Tag: USFK

There are still a few areas where masks are required like the CDC and medical facilities, but for most areas on post masks are not required as of this week:

The U.S. military in South Korea dropped its mask mandate Monday on its installations as cases of COVID-19 continue to decline throughout the country.

Masks are no longer required on any U.S. installation or facility, although individual commanders may mandate them in high-traffic indoor areas, such as gyms, commissaries, libraries and similar facilities, according to an announcement by U.S. Forces Korea on its website.

USFK personnel are advised to consult their garrisons for exceptions to the updated policy.

Anyone affiliated with the U.S. military must still wear a mask while outside U.S. installations. South Korea requires people to wear face masks while outdoors and indoors in public.

Defense Department schools on U.S. bases in South Korea are also doing away with the mask requirement starting Wednesday, although students may choose to wear masks at school or on school buses, according to memos from individual school principals.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

Starting today USFK personnel who are vaccinated will be able to party in the villes again:

The U.S. military command in South Korea will lower its health protection condition in time for its population to sample a wider variety of off-base activities this weekend.

U.S. Forces Korea will move from Bravo-plus to Bravo at 6 a.m. Thursday, the command announced Wednesday in a news release. The change will allow those who are fully vaccinated to visit bars, clubs, adults-only establishments, saunas and karaoke bars. 

A person is considered fully vaccinated 14 days after completing a vaccination series approved by the Food and Drug Administration, according to USFK. 

Masks are still required of everyone in South Korea, indoors and outdoors; USFK requires masks indoors but not outdoors on U.S. military installations.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

It took nine years to complete the construction of the command center. Just think South Korea has built entire neighborhoods faster than this command center:

The construction of a new command center for the combined forces of South Korea and the United States has been completed in a major American military base south of Seoul, a U.S. Army website showed Tuesday. 

South Korean and U.S. officials commemorated the completion of Command Center Humphreys in Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul, on Thursday last week, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE).

The new center is designed to support the operations of the allies’ Combined Forces Command (CFC) and the U.S. Forces Korea. Its construction was a key part of the allies’ plan to relocate the U.S. garrison in Seoul’s central district of Yongsan to Camp Humphreys, according to the USACE.

“This project was a nine-year construction effort, and we finally get to see the successful completion of it,” Robert Zhang, a U.S. official involved in the project, was quoted by the USACE as saying.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Here is some increased messaging of unity within the US-ROK alliance:

 Top South Korean and U.S. military officers on Thursday boarded a U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier sailing in the East Sea, sources said, in a rare move to highlight the allies’ unity amid concerns about possible North Korean provocations.

Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Won In-choul and Gen. Paul LaCamera, the head of the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command, met aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier that arrived in the waters earlier this week in a show of America’s military might.

Their symbolic meeting came amid speculation that the North could engage in provocative acts, like another intercontinental ballistic missile launch or a nuclear test, in time for its key political events, including the 110th birthday of its late national founder Kim Il-sung on Friday.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It appears even USFK is beginning to understand they need to learn to live with COVID by allowing travel to Seoul and indoor dining and movie theaters are also allowed. However, off-post bars, clubs, saunas, spas and karaokes are still off limits:

 The command overseeing U.S. troops in South Korea has lifted its pandemic ban on nonessential travel to Seoul after keeping the city off-limits more than three months. 

U.S. Forces Korea did away with the ban on Thursday, according to a news release. The command is responsible for about 28,500 service members, along with civilian employees, contractors and their families. 

USFK reminded its population to adhere to all South Korean rules and regulations aimed at stopping the spread of COVID-19. “USFK will continue to monitor and assess the COVID environment and will make additional adjustments to protect the force and our mission,” the release said.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

This is going to make life much easier for units that have been supporting troops in quarantine for the past two years:

Fully vaccinated American troops, family members and military contractors are no longer required to quarantine upon arrival in South Korea. 

U.S. Forces Korea, the command responsible for roughly 28,500 troops on the peninsula, announced in a press release Tuesday that it has done away with a mandatory seven-day COVID-19 quarantine for international arrivals “based on recent [South Korea] policy changes.”

South Korea’s government on Monday dropped a similar policy for vaccinated travelers; however, those who arrive from Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine and Myanmar are still required to isolate. 

To meet USFK’s fully vaccinated qualification, personnel must have either received a single or two-dose COVID-19 vaccine regimen within 14 to 180 days, or received the full vaccine series and a booster shot.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

Oops:

A small South Korean military drone crashed into and left minor fire damage atop a water tower at a U.S. military outpost in Busan, according to a South Korean military spokesman.

The collision occurred around 9:14 a.m. Thursday at the Busan Storage Center, small installation in the southern coastal city, a spokesman said under the customary condition of anonymity.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but interestingly the drone was powered by a hydrogen fuel cell.

USFK recently upgraded its firepower with the newest model of the Apache attack helicopter:

U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) received deliveries of the latest Boeing Apache attack helicopters to the 4th Battalion (Attack) and 2nd Aviation Regiment (4-2 AB) at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi, the force’s aviation unit said on Friday.  
   
In a Facebook post Friday, the 2nd Combat Aviation Brigade said that it finished fielding the new Apache helicopters slated for Camp Humphreys, the main USFK base on the Korean Peninsula, two days earlier.  
   
This is the first unit outside the continental United States to receive the newest version of the helicopter, dubbed AH-64 Version 6 (V6).  
   
The U.S. Army said on its website last month that a total of 24 of the latest Apache helicopters would be deployed to South Korea through the end of February. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

Some good news from this article is that quarantine for USFK Soldiers has been lessened to 7 days and on-post indoor dining is now open again:

 New coronavirus cases from the U.S. military have declined for the fourth consecutive week, though infections across the country continue to reach record highs. 

U.S. Forces Korea, the command responsible for roughly 28,500 troops on the Korean Peninsula, counted 153 new COVID-19 cases in a seven-day period ending Monday. That’s 43 fewer than USFK reported the previous period and far below the pandemic high of 1,599 cases between Jan. 4-10. 

USFK leaders have said they are “proud” of their community’s “continued efforts” in adhering to mitigation measures.

“Their actions are reflected in our numbers and they speak for themselves,” spokesman Army Col. Lee Peters told Stars and Stripes in an email last week. “We’ve seen a continued downward trend … and expect to continue this trend.”

Dining in off-post restaurants remains off-limits, but after a monthlong pause, most dining facilities on U.S. installations are open again for indoor eating.

The command on Monday shortened its 10-day mandatory quarantine period to seven days to align with South Korean mandates. Those who already live in South Korea may quarantine at home with approval from their supervisors.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.