Tag: USFK

It looks like what was once called UFG will not happen again this year:

 South Korea and the United States appear increasingly likely to scale back or even call off a major combined exercise again due to the new coronavirus, after indefinitely postponing their annual springtime drill earlier this year, sources said Saturday. 

The repeated skipping of annual exercises, if realized, is feared to affect the joint combat posture between the two countries, as well as South Korea’s planned takeover of the wartime operational control (OPCON) of its forces from the U.S.

“Both sides share the need to stage the summertime exercise as planned, and we’ve continued consultations on the matter. But things are highly flexible due to the COVID-19 situation,” a defense ministry official said.

Seoul and Washington usually carry out major combined exercises twice a year — in around March and August. But they postponed this year’s springtime exercise due to COVID-19, and it has not been held to date, as the health crisis continues.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but basically it comes down to not being able to logistically test and quarantine the thousands of servicemembers who would come to Korea for the exercise.

Here is the latest on USFK coronavirus cases:

Nine people with U.S. Forces Korea tested positive for the coronavirus after traveling to South Korea from the United States, pushing the total number of confirmed cases in isolation to 21, the military said Friday.

Concern about a spillover effect has prompted USFK to follow the South Korean government’s lead in requiring coronavirus tests for all passengers from abroad upon arrival and before they are allowed to exit a mandatory two-week quarantine.

Seven of the service members tested positive after arriving on two separate government-chartered flights known as the Patriot Express, which land at Osan Air Base, USFK said in a statement.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, the recent positive tests from arriving personnel has pushed the USFK total to 63. However, the last local transmission of the coronavirus occurred all the way back on April 14th.

For readers in the Osan AB area, be on the lookout for this missing airman:

Search crews fanned out across Osan Air Base to look for a missing U.S. airman on Friday, a day after he was reported absent from his unit, officials said.

Staff Sgt. Tristin Blake Jarvis, 26, of the 51st Force Support Squadron was last seen in the vicinity of the Osan Fitness Center on Wednesday afternoon, according to a press release.

However, security forces searched his room and determined he had been there before changing and leaving, said 1st Lt. Daniel de la Fe, a spokesman for the 51st Fighter Wing.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

I wonder if these realty companies will just do a name change and be back in business again:

The U.S. military’s largest base in South Korea has banned business with eight local real estate companies for 10 years over allegations of using fraudulent passes to access the installation.

Camp Humphreys said Wednesday that the businesses were placed off-limits after a review determined they had “conspired to illegally access” the Army garrison “using fraudulently issued base passes.”

“This directly affects the safety and security of the installation,” it added, saying the decision was made after a Feb.13 emergency meeting with the area’s Armed Forces Disciplinary Control Board.

“No U.S. personnel are allowed to do new business with these establishments as long as this order is in effect,” it said, stressing the ban was an administrative, not a judicial, action and not subject to appeal. (………)

Stars & Stripes

Here are the realty companies involved:

The announcement, which was posted on Camp Humphreys’ Facebook page, said people who have leases with the affected companies could continue to do business with them for the duration but may not use the companies to renew the leases.

The banned companies were listed as Abba Realty, Christine Realty, JC Realty, GM Realty, Woomi Realty, Uptown Realty, New York Realty, and You & I Realty.

You can read more at the link.

Here is the Stars & Stripes report on the ruckus in Busan caused by U.S. soldiers over the weekend:

The U.S. military expressed regret for “disruptive behavior” Tuesday after American troops allegedly caused a ruckus with a Fourth of July party that included fireworks on a popular beach in the southern city of Busan.

About 200 police were dispatched to break up the festivities Saturday on Haeundae Beach in Busan after receiving more than 70 complaints from local residents.

One soldier was briefly detained and fined for a misdemeanor after throwing a firework in the direction of police, then trying to flee the scene, according to the public affairs office at the Busan Metropolitan Police Agency.

Two traffic accidents and a drunken-driving case involving soldiers also were reported in the area on Saturday.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but the ruckus caused anti-U.S. civic groups to protest against the soldiers’ behavior in Seoul and Busan.

Life is about to get a little better for USFK personnel still stationed at Yongsan Garrison in Seoul:

The U.S. military said Saturday that it will ease anti-coronavirus restrictions for troops and other personnel on this Army garrison in Seoul, but unauthorized travel to the capital from other bases remains prohibited.

The move, which begins at noon Monday, came more than a month after U.S. Forces Korea lifted restrictions for bases elsewhere in South Korea but maintained them for Yongsan because of continued cluster infections there.

USFK cited “the continued low numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases within Yongsan district,” for its decision to lower the health alert level from “Charlie” to “Bravo” for the area in central Seoul.

That means personnel may go to restaurants, hair salons, child care facilities, gyms and other off-base establishments in Yongsan for the first time in months, but only if they live in the area.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but personnel from bases out of Seoul are still not allowed to travel to the nation’s capitol city due to the coronavirus. The way this pandemic is turning out, you could have someone do an entire tour in USFK and never get a chance to visit Seoul because of the coronavirus.

Just a few weeks ago few Americans knew about Juneteenth and now everyone knows:

The celebration is the brainchild of Humphreys Middle School fifth-grade teacher Domenique Marie, who was inspired by civil unrest after the May 25 killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man arrested on suspicion of using a counterfeit $20 bill, suffocated while a white police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.

“Juneteenth is important to everybody, not just Black people,” Marie told those in attendance. “Juneteenth is a tribute to strength, endurance and the faith of our ancestors, for we are our ancestors’ greatest accomplishment. We are their wildest dream.”

“For all Americans, it is a reminder that until all of us are free, that no one is really free,” she added. “Today we celebrate glory – we celebrate the breaking of chains.”

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

 U.S. military leaders have been unusually outspoken about the need to address institutional racism amid a growing wave of civil unrest over the latest killing of a black man in police custody.

Many black service members speaking Sunday at a forum organized by U.S. Forces Korea welcomed the outrage but called for words to be translated into deeds.

Sgt. Dasha Long, 35, thanked U.S. Forces Korea commander Gen. Robert Abrams for tackling the long taboo topic, saying the discussion was an important first step.

“This isn’t new, right? But it feels like it took too long for us to hear something about it,” Long said, wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the phrase “I Can’t Breathe,” which was uttered by George Floyd before he died as a white Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck for nearly nine minutes on May 25.

“I feel safer outside the country that I serve than I do in it, so I want to know aside from words what actions are going to take place because I’m tired,” she said.

Anger over Floyd’s death, which was captured on video, has sparked massive protests calling for racial justice and an end to police brutality in the United States. It also has led to soul searching in the military, which has long prided itself as promoting diversity.

Nearly 19% of active-duty enlisted service members are black, but that number falls sharply to just under 9% when it comes to officers, according to a 2018 Defense Department demographics report. Many also complain that they are unfairly targeted by the military justice system and receive unfair sentences compared to their white counterparts.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but I am willing to bet that if the Stars and Stripes took a poll most white soldiers stationed in South Korea would also agree that they feel safer there than back in the U.S. So this is not an exclusively a black soldier issue.

As far as the 9% officer issue, this is caused by societal issues larger than the Army. To become an officer you need to have a four year college degree and either commission through ROTC or OCS. If the number of African-Americans graduating from four year universities increases, the number of officers will also increase.

A temporary deal has been reached to get Korean employees back to work on U.S. bases:

 The United States and South Korea agreed to a $200 million stopgap measure allowing more than 4,000 local base employees to return to work after months of unpaid leave, despite the allies’ failure to reach a broader defense cost-sharing deal.

The Pentagon said Wednesday that it has accepted Seoul’s proposal to fund the labor costs for all South Korean employees of U.S. Forces Korea through the end of this year amid stalled talks on reaching a new contract known as the Special Measures Agreement.

“This decision effectively ends the partial furlough,” USFK commander Gen. Robert Abrams said in a separate statement. “We expect our entire workforce to return back to USFK within the next few weeks.”

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but it appears there is still no long term cost sharing deal that is going to happen any time soon.