Defense & Security

Report: Fatal Accident Resulted from Japan GSDF Personnel Not Fully Aware of Grenade Dangers; GSDF to Revise Safety Manual to Prevent Recurrence

Yomiuri Shimbun file photo
The Kitafuji Exercise Area of the Ground Self-Defense Force in Yamanashi Prefecture is seen in May.

The Yomiuri Shimbun

20:00 JST, July 20, 2024

The reason for the fatal accident during a grenade-throwing training at the Kitafuji Exercise Area of the Ground Self-Defense Force in Yamanashi Prefecture in May was that GSDF personnel at the site were not fully aware of the dangers of grenades, according to a report released Thursday by the GSDF’s accident investigation commission.

The accident occurred on May 30, and a 29-year-old sergeant died. He was promoted to sergeant first class after his death.

After another GSDF member threw a grenade at a target about 30 meters away from behind a U-shaped protective wall, which was about 1.1 meters high, a piece of the grenade hit the sergeant’s neck after it exploded. The sergeant was giving commands while standing near the other GSDF member.

The report concluded that the sergeant was not aware of proper safety procedures or the trajectory the grenade would take after it exploded, and the commanding officer did not give them proper instructions.

According to the report, the sergeant was crouching about 2.8 meters back behind the protective wall and kept his head lower than the wall. Some of the grenade pieces flew in a parabolic trajectory over the wall and hit his neck, about 80 centimeters from the ground.

The report states the sergeant did not realize that participants would also be in danger of being injured by grenade fragments and that he was not in a well-protected position by not leaning against the wall.

Since the commanding officer and other members who were nearby also did not seem to understand basic safety protocols, they failed to provide proper instructions.

The member who threw the grenade was about 1.3 meters from the protective wall and was unharmed.

The GSDF manual includes safety protocols for using a grenade and states that members should “lean against a protective wall and get down low as quickly as possible.”

To prevent a recurrence of similar accidents, the GSDF will revise the manual to make it easier to understand and ensure the safety procedures are thoroughly put into practice. The GSDF will also have participants watch a video before training to throw a grenade.