Category: USFK

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.

Aircraft noise has returned to Kunsan Airbase:

Military flights at Kunsan Air Base resumed Thursday following a five-month reconstruction of the installation’s 9,000-foot runway.

The $22 million project began in April and required the 8th Fighter Wing’s roughly 30 F-16 Fighting Falcons to temporarily relocate 75 miles north to Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek city, according to a news release from the wing on Thursday.

Kunsan’s F-16s returned to their home base Wednesday after the flightline was checked for debris the previous day by the wing and the South Korean air force’s 38th Fighter Group.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

That is a lot of firepower on display during this exercise:

U.S. warplanes conduct a training exercise in this photo captured from the Facebook account of the U.S. 7th Air Force. (Yonhap)

The U.S. military in South Korea conducted air force training involving dozens of warplanes, including F-16 fighter jets and U-2 high altitude reconnaissance aircraft, earlier this month, the U.S. 7th Air Force has said. 

The training “underlines our commitment to the defense of the Republic of Korea,” and it demonstrated “our ability to rapidly generate combat air power,” the U.S. military said in a Facebook post Saturday, referring to South Korea by its official name. 

The display of airpower came amid lingering tension on the Korean Peninsula over North Korea’s continued weapons testing. 

During the “Elephant Walk” training, the fully armed jets taxied in formation along an unspecified airfield to practice standard pre-takeoff procedures and check their readiness, it said.

Yonhap

Fortunately no one was injured or killed from this crash:

An American F-16 Fighting Falcon crashed Saturday in an agricultural field near Osan Air Base, according to the 51st Fighter Wing

The crash occurred around 9:45 a.m. about 10 miles from Osan and 30 miles south of Seoul, the wing said in a news release. The pilot ejected safely and is in stable condition after being taken to an urgent care facility on base.

No other injuries were reported and an investigation is underway, the wing said.

The F-16 was assigned to the 8th Fighter Wing out of Kunsan Air Base, about 115 miles south of Seoul. Around 30 F-16s from Kunsan were temporarily relocated to Osan in March due to routine repairs of the base’s runway.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

Another U.S. Soldier has self selected himself out of continued service it looks like:

An American soldier suspected of assaulting a South Korean bus driver was arrested over the weekend by police in Suwon city, according to a police official.

Police allege that a junior enlisted soldier stationed at Camp Humphreys boarded a tourist bus around 6:40 a.m. Sunday and “made a commotion” by yelling, a spokesman for the Suwon Seobu police station told Stars and Stripes by phone Monday.

South Korean law enforcement officials customarily speak to the media on the condition of anonymity and do not publicly identify criminal suspects until trial. Suwon is roughly 20 miles north of Camp Humphreys, the largest U.S. military base overseas.

The bus driver was pushed to the ground while attempting to restrain the soldier, the spokesman said. The driver notified police, who apprehended the soldier at a convenience store about 330 yards from the bus.

The bus driver and police officers at the scene said they smelled alcohol on the soldier’s breath, the spokesman said. Police will review security camera footage from the bus and plan to interview the soldier at a later date.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.