Considering the expansion of Camp Humphreys has been going on for over a decade it would seem surprising that these buildings are not ready yet, but considering all the corruptiongoing on it seems no one is surprised:
Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek.
Camp Humphreys may accept buildings with minor flaws as planners face a new urgency to complete the long-delayed expansion of the Army garrison and future home of U.S. Forces Korea, the commander says.
Col. Scott Mueller, who assumed command of the garrison in June, stressed that no compromises will be made on “life, health or safety.” But he said cosmetic concerns and less serious problems may be fixed later as long as the facility is ready for use.
“Circumstances have changed now, where in the past they were just construction projects. There were delays that really wouldn’t have operational impact,” he told Stars and Stripes during an interview at his office on Tuesday. “But now we’re looking at it as, ‘Hey we’re moving. Let’s get these buildings done.’”
The relocation effort is gaining momentum amid a growing nuclear and missile threat from North Korea. Mueller said his No. 1 priority is military readiness and base defense, followed by family needs and customer service. [Stars & Stripes via a reader tip]
“The relocation effort is gaining momentum amid a growing nuclear and missile threat from North Korea.”
…because when threatened with an area-destroying nuclear bomb and a delivery system to give it to you, the best course of action is to move all your soldiers to a cental location where the enemy has a better chance of total success.
Maybe that West Point graduate is a hero rather than a traitor.
When he said communism will win, it wasn’t an ideological choice…
…it was an observation.
Trump needs to fire the last 8 (or more) years of military “leaders” who were promoted based on how many weak, stupid, and obviously unequal women they could pretend to protect, how many demanding gays they could cozy up to, how much alcohol they could complain about, and how many perfectly willing prostitutes they could gasp at.
guitard
6 years ago
I bumped into a former co-worker recently at Yongsan who now works at Camp Humphreys. He was with his wife and kids on a weekend trip up to Seoul. He said the trip was mainly to go to the commissary because the new commissary at Humphreys isn’t finished and the existing one is small and doesn’t have all the things they normally like to buy. He made it sound like the new commissary won’t be done anytime soon either.
I guess not having a commissary big enough to accommodate all the new people doesn’t necessarily have a direct operational impact … but it sure can impact morale.
Maui
6 years ago
Been splitting most of my weeks since the start of 2017, shuttle between my office in Yongsan, and our office in Camp Humphrey’s, hiring freeze played all kind of hell trying to cover down on two areas at once. Biggest issue is that we can’t move into our promised facility, because the unit that in there can’t move out into their New Facility, so we’re having to set up another office in one of our classrooms until everyone can move forward. It is unbelievably how CF this whole thing, got some juicy stories and problems that can address here, but here’s a sniff.. Lack of education space, flooding in new facilities and areas, shody construction (a given) just to name a few, other problem is having to keep other areas open when those personnel were tagged to be down at Humphrey’s supporting the ramp up. Now Humphrey’s is having to contract out services because the time lag in hiring the folks they need or can’t hiring because it was never programmed in.. It’s a 8 year walking cluster fuck.
Songtan3
6 years ago
No one should be surprised by any of this. It was a disaster from the start. Was there no oversight and quality assurance at all as the new facilities were being built?
@Maui, thanks for the insights from your personal perspective.
@Songtan3, honestly I think long time Korea watchers are not surprised by any of this considering the historical fraud and corruption we have seen go on over the years involving USFK contracting. The Camp Humphreys expansion must have seemed like a potential gold mine to various companies. The various corruption cases around the expansion have proven this and this is just the corruption we know about.
However, with many people on one to two years tours in South Korea and the expansion being such a long term project I can see how this would be mishandled.
guitard
6 years ago
I heard the newly constructed off-base housing – built in anticipation of lots of Americans moving down from Seoul – also has a lot of problems.
“The relocation effort is gaining momentum amid a growing nuclear and missile threat from North Korea.”
…because when threatened with an area-destroying nuclear bomb and a delivery system to give it to you, the best course of action is to move all your soldiers to a cental location where the enemy has a better chance of total success.
Maybe that West Point graduate is a hero rather than a traitor.
When he said communism will win, it wasn’t an ideological choice…
…it was an observation.
Trump needs to fire the last 8 (or more) years of military “leaders” who were promoted based on how many weak, stupid, and obviously unequal women they could pretend to protect, how many demanding gays they could cozy up to, how much alcohol they could complain about, and how many perfectly willing prostitutes they could gasp at.
I bumped into a former co-worker recently at Yongsan who now works at Camp Humphreys. He was with his wife and kids on a weekend trip up to Seoul. He said the trip was mainly to go to the commissary because the new commissary at Humphreys isn’t finished and the existing one is small and doesn’t have all the things they normally like to buy. He made it sound like the new commissary won’t be done anytime soon either.
I guess not having a commissary big enough to accommodate all the new people doesn’t necessarily have a direct operational impact … but it sure can impact morale.
Been splitting most of my weeks since the start of 2017, shuttle between my office in Yongsan, and our office in Camp Humphrey’s, hiring freeze played all kind of hell trying to cover down on two areas at once. Biggest issue is that we can’t move into our promised facility, because the unit that in there can’t move out into their New Facility, so we’re having to set up another office in one of our classrooms until everyone can move forward. It is unbelievably how CF this whole thing, got some juicy stories and problems that can address here, but here’s a sniff.. Lack of education space, flooding in new facilities and areas, shody construction (a given) just to name a few, other problem is having to keep other areas open when those personnel were tagged to be down at Humphrey’s supporting the ramp up. Now Humphrey’s is having to contract out services because the time lag in hiring the folks they need or can’t hiring because it was never programmed in.. It’s a 8 year walking cluster fuck.
No one should be surprised by any of this. It was a disaster from the start. Was there no oversight and quality assurance at all as the new facilities were being built?
@Maui, thanks for the insights from your personal perspective.
@Songtan3, honestly I think long time Korea watchers are not surprised by any of this considering the historical fraud and corruption we have seen go on over the years involving USFK contracting. The Camp Humphreys expansion must have seemed like a potential gold mine to various companies. The various corruption cases around the expansion have proven this and this is just the corruption we know about.
However, with many people on one to two years tours in South Korea and the expansion being such a long term project I can see how this would be mishandled.
I heard the newly constructed off-base housing – built in anticipation of lots of Americans moving down from Seoul – also has a lot of problems.