are issued with the Type 88 helmet with JGSV-V8 mount (AN/PVS-14) and Type 2 Armour with deployment flags (Japan flag patches on helmet, armor and uniform only occur on active deployments outside of Japan ie. Iraq)
Mirroring the real life JGSDF, the mag pouches and Canteen pouches are Alice pouches with Molle adapters.
Their clothing are described as "Green with brown dots" which is most likely the Type 3 All Season Uniform. Officially though, the recon teams are switching over to type 4 uniforms, which are fictional. Some characters are shown wearing privately purchased Combat shirts and other privately purchased equipment.
| !!!Spoilers!!!: This contains information that can spoil parts of the story not shown yet. |
Members[]
First Lieutenant Yōji Itami, Gender: Male, Age: 33, Team Leader / Team Captain
Sergeant Major Sōichirō Kuwahara, Gender: Male, Age: 50, Second-In-Command
Master Sergeant Tetsuya Nishina, Gender: Male, Age: ?, Rifleman
Sergeant First Class Akira Tomita, Gender: Male, Age: 27, Rifleman
Sergeant First Class Mari Kurokawa, Gender: Female, Age: 23, Combat Medic
Sergeant First Class Shino Kuribayashi, Gender: Female, Age: 24, Close Combat Specialist
Sergeant Takeo Kurata, Gender: Male, Age: 21, Driver
Sergeant Azuma, Gender: Male, Age: ?, Driver, (Could this be Leading Private Higashi's first name?)
Leading Private Tou (see Manga in talk below).
Leading Private Daisuke Tozu, Gender: Male, Age: ?, Rifleman
Leading Private Wataru Katsumoto, Gender: Male, Age: ?, Heavy Weapons Specialist
Leading Private Hayato Sasagawa, Gender: Male, Age: ?, M2HB Gunner
Leading Private Hitoshi Furuta, Gender: Male, Age: ?, Rifleman
Leading Private ?, Higashi ,Gender: Male Age: ?, Driver?
Gallery[]
Notes[]
- It should be noted that the team organization of the JGSDF forces is distinctly different from that of the US military, due to different nations' doctrine. A US military Company-grade Officer (O-1, O-2, O-3) would at the minimum be in charge of a platoon sized element, but in apparently a Company-grade Officer in the JGSDF would be leading a small squad sized element.
- Another reason could be that 3rd Recon is assembled from picked troops with a variety of special skills, most of whom have reenlisted at least once, making it a semi-elite force worthy of a high-ranked leader.
- Said team is comparable to a USMC Force Reconnaissance squad due to their wide range of assignments, skills, and being lead by a Special Forces Commanding Officer.
- The 3rd Recon's organization composed of more NCOs than enlisted maybe due to the fact that the Special Region Task Force is only composed of 3 brigades of infantry, resulting in only highly ranked and experienced individuals to be sent.
- Another reason could be the fact that 3rd Recon is a force recon squad, which would typically have a higher ratio of NCOs to enlisted to increase the skills of the squad. Also, the JGSDF as a whole has a higher ratio of NCOs because of time-in-grade and reenlistment policies.
- It's odd that a Special Forces Officer like Itami is leading a normal squad of infantry, but this again could be contributed to the fact that the Special Region Task Force is small. Or it could be that, though Itami is "S" qualified, SFG commanders don't consider him reliable (good enough to pass, not good enough to serve) compared to his competent counterparts.
- It seems as if Itami is trying his best to work out with the squad, and the squad seems to love him as their commanding officer though sometimes annoyed with his laidback behavior.
- 3rd Recon seems to be much better at the task of "willing hearts and minds" than other JSDF recon teams, interacting with Imperial locals with apparent ease. Sugawara believes 3rd Recon is more "people-friendly" because of the influence of Itami's relaxed leadership style.