2009 by Yasukazu Hamada that the SBU would possibly be deployed for its first mission to Somalia to engage in anti-piracy operations. The SBU was involved in anti-pirate exercises with the Samidare and the Sazanami at Bungo Channel between Shikoku and Kyushu on February 11, 2019. SBU operators had left Japan on March 14, 2009, deployed on board the Murasame-class destroyer JDS DD-106 Samidare and the Takanami-class destroyer JDS DD-113 Sazanami. The SBU would be deployed in operations with SH-60K helicopters. The deployment was made under Article 82 of the SDF Law. Prior to the SBU's overseas deployment to Somalia, the unit had practiced alongside Japan Coast Guard units in simulating a raid on a pirate vessel played by JCG officers without any warning shots fired by SBU operators off the coast of Kure, Hiroshima with a total of 250 people participating, 60 from the JCG. In the Somalian deployment, SBU forces don't have the power to detain suspected pirates, so JCG officers would be responsible for making arrests. In 2012, restrictions for female JMSDF personnel to join the SBU were lifted. As of 2021, no female sailor has passed SBU requirements to enlist. The SBU was deployed in 2016 at the 42nd G7 summit, providing security alongside the Special Assault Team. In 2017, they were deployed under the Combined Maritime Forces mandate from the JS Teruzuki. During that time, the SBU responded to a boat that was drifting in the Gulf of Aden. SBU operators participated with the Commandos Marine in maritime exercises in August 2019. The unit participated in the Malabar 2021 military exercises with United States Naval Special Warfare Command and MARCOS commandos. Controversy Controversy had developed from the SBU when a Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Forces cadet had died during a supposed training exercise prior to admission to the unit when it was reported in October 2008. The incident consisted of 15 levels of unarmed combat training. The JMSDF has refused to provide more details on the incident, calling them classified material. However, a special committee was established to determine whether the cadet's death was either under murder or an accident. Investigators of the Criminal Investigation Command had assessed the incident. Reports on the incident have classified the events as a case of bullying by senior JMSDF sailors against junior sailors. But the committee had suggested that the deceased cadet was killed accidentally after receiving a right