I am not sure what else anyone would expect him to say, if you don’t train together for an extended amount of time of course it will impact readiness:
Retired General Walter Sharp
Scaling down combined military exercises between South Korea and the United States does have an impact on readiness, a former commander of U.S. Forces Korea said Tuesday.
Ret. Gen. Walter Sharp was referring to the major allied exercises that have been reduced in scope to facilitate denuclearization negotiations between the U.S. and North Korea.
“I think that scaling down, and doing exercises in other ways, does have an effect on readiness,” he said during a virtual seminar hosted by the Korea Economic Institute of America.
He said he would encourage the continuation of the Combined Forces Command exercise program as a deterrent and as a readiness issue.
Ex-USFK commander at seminar Former U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) commander Gen. Walter Sharp delivers a congratulatory speech at a seminar on the South Korea-U.S. alliance at a Seoul hotel on Oct. 15, 2019. (Yonhap)
I am all for North Korea regime collapse planning, but does that mean that US forces need to be the ones entering North Korea?:
Instability within North Korea will lead to its collapse “sooner than many of us think,” a former U.S. Forces Korea commander says.
Retired four-star Gen. Walter Sharp was among five panelists Tuesday who opened a three-day symposium, sponsored by the Association of the U.S. Army’s Institute of Land Warfare, on strengthening land forces across the Pacific.
North Korea garnered most of the panel’s attention, driven by the volatile nation’s uptick in missiles launches and its fourth nuclear test earlier this year.
Sharp, who headed USFK in 2008-11, said he recently guaranteed Gen. Vincent Brooks, the newly minted USFK commander, there would be major changes on the peninsula before his tenure ends. [Stars & Stripes]
You can read more at the link, but I have longed believed that US soldiers should not step foot into North Korea despite recommendations previously made that 150,000 US troops would be needed to secure North Korea. Considering the advantages in culture and language the ROK military has why can’t they be the ones to occupy North Korea? North Koreans are programmed to believe that South Koreans are puppets of the Americans and if US forces are seen with ROK forces in North Korea this will just validate this belief. Does the US military really want to occupy a country with a bitter population awash in weapons and explosives? Plus the threat of 150,000 US troops entering North Korea is the reason why China keeps the Kim regime in power in the first place. What would the US government think if 150,000 Chinese soldiers showed up on our border with Mexico?
I just do not see how 150,000 US soldiers showing up in a collapsed North Korean state benefits the ROK, North Korea and most importantly the United States? Maybe I am missing something, but can anyone else make an argument why there needs to be a US military occupation of North Korea?
