Category: USFK

This chapel replaces one that was over 50 years old:

A new chapel at this base south of Seoul “promises to enhance not only our strengths in worship, but our social connections, resilience and education efforts,” the wing commander said as its doors opened last week. The chapel, three years in construction, replaces its worn-out, demolished predecessor with a sanctuary that seats 306 and room for overflow.

“The previous chapel served Airmen for more than 50 years,” 51st Fighter Wing commander Col. William McKibban said in a statement Friday. “This one promises to deliver and serve Airmen for another 50 years, symbolizing an investment in Osan today for the Airmen of tomorrow, as well as over commitment to providing top-notch support to our service members and their families.”

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

There is a new rotational brigade in South Korea:

The commander of 3rd Cavalry Regiment, Col. Jeffrey Barta, leads a formation during an authority transfer ceremony at Hanson Field House on Camp Casey, South Korea, Feb. 29, 2024. (Luis Garcia/Stars and Stripes)

A Texas-based cavalry regiment took over as the 2nd Infantry Division’s rotational force in South Korea during a ceremony roughly 15 miles from the Demilitarized Zone that divides the Korean Peninsula. The 3rd Cavalry Regiment, of Fort Cavazos, Texas, assumed its new role from 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team in front of about 350 troops gathered Thursday at Hanson Field House on Camp Casey. The Stryker team returns to Fort Carson, Colo., having completed its nine-month deployment.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

Is this just some kind of strange streak of bad luck or are these crashes a symptom of something else?:

Amid an “in-flight emergency,” a U.S. F-16 fighter jet crashed in waters off South Korea’s west coast Wednesday morning, the U.S. Air Force said in a statement, adding that the pilot had “ejected safely” and was transported conscious to a medical facility for assessment. (…..)

This is the second time in less than two months that the U.S. Air Force has experienced incidents with its F-16s. In December, another F-16 fighter jet from the 8th Fighter Wing crashed into the Yellow Sea off South Korea’s southeastern coast, with the pilot also having ejected safely before the crash. At the time, Gaetke ordered a two-day pause on flights for investigation and recovery of the aircraft. It’s unclear if that investigation has concluded.

Last May, another F-16 pilot ejected safely before the aircraft crashed into farmland near Osan Air Base.

TIME

You can read more at the link as well as over at the Stars & Stripes.

Some US Army occupational specialities in South Korea are now going to have the option to take a $5,000 lump sum bonus to extend their tour on the peninsula:

Eighth Army troops in jobs on a critical shortage list may earn up to $5,000 for extending their tours in South Korea for another year. Career specialties on the critical list are eligible for that incentive; jobs deemed “understrength” could be offered $3,600, Eighth Army assistant chief of staff Col. R. Arron Lummer said by email Tuesday.

The critical list includes fire control specialists, rocket system crew members, Black Hawk helicopter mechanics, information technology specialists, satellite communication systems operators, military working dog handlers, preventive medicine specialists, wheeled vehicle mechanics, culinary specialists and AH-64E Apache helicopter pilots. Understrength jobs include combat engineers, joint fire support specialists, air defense enhanced early warning system operators, air traffic controllers, cavalry scouts and utilities equipment repairers. The bonuses are dispersed to eligible soldiers in a lump sum on the first day of their extended yearlong tour in South Korea.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but this is the first time I can remember a large lump sum bonus like this being to keep Soldiers in 8th Army.

This was a good idea by an Air Force spouse:

Sometimes inspiration comes when you least expect it. For Air Force spouse Tenley Brady, it came during a walk in a park.

Brady, from Colorado Springs, Colo., was out with a friend after church for a walk at Osan Air Base, home of the U.S. 7th Air Force, in April when they passed a park near the base commissary. 

The park — a field of grass, a handful of trees, and two benches — is surrounded by a tall, white concrete wall topped by metal fencing.

The thought of bringing a splash of color to the park grew into an 8-month-long volunteer effort to brighten those surroundings. During an interview Dec. 8, Brady, her husband, Lt. Trey Brady, and former Osan community planner Erin Gray explained how the drab park wall became a canvas for a display of Korean culture.

The design shows Ginko trees, cherry blossoms, children playing, and a Buddhist temple atop a hill. It displays the highlights of South Korean culture.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

I did not know that Camp Market had not already been handed over, the facility has been closed for years:

The site of Camp Market, a former U.S. military base, in Bupyeong, about 25 kilometers west of Seoul, is seen in this photo taken Dec. 20, 2023. (Yonhap)

The U.S. military in South Korea fully returned its former base, Camp Market, to the Asian country Wednesday, the defense ministry said, as part of a broad relocation scheme to consolidate its bases across South Korea.

The U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) handed over about 257,000 square meters of land in Camp Market near Seoul to South Korea, four years after returning some 216,000 square meters of land in the base in the first phase.

The agreement was made in a meeting of the South Korea-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement Joint Committee, which governs the legal status of the 28,500 American soldiers stationed in South Korea.

“As the rest of the site of Camp Market, which was used for a bread factory and warehouse, has been returned, the return process of a total of 473,000 square meters of land has been completed,” the defense ministry said in a joint statement with the ministries of foreign affairs, environment and land.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Here is USFK’s latest response to North Korea’s provocations:

The United States flew long-range bombers for joint drills with South Korea and Japan on Wednesday in a show of force against North Korea, days after the North performed its first intercontinental ballistic missile test in five months.

The trilateral training off South Korea’s southern island of Jeju was meant to strengthen the countries’ joint response against North Korean nuclear threats, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

The exercise involved B-1B bombers and South Korean and Japanese fighter jets, the statement said. It said the B-1Bs’ flyover is the 13th time that a U.S. bomber has been temporarily deployed near and over the Korean Peninsula this year.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

Soldiers from Texas are next to deploy to South Korea this winter:

Soldiers from the 3rd Cavalry Regiment fire a 155mm M777 howitzer in support of Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq in June 2019. (Capt. Jason Welch/U.S. Army)

The Army’s 3rd Cavalry Regiment from Fort Cavazos will deploy to South Korea for a planned winter rotation, the Pentagon announced Friday.

The Texas-based unit will replace the 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division from Fort Carson in Colorado.

The 3rd Cavalry Regiment is a combined-arms unit from the III Armored Corps that can act as a reconnaissance and security force or as a Stryker combat team, according to the Army’s website.

The previous two Army rotational deployments to South Korea used Stryker combat teams under a Pentagon policy moving away from tank-heavy armored brigades to mobile units with more infantry that can maneuver quickly.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

It seems like every other year an F-16 crashes into the Yellow Sea, here is the latest example. Fortunately the pilot was recovered safely:

An Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon crashed Monday morning off South Korea’s western coast, according to the 8th Fighter Wing.

The fighter from Kunsan Air Base was flying over the Yellow Sea when it experienced an in-flight emergency at 8:43 a.m., the wing said in a news release Monday.

The pilot ejected and was rescued at sea by the South Korean navy and coast guard, 7th Air Force spokeswoman Maj. Rachel Buitrago told Stars and Stripes by phone Monday.

A South Korean air force helicopter airlifted the pilot to Kunsan, she added.

The pilot is awake and in stable condition, according to the news release.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.