The 2nd Infantry Division has a new rotational brigade in South Korea:
A Stryker combat team has taken over as the U.S. Army’s rotational force in South Korea, relieving a cavalry unit in a ceremony at Camp Casey, the U.S. base closest to North Korea. The 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., assumed the responsibility Friday at Camp Casey, about 15 miles from the border, replacing the 3rd Cavalry Regiment out of Fort Cavazos, Texas.
The Stryker brigade is outfitted with the eight-wheeled armored combat vehicle of the same name. The rotational force of approximately 3,500 soldiers and 1,500 prepositioned vehicles supports the 2nd Infantry Division in nine-month deployments to South Korea. The division is headquartered at Camp Humphreys, roughly 40 miles south of Seoul.
The equipment for the next rotational unit in support of the 2nd Infantry Division, the 1-2 Stryker Brigade out of Joint Base Lewis-McChord has arrived to Korea:
The first batch of equipment for a new American rotational force employing the Stryker fighting vehicle arrived at a southern port over the weekend, the U.S. Army in South Korea said Wednesday.
Stryker vehicles and other pieces of equipment belonging to the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team were unloaded in Gwangyang, 291 kilometers south of Seoul, on Sunday to replace the current 3rd Cavalry Regiment as part of a regular rotation, according to the Eighth Army.
“We welcome the Ghost Brigade to the Republic of Korea to enhance the interoperability of the Combined Division and strengthen our alliance with our ROK partners,” Maj. Gen. Charles Lombardo, commander of the 2nd Infantry Division/ROK-U.S. Combined Division, said in a release.
New commander of U.S. 2nd Infantry Division in S. Korea Maj. Gen. Charles Lombardo salutes during his inaugural ceremony as the commander of the 2nd Infantry Division in South Korea at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, 65 kilometers south of Seoul, on June 21, 2024. (Yonhap)
I can remember doing plenty of bridging operations over the Imjim River back in my 2ID days:
U.S. and South Korean troops practiced bridge-building recently a short distance from the Demilitarized Zone, the border separating North and South Korea.
Soldiers of the 11th Engineer Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division and South Korean troops of the 5th Engineer Brigade assembled a ribbon bridge over the Imjin River near Paju-si, a city in Gyeonggi province, on March 20. Paju-si is within 5 miles of the heavily guarded border, although the exercise took place further away.
Here is some different training for pilots in 2ID:
A U.S. Navy vehicle cargo ship recently took a rare opportunity to train with Army helicopter crews off the southern coast of South Korea. Crews aboard UH-60M Black Hawks from the 2nd Combat Aviation Brigade qualified for deck landings aboard the USNS Dahl on March 7, 5 miles from Jinhae, Military Sealift Command, Far East said in a news release Monday.
“All flight deck operations are inherently dangerous but [deck landing qualifications] add the wild card of potentially novice crews who are not familiar with either the vessel or ship flight operations in general,” contracted mariner Capt. Deatra Thompson said in the release.
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.
U.S. solders’ explosive disposal contest Soldiers from the U.S. Army’s 2nd Infantry Division detect explosives during an explosive disposal contest at a training ground near U.S. Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, 65 kilometers south of Seoul, on Jan. 11, 2023. (Yonhap)
This is a big change going from armored to a Stryker Brigade in South Korea. It will be interesting to see if the Army keeps rotating Stryker units to South Korea:
A U.S. Army Stryker vehicle is offloaded from a ship at the Port of Pyeongtaek, South Korea, Oct. 8, 2022. (Andrew Kosterman/U.S. Army)
A Stryker Brigade Combat Team from the 2nd Infantry Division arrived in South Korea on Saturday as part of the Army’s annual rotational force in the country.
Stryker vehicles and other equipment from the 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team were offloaded at the Port of Pyeongtaek near Camp Humphreys, according to a news release from 8th Army on Friday. The base is the home of U.S. Forces Korea, U.N. Command, 8th Army and the 2nd Infantry Division.
The division announced in July that the team out of Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., would replace the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division from Fort Bliss, Texas, which will be returning home after a nine-month tour in South Korea.
Roughly 4,000 soldiers are attached to Stryker brigade combat teams. Centered on Stryker vehicles that can be configured for narrowly defined missions, they are able to perform with fewer resources than armored brigade combat teams.
