Category: USFK

No reductions in the U.S. troop presence in South Korea will be coming in the latest budget proposal:

Soldiers from the 2nd Infantry Division stand in formation during a rehearsal on Robertson Field at Camp Humphreys, South Korea, May 15, 2023. (Frank Spatt/U.S. Army)

U.S. troop levels in South Korea will remain the same under an annual budget proposal submitted to Congress by the House and Senate Armed Services Committees on Thursday.

Committee lawmakers from both chambers released their negotiated copy of the National Defense Authorization Act allocating $886 billion to fund the Defense Department through the next fiscal year.

Under the proposal, the roughly 28,500 U.S. troops deployed to South Korea will be maintained to affirm “the United States commitment to extended deterrence using the full range of … defense capabilities.”

Most of those troops are stationed at Camp Humphreys, the largest U.S. military base overseas, roughly 40 miles south of Seoul. It’s home to around 35,000 service members and DOD civilians and serves as headquarters for U.S. Forces Korea, Eighth Army, the 2nd Infantry Division and the Combined Forces Command.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

If war was to break out on the peninsula being able to deal with chemical, biological, and nuclear threats will be important skills for Soldiers to master:

The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command has released photos of a U.S. Army chemical corps company conducting joint drills with South Korean forces near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) amid heightened tension along the border with North Korea. 

American soldiers from the 59th Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear Company have been training together with U.S. Forces Korea and South Korean troops near the DMZ to bolster the combined defense posture, the command said in a post Wednesday (local time), without specifying the schedule.

The New York-based company has been on a nine-month rotational deployment in Camp Casey in Dongducheon, 41 km north of Seoul, since July in support of the 2nd Infantry Division and Eighth Army stationed in South Korea. The company attended the Ulchi Freedom Shield, an annual joint military exercise held by South Korea and U.S. forces in August. 

The training focused on reconnaissance and decontamination missions as well as countering weapons of mass destruction, and chemical, biological and nuclear hazards, according to the command.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but by the way has anyone ever seen MOPP suits like the ones shown in the picture? They must be a new model becasue I have never seen ones like that before.

With the amount of people that continue move into and drive in the area around Rodriguez Range these safety incidents are going to continue. However, with that said there really is no where else to go to conduct live fire training on the scale Rodriguez Range provides:

The command responsible for U.S. ground operations in South Korea has taken responsibility for a stray bullet that struck a moving car last week, according to Pocheon city officials.

Eighth Army, headquartered at Camp Humphreys south of the capital, “sincerely [feels] responsible for this accident,” Lt. Gen. Willard Burleson said during a meeting with Pocheon officials Wednesday, according to a news release from the city the next day.

Burleson said the command plans to “permanently close” the firing lane where the accident occurred and relocate training to a safer area, according to the release.

The Oct. 24 incident occurred less than a mile from the 3,390-acre Rodriguez Live Fire Complex, where U.S. and South Korean troops train 16 miles from the Demilitarized Zone.

The windshield of an SUV driven by a South Korean man was struck at 6:30 a.m. by a 5.56 mm bullet, according to Pocheon police. The driver was not injured.

The incident is still under investigation; however, a preliminary analysis “identified an issue with one of the firing lanes,” Eighth Army public affairs director Lt. Col. Juan Martinez wrote in a statement emailed Friday.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link and fortunately the man driving the car was not injured by this errant round.

What ever happened with his family must have been pretty bad to give up command after only 5 months:

The head of the 8th Fighter Wing at Kunsan Air Base will relinquish command due to personal reasons after less than half a year on the job.

Col. Timothy Murphy will retire “earlier than planned” on Feb. 1 “solely due to family reasons,” said a news release from 7th Air Force at Osan Air Base, roughly 75 miles north of Kunsan.

Murphy took charge of the wing on May 25. He previously served as vice commander of the 35th Fighter Wing at Misawa Air Base, Japan. 

“I did not make this decision lightly, but know it is the best choice for the well-being of my family and the 8th Fighter Wing,” he said in the release. “I want to thank the Wolf Pack community for respecting our privacy and being so understanding as we transition to retirement.”

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

The cooperation between the U.S., the ROK, and Japan continues to expand:

South Korea, the United States and Japan plan to conduct a joint aerial exercise for the first time near the Korean Peninsula next week, a source said Wednesday, amid efforts to bolster three-way security cooperation against North Korean threats.

The trilateral aerial exercise is scheduled for Sunday over the Korean Peninsula, involving the U.S. strategic bomber B-52 currently deployed to South Korea.

“The joint aerial exercise involving South Korean, U.S. and Japanese Air Forces will consist of a formation flight with the B-52 escorted fighter jets from the three countries,” a source familiar with the matter said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Look who they finally successfull got back in to the U.S.:

Video appears to show the American soldier who sprinted into North Korea across the heavily fortified border between the Koreas more than two months ago arriving back in the U.S. 

The White House said Wednesday that Pvt. Travis King’s return was organized with the help of ally Sweden and rival China. North Korea said it would expel King earlier the same day. King appeared to walk off a plane in San Antonio, Texas, early Thursday. King ran into the North while on a civilian tour of a border village on July 18. He had served in South Korea.

The American soldier who sprinted into North Korea across the heavily fortified border between the Koreas more than two months ago arrived back in the U.S. early Thursday, video appeared to show. (……)

Video aired Thursday by a Texas news station appeared to show King walking off a plane in San Antonio. Dressed in a dark top and pants, he could be seen speaking briefly with people waiting on the tarmac. He shook hands with one before being led into a building.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link and watch the video of King arriving at the San Antonio airport at this link.

It seems even the North Koreans got tired of dealing with this idiot considering they deported him witouth any concessions:

 An American soldier who crossed the inter-Korean border into North Korea in July is in U.S. custody after his release by the reclusive regime, senior U.S. administration officials said Wednesday, capping an intense diplomatic operation facilitated by Sweden and China.

Speaking in a press briefing, the officials said Pvt. Travis King has been transferred out of North Korea across the border with China, and that he appears to be “in good health and good spirits” ahead of his return home.

The announcement on his release came shortly after the North’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Pyongyang decided to “expel” him following a probe, during which the outlet said he confessed to having “illegally intruded” into the North’s territory.

Yonhap

Here is what Private King supposeldy had to say while in North Korean custody:

Hours earlier, KCNA said North Korean authorities conducted an investigation, where he said he had “ill feelings” about the U.S. military and society.

“Travis King confessed that he illegally intruded into the territory of the DPRK as he harbored ill feeling against inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination within the U.S. army and was disillusioned about the unequal U.S. society,” KCNA said in its English-language report. “The relevant organ of the DPRK decided to expel Travis King.

You can read more at the link, but it will be interesting to see what additional charges this idiot will face for his latest stupidity. Hopefully USFK gets him out of the country as soon as possible before he creates more problems and this time have someone escort and fly with him the entire way back to the U.S.

U.S. Navy assets recently completed a trilateral naval exercise in the Yellow Sea:

The amphibious assault ship USS America, center, the South Korean guided-missile frigate ROKS Seoul, left, and the Canadian frigate HMCS Vancouver train together in the Yellow Sea, Thursday, Sept. 14, 2023. (South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense)

Warships from the United States, South Korea and Canada drilled Thursday in response to continuing tension with North Korea, and ahead of the reenactment of a pivotal Korean War landing. 

The amphibious assault ship USS America, homeported at Sasebo Naval Base, Japan, joined the South Korean guided-missile frigate ROKS Seoul and Canadian frigate HMCS Vancouver on Thursday in the Yellow Sea, according to a news release that day from South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense.

The warships drilled on tactical maneuvers and helicopter operations, the release said.

“This exercise served as momentum to further improve our reaction posture and ability to deal with North Korea’s threats through the combined multilateral naval exercises by [South Korea], the U.S. and Canadian naval forces,” South Korean navy Cmdr. Kim Hyunseok said in the release.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

This is actually a pretty good article to read about skills the 10 armistice nations brought to assist USFK during the recently concluded UFS exercise. However, I think a gender advisor is probably not as useful as some of the other skills provided by participating nations:

British Royal Air Force Cpl. Sion Owen (left), New Zealand Royal Air Force Flt Lt. Natacha Baugen (center) and Australian Army Maj. Lyndsay Freeman speak during an interview on Aug. 30 at the headquarters of the UN Command located within Camp Humphreys, the US base in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province. (Korea Herald/ Pool Photo)

South Korea and the US, concluded on Thursday. UFS is primarily designed to enhance the combined defense posture and readiness of the allies by simulating real-life scenarios that reflect the increasing missile and nuclear threats posed by North Korea and other diverse threats within the security environment.

During the Korean War, there were 16 Sending States — countries that fought alongside the US-led UN Command and shed blood with South Korea — and six other countries that provided vital medical assistance, including medical personnel and essential medications. Among them, 17 countries have remained as UN Command member states.

Among the member states, 10 countries — Australia, Canada, France, Great Britain, Greece, Italy, New Zealand, the Philippines, Thailand and the US — dispatched augmentees from their respective countries to participate in UFS. Augmentees are military personnel dispatched from home and assigned to a unit to participate in UFS.

The 10 member states — each of which deployed soldiers during the Korean War — sent individuals from diverse backgrounds and experts representing various fields, including law and gender equality. They were all united by the common mission of contributing to the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula. (….)

Australian Army Maj. Lyndsay Freeman also made significant contributions as an operational gender adviser, pioneering this vital role first introduced during UFS.

Freeman’s primary focus was to ensure that military actions underwent a meticulous assessment to prevent any unintended adverse effects on women and the broader civilian population on the ground — a perspective that might not always be immediately apparent to military leadership during the formulation of strategies and operational plans.

“So my job is to unpack the second-and third-order effects on the entire population.”

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.