Tag: 8th Army

Very sad news to share that the recently retired and former 8th Army Commander Lieutenant General Thomas Vandal has passed away from cancer:

A former commander of the Eighth Army and 2nd Infantry Division died over the weekend, according to a message posted Tuesday on Eighth Army’s official Facebook page.

Retired Lt. Gen. Thomas Vandal, who oversaw the highest Army headquarters unit on the Korean Peninsula from February 2016 until his retirement earlier this year, died Sunday, officials told Stars and Stripes. No other details were provided.

“LTG(R) Thomas S. Vandal … you were a tremendous leader and a charismatic mentor,” the Facebook message said. “You were the epitome of the Eighth Army Motto: “Fight Tonight!” The hearts and prayers of the Eighth Army go out to the family and friends of LTG Vandal.”

The 1982 West Point graduate served prominently as one of the Army’s top generals in South Korea this decade, first taking the reins of 2nd ID in 2013 before becoming the Army’s top general in South Korea a few years later. He retired shortly after handing command to Lt. Gen. Michael Bills in January.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link, but first of all condolences to LTG Vandal’s friends and family.  It is shocking how quickly cancer can kill someone, even someone as fit as LTG Vandal was.

Besides being highly involved in completing 8th Army’s move to Camp Humphreys LTG Vandal was also a key player in the deployment of the THAAD missile defense system to South Korea.  These were definitely two major legacy efforts he was part of during his time at 8th Army.

Rest in peace LTG Vandal.

Here is an update on the Camp Humphreys expansion project:

Originally a small fighter base during the Korean War, Camp Humphreys has transformed into the peninsula’s largest military installation.

Aerial snapshots taken Wednesday show a transformation 8th Army commander Lt. Gen. Thomas Vandal calls 80 percent done.

Barracks and training ranges can be seen sprawling along the banks of Anseong River to the north as family housing and schools cut into vast rice paddies to the south.

Four-lane boulevards bisect block after block of new buildings. The base looks more like the massive U.S. installations of Fort Bliss and Fort Hood in Texas than it does the old Korean War-era camps filled with Quonset huts north of the Han River.

However, the images also show sore spots for the $10.7 billion project aimed to fulfill a 2004 agreement between Seoul and Washington to move the bulk of U.S. forces 40 miles south of Seoul.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read the rest at the link.

Lt. Gen. Thomas Vandal, commander of the Eighth U.S. Army in South Korea, and other participants salute the statue of Gen. Walton Walker, the first Eighth Army commanding general during the Korean War, as they attend a ceremony at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, south of Seoul, on July 11, 2017, to mark the relocation of the Eighth Army’s headquarters to the camp from Seoul’s Yongsan Garrison. (Yonhap)

It seems to me that the North Korean spokesman unintentionally took a swipe at North Korean targeting capabilities by saying their systems perform better against bigger targets:

North Korea warned Friday that U.S. forces stationed in South Korea are within striking range even if a key unit has moved to a new base located south of Seoul.

The U.S. 8th Army on Tuesday opened its new headquarters at the Camp Humphreys garrison in Pyeongtaek, a port city some 70 kilometers south of Seoul, after a decade of delay in the base relocation. It marked the end of the army’s 64-year presence at the Yongsan base in central Seoul.

North Korea’s military stationed at the truce village of Panmunjom said that regardless of the location, they cannot avoid North Korea’s ruthless firing.

“The larger the U.S. military base is, the more effectively our military hits targets,” a military spokesman was quoted as saying by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).  (…….)

“If (the leadership) issues an order, our military will destroy the U.S. imperialists with salvos of firings,” the spokesman said. “If the U.S. sticks to reckless military confrontation despite our warning, it cannot avoid a miserable end.”  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

United States Forces Korea (USFK) commander Gen. Vincent Brooks (L) shakes hands with Maj. Gen. David Puster, the outgoing deputy commander of USFK’s Eighth Army, in a change of command ceremony held at the USFK headquarters in Yongsan, central Seoul, on July 7, 2016. Brig. Gen. Tammy Smith replaces Maj. Gen. Puster. (Yonhap)