Category: USFK

Here is a first that will occur during the ongoing Ulchi Freedom Shield Exercise:

A South Korean general for the first time is sharing command of one of the largest military exercises with U.S. forces on the peninsula.

South Korean army Gen. Ahn Byung-Seok, deputy commander of Combined Forces Command, is leading the Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise with U.S. Forces Korea commander Gen. Paul LaCamera, USFK said in a news release Tuesday evening.

Ahn “will switch duties and responsibilities” with LaCamera during the 11-day exercise, the release said.

LaCamera also leads U.N. Command and Combined Forces Command, which is responsible for 600,000 U.S. and South Korean troops and up to 3.5 million South Korean reservists. Roughly 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed on the peninsula.

Ahn is the second-highest ranking leader of Combined Forces Command, one of the three major military commands responsible for the immediate defense of South Korea. The country’s unique military hierarchical structure typically places South Korean generals as deputies in Combined Forces Command, second only to an American general.

The military exercise, named after Eulji Mundeok, a 7th century Korean general, kicked off Monday and ends Sept. 1.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

It is hard to believe that it has been five years since the US and the ROK conducted a full bilateral exercise:

The United States and South Korea kicked off a four-day preliminary drill Tuesday in preparation for their largest military exercise in five years.

The preliminary drill, which consists of training simulations, ends Friday and is the precursor to Ulchi Freedom Shield, the first large-scale command-post exercise between the U.S. and South Korea since 2017, according to a Ministry of Defense news release.

Ulchi Freedom Shield, named after Eulji Mundeok, a 7th century Korean general, is scheduled to start Monday and end Sept. 1. The exercise was known as Ulchi Freedom Guardian between 2008 to 2018 and as Combined Command Post Training from 2019 to 2021.

Ulchi Freedom Shield is one of two major exercises traditionally conducted annually by the U.S. and South Korea. Exercise Freedom Shield is scheduled for early next year.

Exact troop numbers and equipment used for the upcoming exercise have not been publicly released by U.S. Forces Korea or the Ministry of Defense. During Ulchi Freedom Guardian in 2017, around 50,000 South Korean and 17,500 U.S. service members were used for the air, land and sea drills. USFK has roughly 28,500 U.S. troops in South Korea.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

After the Sergeant Major of the Army closed down substandard barracks at Ft. Bragg it appears that even the Air Force is now in the crosshairs for barracks conditions:

Complaints of mold growing inside buildings at Kunsan Air Base in South Korea have caught the attention of a Missouri congressman.

Photos shared Wednesday on the Air Force amn/nco/snco Facebook group purported to show water spots, leaky ceilings and black mold growing in buildings on the air base about 115 miles south of Seoul.

The Facebook group is popular with airmen who anonymously submit messages about life in the military, including complaints and memes. It has more than 93,000 followers.

Information posted with the photos indicate some Kunsan dormitory occupants had no hot water or working air conditioners for several weeks.

“There are hundreds of people on this base and in this building that are suffering from the same situation,” said a post on Monday.

A representative for Rep. Billy Long, a Republican from Springfield, Mo., said Long’s office has been in touch with service members from Kunsan. The congressman’s director of constituent services, Lisa Taylor, told Stars and Stripes by phone on Friday that Long plans to request an inquiry into the complaints.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

Is this a sign that the COVID protocols are slowly starting to come back?:

U.S. military travelers arriving in South Korea must immediately take a polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, test for COVID-19, according to a policy update by U.S. Forces Korea on Monday. 

The change applies to all arrivals regardless of their vaccination status, according to a post on USFK’s official Facebook page. 

USFK personnel, including family members, Defense Department civilian employees and contractors, should take the PCR test within a day of their arrival in South Korea. Their movements are restricted until the test returns a negative result.

The command adjusted its PCR test policy “in order to align with [South Korea’s] entry requirement changes,” its website said. 

South Korea on Monday reinstated its requirement that travelers take a PCR test within a day of arriving in the country, a change from a three-day window.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

Rodriguez Range has been using for live fire training for decades and the complaints about the noise from the range have continued to build as the population in the area continues to grow:

Speculation is growing that U.S. Apache helicopters may return to the Rodriguez Live Fire Complex in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province, for live-fire exercises amid persisting complaints from nearby residents over noise and other inconveniences due to the drills.

According to the Korean military, Wednesday, the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) plans to conduct the training from July 18 to 29 during the day and night. 

The exercises will be carried out in order to measure the intensity of noise from live-fire drills, based on a recently enacted law aimed at compensating local residents suffering from noise caused by military airports and shooting ranges. Under the law, people residing near military airports and ranges are entitled to receive up to 60,000 won ($45) per person per month without filing a lawsuit.

The USFK has not conducted live-fire drills since July 2018 ostensibly due to stray round incidents, but taking a closer look, the noise issue is the main reason for the suspension of the exercises, according to military sources. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

This is a pretty cool experience for all the Soldiers that got to participate in this:

Around 500 U.S. and South Korean troops were treated recently to a meal of Korean food specially prepared by a celebrity chef at their dining facility.

Chef Baek Jong-won, who owns several restaurants and cafes in South Korea, and three other Korean entertainers cooked at the Provider Grill dining facility on June 28 for Baek’s TV show, “Backpacker.” Service members waited in line outside the DFAC for more than an hour to sample the marquee chow.

Each episode of “Backpacker” centers on a theme, such as feeding hundreds of soldiers at a South Korean military base using a limited supply of ingredients or cooking meals for Buddhist monks at a temple.

Baek’s crew and supporting cast are usually kept in the dark about the location and ingredients they’ll be cooking until the day of filming. However, Camp Humphreys’ security requirements meant Baek knew his destination for the day.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

It seems like an easy fix to use South Korean made parts to fix these elevators until the US sourced parts arrive:

Repairs to a dozen elevators out of order at Camp Humphreys, some in housing areas, are delayed by a three-to-five-month parts backlog, according to a post on the base Facebook page Tuesday.

The 351 elevators at Humphreys must conform to U.S. safety codes, which differ from South Korean codes, so repairs to the malfunctioning 12 may not include locally sourced parts, garrison commander Army Col. Seth Graves told Stars and Stripes by email Wednesday.

The Army Corps of Engineers is considering a waiver for local codes to obtain the necessary parts from a South Korean supplier, Graves said.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

It looks like that the ROK and U.S. militaries have decided to join the North Koreans in waging war on the East Sea’s fish:

South Korean and US forces fired eight missiles Monday in response to North Korea firing the same number of missiles a day earlier, the allies said Monday. 

For about 10 minutes from 4:45 a.m. Monday, the South Korean military and the US Forces Korea fired eight surface-to-surface Army Tactical Missile System missiles into the East Sea as a response to North Korea’s military provocation made Sunday.

The exercise used one missile from the US Army and seven from the South Korean military. 

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

From the Stars & Stripes:

The Republic of Korea-U.S. Combined Division, the only division in the Army composed of soldiers from both countries, celebrated its seventh anniversary on Friday with a ceremony at 2nd Infantry Division headquarters. 

The two allies formed the combined army division in 2015 as a deterrent to further conflict in South Korea.

Roughly 12,000 troops are part of the five brigades within the division and they conduct an average of 80 missions each year, including large scale joint military exercises. It also trains with a South Korean mechanized brigade. 

Originally based at Camp Red Cloud, the division moved in 2018 to Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, where 2nd ID, Eighth Army, U.S. Forces Korea and U.N. Command are also headquartered. 

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.