Lieutenant General Shoichi Shibata

Lieutenant General Shibata (b. 1962) graduated from National Defence Academy in 1985.  He has commanded 301th Tank Company (1996-1994), 10th Tank Battalion (199-2000), 37th Infantry Regiment (2007-2209), Test & Evaluation Command (2013-2014), 14th Brigade (2015-2017), and 1st Division (2017-2018) of Japan Ground Self-Defence Force (JGSDF).  He assume his current post as Director General of Ground Systems of ATLA in August 2018.

His experience of disaster relief operation includes serving as the J-3 Staff when Japan Disaster Relief (JDR) was sent to Indonesia early 2005 just after the big earthquake of December 2004, and Deputy Chief of Staff, Joint Task Force HQ, when The Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami hit the northeast region in March 2011.  His military education includes Technical Advanced Course of JGSDF Staff College (1995-1996) and General Course of Joint Staff College (2003-2004).  He obtained a Ph.D. in Materials Science from Tokyo Institute of Technology.