Possible Changes for USFK

The Marmot linked to this story in the Honolulu Advertiser that talks about the possible reshuffling of US forces in the Pacific. This is what the article had to say about the Army:

The Army headquarters at Fort Shafter would become a war-fighting command to devise and execute operations rather than to train and provide troops to other commands as it does now. The U.S. four-star general’s post in Korea would be transferred to Hawai’i.

I Corps at Fort Lewis, Wash., would move to Camp Zama, Japan, to forge ties with Japan’s ground force. Japan would organize a similar unit, perhaps called the Central Readiness Command, to prepare and conduct operations with the U.S. Army.

Japanese officials are considering elevating the Self-Defense Agency to a ministry and renaming Japan’s Ground Self-Defense Force as the Japanese Army and the same for the navy and air force. Shedding those postwar names would reflect Japan’s emergence from its pacifist cocoon.

In South Korea, the U.S. plans to disband the Eighth Army that has been there since the Korean War of 1950-53, to relinquish command of South Korean troops to the South Koreans, and to minimize or eliminate the United Nations Command set up during the Korean War.

A smaller tactical command would oversee U.S. forces that remain in South Korea, which would be down to 25,000 from 37,000 in 2008. That may be cut further since Seoul has denied the U.S. the “strategic flexibility” to dispatch U.S. forces from South Korea to contingencies elsewhere.

I have heard about transformation concepts in the Pacific similar to this, but people need to realize that this is just a draft. What you are reading here I doubt will actually happen. It may make great strategic sense but you have to think about the political factors involved in this.

The Koreans are already draggging their feet on the relocation of US forces within Korea due to monetary and local economic issues. These issues have already delayed the Yongsan Garrison move which is something just about every Korean tells you they want but when you get down to making it happen the domestic concerns keeping delaying it from becoming a reality. The Koreans would probably similarly drag their feet on a massive withdrawal of forces and the dismantlement of the 8th Army command here.

Then in Japan how eager is the Japanese public to having more US GI’s in country plus having to change their pacifist constitution to allow the Japanese SDF to become a joint offensive force with the US I Corps. Then imagine the protests from countries in the region if Japan does do away with its pacifist constitution.

Don’t go bet the farm yet on this happening. Some of this may happen but I believe some of it also won’t happen. The article is a lot of speculation and more of a reflection of what Rumsfeld would ideally like to see happen but probably not what is going to happen.