This has to be frustrating for the crews effected to have to travel outside of the country to maintain their qualifications:
The U.S. military has had to send air crews off the peninsula for live-fire training due to local disputes with South Koreans over noise and other complaints, Gen. Robert Abrams said Thursday. (…..)
But he acknowledged that complaints by South Koreans who live near training facilities have caused a setback in live-fire training needed to maintain troop qualifications.
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.
New Top NCO for Eighth Army! CSM Robert Cobb (left) is the new senior enlisted advisor following an assumption-of-responsibility ceremony on @USAGHumphreys today. Cobb returns to Korea after previously serving with the 2nd Infantry Division at Camp Casey. Welcome CSM Cobb! pic.twitter.com/b7fjVyMlfj
This rollover accident happened last year during the 1st Cavalry Division’s deployment to South Korea:
A photo of Spc. Nicholas Panipinto is displayed during a memorial service inside the Warrior Chapel at Camp Humphreys, South Korea, Friday, Nov. 15, 2019.
The 1st Cavalry Division has moved to oust three junior leaders and ordered reforms to its driver’s training program after a 20-year-old infantryman was killed last year in a rollover accident involving a Bradley Fighting Vehicle at Camp Humphreys, the soldier’s mother said Saturday.
The Fort Hood, Texas-based Army division acted after finding that Spc. Nicholas Panipinto had no license or classroom instruction and had received only six hours of hands-on training when he died during a Nov. 6 road test of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle. Two other soldiers were injured.
However, the changes are not enough for Panipinto’s mother, Kimberly Weaver, who said her son’s death had been preventable, and she believes the soldiers being punished are being used as scapegoats.
“This whole thing has just so many problems on so many different levels,” she told Stars and Stripes on Saturday in a phone interview.
“Why are these three lower-level unit soldiers being thrown under the bus while the higher-ups are not being accountable when all these failures happened under their watch,” she added.
You can read more at the link, but the Company Commander, Platoon Leader, and Vehicle Commander have all been reprimanded and being processed for discharge from the Army. I can understand that the mother is upset, but, this is pretty significant punishment for what happened. The accident according to the article was caused by the track coming off, but the article does not specify if something the driver did caused this or was it a mechanical issue.
When these accidents do happen the investigation always looks back at the Driver’s Training program and it was discovered that SPC Panipinto was driving the bradley without completing all the requirements. This is company commander level business to ensure everyone is properly licensed before conducting an operation.
However, what I find most troubling is how it took two hours to get a medical evacuation helicopter to the site of the accident. I really hope that whatever caused that gets fixed.
This is a horrible accident and condolences to all the family members and friends impacted by this:
Emergency workers tend to the scene after a collision involving a U.S. armored personnel carrier and a civilian SUV that killed four South Koreans near the Rodriguez Live-Fire Complex in Pocheon, South Korea, Sunday, Aug. 30, 2020.
A crash involving a U.S. military vehicle killed four South Koreans, prompting U.S. Forces Korea to temporarily suspend training in the area, which is near the border with North Korea, officials said Monday.
An SUV carrying the four civilians rear-ended the armored personnel carrier – a tracked vehicle – at about 9:30 p.m. Sunday on a road near the Rodriguez Live Fire Complex in the city of Pocheon, local police and fire officials said.
The four civilians were pronounced dead at the scene, a fire official said. The two soldiers in the military vehicle were not seriously injured. One was taken to a nearby hospital for evaluation but was cleared and released back to his unit, according to the 2nd Infantry Division.
USFK expressed “its deepest condolences” to the families and loved ones of the deceased and said the military was fully cooperating with the South Korean police investigation into the crash.
You can read more at the link, but I don’t think the Korean anti-U.S. leftists will be able to politicize this accident like they did with the 2002 Armored Vehicle Accident. The fact the armored vehicle was rear ended makes it harder to blame the soldiers for the accident. However, USFK will fully investigate what happened with this accident and if there was any negligence I am confident people will be held accountable.
I understand wanting a negative COVID test, but arriving USKF personnel are really not the issue of why the virus is currently spreading like it is:
U.S. soldiers will need a negative coronavirus test but face no restriction of movement before traveling to South Korea starting next week since the military already requires a two-week quarantine upon arrival, the Army said Sunday.
The announcement came as South Korea battled a new outbreak, with 397 new confirmed cases reported on Sunday, the largest number in 10 days of triple digit daily increases.
City officials in Seoul, meanwhile, said everybody will be required to wear masks in public except when eating or drinking starting Monday, tightening rules that already mandated face coverings on public transportation in the densely packed urban area. Local governments in the surrounding Gyeonggi province and the southern city of Daegu have done the same.
In addition to USFK's directive that mandates a mask for all USFK-affiliated individuals for off-installation wear, Gyeonggi Province (Areas I and III) has made mask wear mandatory by executive order. Anyone caught not wearing mask will be issued a fine not to exceed 100,000 KRW. pic.twitter.com/r0qmlJy4dQ
It makes sense that USFK would increase their health protection level:
The U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) has raised the health protection level against the new coronavirus for all areas within South Korea as local infections accelerated amid a surge in church-related cases.
Effective at 5 a.m. Monday, the USFK heightened the Health Protection Condition Level (HPCON) to Charlie, or HPCON C, for all areas in the country, USFK said in a Facebook post.
Under the revised rules, the number of personnel working on bases will be reduced, and the USFK will conduct health checks such as temperature screening on all people entering its military bases.
On Saturday, USFK raised its protection level to Charlie within Seoul and the surrounding areas, including the western city of Incheon and eight districts in Gyeonggi Province.
The decision to raise the HPCON level to all areas within the country came after South Korea’s new COVID-19 cases reached a five-month high of 279 on Sunday, spiking up from 166 on Saturday.
With the drop in coronavirus cases across Korea, USFK is easing the restrictions placed on servicemembers and their families:
U.S. Forces Korea will lower its health protection level nationwide starting Monday, allowing personnel to visit Seoul for the first time in months thanks to a decline in coronavirus cases.
The military already had eased most restrictions on service members in May but kept the South Korean capital out of bounds except for people stationed in the metropolis due to fears of cluster infections.
Bars, clubs and other establishments with adults-only entrance remain off-limits in all areas, the command said Friday in an announcement on social media.
