Change of command at U.S. 7th Air Force Lt. Gen. David R. Iverson (R), new commander of the U.S. 7th Air Force, receives the flag of the 7th Air Force from Lt. Gen. James A. Jacobson, deputy commander of the Pacific Air Forces, during a change-of-command ceremony at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, 60 kilometers south of Seoul, on Jan. 30, 2024. Iverson also serves as the deputy commander of the U.S. Forces Korea. (Yonhap)
Sometimes inspiration comes when you least expect it. For Air Force spouse Tenley Brady, it came during a walk in a park.
Brady, from Colorado Springs, Colo., was out with a friend after church for a walk at Osan Air Base, home of the U.S. 7th Air Force, in April when they passed a park near the base commissary.
The park — a field of grass, a handful of trees, and two benches — is surrounded by a tall, white concrete wall topped by metal fencing.
The thought of bringing a splash of color to the park grew into an 8-month-long volunteer effort to brighten those surroundings. During an interview Dec. 8, Brady, her husband, Lt. Trey Brady, and former Osan community planner Erin Gray explained how the drab park wall became a canvas for a display of Korean culture.
The design shows Ginko trees, cherry blossoms, children playing, and a Buddhist temple atop a hill. It displays the highlights of South Korean culture.
Hopefully this doesn’t lead to a cluster infection scenario on Osan Airbase:
A South Korean contractor who works at Osan Air Base tested positive for the coronavirus on Saturday, the U.S. military said, reporting its first local transmission in nearly five months.
The contractor, who last visited the base on Thursday, “was tested after a workplace exposure at his spouse’s place of employment,” which was not on Osan, U.S. Forces Korea said in a press release.
With most of the uniformed servicemembers staying on base, the amount of contractors, DOD civilians, and Korean employees that live off base continue to be the biggest risk of infection:
51st Fighter Wing medical staff screen an airman for coronavirus symptoms before he enters Osan Air Base, South Korea, Friday, April 3, 2020.
An American contractor who works at Osan was confirmed to have coronavirus on Saturday, the military said, raising the number of infections affiliated with U.S. Forces Korea to 18.
It is the second case in as many days for Osan, which has gone on partial lockdown to prevent the virus from spreading further. The contractor, who last visited the air base on Wednesday, is in isolation at his off-base residence as directed by South Korean and U.S. military medical personnel, USFK said in a press release Saturday.
Is it just me or does two years to reconstruct the main gate at Osan Airbase seem like a really long time? I have seen Koreans put up apartments and shopping centers quicker than that:
Security forces conduct official duties at the main gate at Osan Air Base, South Korea, soon to undergo a substantial renovation, on Thursday, April 11, 2019.
Years of planning has paid off for the 51st Civil Engineer Squadron, which designed and advocated for funding the complete overhaul of the installation’s main gate that begins Friday. The two-year project by Korean contractors will bring the main access control point, constructed over three decades ago, up to standards for anti-terrorism force protection implemented after 9/11. “The way it is set up now is just not hitting the mark,” said Lt. Col. Timothy Fryar, commander of the 51st Civil Engineers. “The gate is too close to the perimeter, so our defenders don’t have enough time to determine if someone is trying to run the gate or not.” An ideal control point setup consists of serpentine entry roads that force drivers to slow down to an acceptable speed, and a deployable barrier system that prevents potential threats from reaching the base perimeter.
Col. Kerry Proulx oversaw the 51st Mission Support Group since July 2016. (Air Force)
A colonel at Osan Air Base in South Korea was relieved of command earlier this year after investigators found she strongly and repeatedly leaned on base officials to build a dog park at her quarters.
Col. Kerry Proulx, former commander of the 51st Mission Support Group, also improperly allowed subordinates and one subordinate’s wife to pay for her meals, and did not always repay them, according to a commander-directed investigation report obtained by Air Force Times through the Freedom of Information Act.
Proulx was relieved April 13 by Col. William Betts, commander of the 51st Fighter Wing. At the time, the base said she was removed due to a “loss of confidence in her ability to effectively lead,” but did not elaborate further. Proulx is now chief of the personnel division at Air Education and Training Command at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph in Texas. She did not immediately respond to a request for comment submitted to AETC.
The report, dated Feb. 5, detailed a sustained and improper effort by Proulx to get a dog park built directly adjacent to her senior officer quarters, which began immediately after she took command in July 2016. It concluded she “wrongfully direct[ed] the use of government property to construct a dog park for her own personal use.” [Air Force Times]
You can read much more at the link, but this is just another example of how a senior officer some how became so full of their own self importance to risk their career over something as insignificant as a dog park. Even more incredible was that the former 7th Air Force Commander, Lieutenant General Bergeson and other senior officers had to walk through this dog park each day and no one apparently called Col. Proulx to ask her why a dog park was being built over a major public access way:
Its construction also removed a public access way, requiring building residents and the commander and vice commander of the 7th Air Force at Osan — Lt. Gen. Thomas Bergeson and Brig. Gen. Lansing Pilch — to open a gate and walk through the dog park to get to the building’s stairs.
The investigator called Proulx’s explanation for why the dog park needed to be located there “illogical.”
“If the dog park was truly for all residents in the area, it would at least have the gate placed separate from the public stair top, it could have been made smaller and not block the public walkway, or it could have been built between” two buildings.
The next time I am on Osan AB I am going to have to walk over and visit this infamous dog park if it hasn’t already been relocated.
President Trump may be thankful towards the Kim regime for the return of the remains, but I think he has found out that even a simple issue like this is more difficult and drawn out than it needs to be by the regime. Imagine how long and drawn out they will try and make any denuclearization process?:
Military personnel carry boxes containing the remains of U.S. soldiers, killed in the 1950-53 Korean War, out of the C-17 Globemaster, a U.S. Air Force transport aircraft, at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, about 70 kilometers south of Seoul, on July 27, 2018. The transport aircraft airlifted the remains of U.S. soldiers from Kalma Airport in North Korea’s eastern coastal city of Wonsan. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)
U.S. President Donald Trump thanked North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Friday for ”fulfilling a promise” to return the remains of U.S. soldiers missing from the Korean War, as a U.S. military plane made a rare trip into North Korea to retrieve 55 cases said to contain remains.
Close to 7,700 U.S. soldiers remain unaccounted for from the 1950-53 Korean War, and about 5,300 of those were lost in North Korea.
North Korea’s move signals a positive step in Trump’s diplomacy with Pyongyang, and may restart efforts to send U.S. teams into the country to search for additional war dead.
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis cautioned that the transfer of remains ”is separate” from what has so far been troubled efforts to negotiate the complete denuclearization of North Korea. But he said it was a step in the right direction following the Trump-Kim summit in Singapore.
”This is obviously a gesture of carrying forward what they agreed to in Singapore and we take it as such,” Mattis told reporters Friday. ”We also look at it as a first step of a restarted process. So we do want to explore additional efforts to bring others home.” [Korea Times]
It seems to me that the heat wave in South Korea did not cause this heat injury considering the article says he fell out when the temperature was 77 F. It seems like other factors such as how well hydrated he was before and during the ruck march might be more responsible than a 77 degree F temperature, especially with the humidity in South Korea. A major question that will need to be asked is how much water were the airmen carrying on the march and were there water stations for access to more water?:
This photo was posted on a GoFundMe page for the family of Airman 1st Class Mikhahael Ragay (right), who suffered a severe heat injury during training at Osan Air Base, South Korea. COURTESY OF LOGAN PALMER
A South Korea-based airman who collapsed during a ruck march is among thousands hospitalized from a heat wave that has claimed dozens of lives this month in the Far East.
A GoFundMe page seeking donations for the family of Airman 1st Class Mikhahael Ragay says that “during a ruck at Osan Air Base, South Korea, A1C Ragay fell out due to heat exhaustion/dehydration. His core body temperature was 108 degrees Fahrenheit and he is currently in critical condition in a comatose state. His family flew out to Osan to be with him, and all proceeds will go to his family to support them during this difficult time.”
Members of the 51st Security Forces Squadron participated in a ruck march at about 6 a.m. Saturday, said Staff Sgt. Tinese Jackson, a 51st Fighter Wing spokeswoman. The trek culminated an eight-day Combat Readiness Course, which is an initial training exercise for airmen new to the unit.
“A member of the 51st SFS passed out during the ruck march and was taken to the emergency room,” she said. “The Airman is currently being treated and recovering at an off-base hospital in the Republic of Korea.” [Stars & Stripes]
You can read more at the link, but hopefully the airman makes a full recovery.
I wonder what the backstory to this relief of command is? It seems when colonels get relieved it is because of infidelity or getting arrested for something:
Col. Kerry Proulx, commander of Osan Air Base’s 51st Mission Support Group, has been relieved due to a loss of confidence in her ability to effectively lead, according to the Air Force.
The commander of a support unit at America’s largest air base in South Korea has been relieved of her duties, an Air Force statement said.
Col. Kerry Proulx, commander of the Osan-based 51st Mission Support Group, was relieved Friday due to a loss of confidence in her ability to effectively lead, the statement said.
“This was a tremendously difficult and unfortunate decision to make, but it’s the right direction for the 51st Fighter Wing,” Col. William Betts, the wing’s commander, said in the statement.
Officials wouldn’t give specifics as to why Betts lost confidence in Proulx, who had been overseeing 2,600 personnel in the support group’s five squadrons, including security forces since July 2016. [Stars & Stripes]
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