Category: USFK

Now we know what caused a USFK F-16 to crash this past December:

The crash of an Air Force fighter jet off South Korea’s western coast last year was due to the loss of instrumentation and poor weather, according to a 7th Air Force news release Friday. The F-16C Fighting Falcon was over the Yellow Sea on Dec. 11 when it crashed “due to loss of primary flight and navigation instruments during adverse weather conditions,” the release states. The fighter belonged to the 8th Fighter Wing at Kunsan Air Base, 115 miles south of Seoul.

The pilot survived the crash although the aircraft was a total loss, according to 7th Air Force. The Accident Investigation Board found that the F-16’s loss of flight and navigation instruments was prompted by the failure of an embedded GPS inertial navigation system. That system’s failure, along with the unidentified pilot’s reliance on other indicators that showed inaccurate readings, led to “spatial disorientation,” according to the release.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

The USFK commander nominee has just stated the obvious:

 The U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) commander nominee on Tuesday described North Korea’s “rapid” advancement of its nuclear and missile capabilities as the “single greatest” challenge facing the Korea-based command, vowing to maintain a “constant” state of readiness if confirmed.

During a confirmation hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Lieut. Gen. Xavier Brunson, currently the commander of First Corps, also voiced concerns over growing military exchanges between Pyongyang and Moscow, noting his commitment to mitigating risks associated with their military alignment.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Three medal of honor recipients from the Korean War were recognized with three housing towers named after them:

Keeble, Kyle and Vera, the three new housing towers that opened at this Army installation last week after five years of construction, bear the names of Medal of Honor recipients from the Korean War. The 12-story towers near Humphreys East Elementary School hold semi-furnished apartments for up to 216 noncommissioned and commissioned officers and their families, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Combined, the towers contain 144 three-bedroom, 54 four-bedroom and 18 five-bedroom units, according to a Corps of Engineers Far East District fact sheet.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

Pending Senate confirmation it looks like the current I Corps commander at Joint Base Lewis-McChord will be the next USFK commander:

U.S. President Joe Biden has nominated Lieut. Gen. Xavier Brunson, the commander of I Corps, to lead the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command (CFC), the Pentagon said Wednesday, a nomination ahead of the Nov. 5 presidential election.

If confirmed, Brunson would replace Gen. Paul LaCamera who has led CFC, United Nations Command (UNC) and U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) since July 2021.

The position for the top U.S. general in South Korea leads the three commands, including the 28,500-strong USFK.

His appointment requires Senate confirmation.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Some Army MOS’s will soon have longer tours in South Korea which makes sense considering how much quality of life has improved in recent years at Camp Humphreys. It is not like Soldiers in South Korea are living in quonset huts any more. Two year unaccompanied tours brings South Korea in line with other Army overseas locations:

The U.S. Army has doubled the tour length for single soldiers serving in certain roles on the Korean Peninsula. Unaccompanied soldiers, or those who serve without a spouse or dependents on location, are expected to serve in South Korea for two years starting Aug. 1, according to an Army Publishing Directorate memo that day.

The policy applies to soldiers within seven career fields: air traffic control operators, UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter repairers, working military dog handlers, counterintelligence agents, signal intelligence analysts, and enlisted and warrant officer special agents in the Criminal Investigation Division.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

Exercise time is about to begin for USFK:

The United States and South Korea will kick off their second large-scale military exercise of the year next week with specific North Korean threats in mind. The 11-day Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise will begin Aug. 19 throughout the South and focus on “realistic threats” from North Korea, such as weapons of mass destruction, cyber-attacks and GPS jamming, the Joint Chiefs said in a news release Monday. Roughly 19,000 South Korean troops will participate in the training, according to the Joint Chiefs.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

This is horrible for the airmen in this security force at Kunsan AB:

Members of the 8th Security Forces Squadron salute at Kunsan Air Base, South Korea, in May 2022. (Jesenia Landaverde/U.S. Air Force)

An airman was discovered dead at Kunsan Air Base in South Korea on Monday, less than two weeks after the death of a fellow service member assigned to the same unit. Senior Airman Saniyya Smalls, 25, of the 8th Security Forces Squadron, was found at an unspecified location on Kunsan, roughly 115 miles south of Seoul, the 8th Fighter Wing said in a news release Tuesday. Smalls’ death is a “tragic loss” and “has deeply impacted our community,” wing commander Col. Peter Kasarskis said in the release.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but condolences to the friends and family of both airmen.

The last time she visited Camp Humphreys was in 2007. It is too bad she did not get a chance to come back and see how much larger the installation is now compared to back then:

Betty Nance Humphreys, of Fayetteville, N.C., the widow of Chief Warrant Officer 2 Benjamin Humphreys, for whom the largest overseas U.S. military base is named, died June 10 at age 93. “It is with heavy hearts that we mourn the passing of Betty Nance Humphreys, a remarkable woman whose legacy is deeply intertwined with the very fabric of our garrison,” U.S. Army Col. Ryan K. Workman, commander of U.S. Army Garrison Humphreys, told Stars and Stripes by email Friday. On her last visit to Camp Humphreys, South Korea, in March 2007, she planted a tree in memory of her late husband at the base of Beacon Hill at Memorial Park, according to a post Friday on the base’s official Facebook page. “That tree stands as a living testament to their enduring love and commitment to our military family,” Workman said.

Benjamin Humphreys was assigned to the 6th Transportation Company (Light Helicopter) at what was then called Sub-post K-6. Humphreys died Oct. 13, 1961, when his H-21 Shawnee helicopter developed mechanical trouble and crashed into a rice paddy near Osan, killing him and the seven soldiers he was transporting, according to the Facebook post. The Army renamed the airfield Camp Humphreys in 1962. Today the base dubbed “the Army’s Home in Korea” is home to the U.S. Eighth Army, 2nd Infantry Division, U.S. Forces Korea, the Combined Command and the United Nations Command. The 2nd Aviation Combat Brigade is also stationed at Humphreys. The major headquarters relocated over several years from Yongsan Barracks in the heart of Seoul.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

By the way the picture of above of COL Taliento the former Camp Humphreys garrison commander in 2007 brought back memories. His dispute with the business owners outside the gate had them put up banners asking him to seek psychiatric treatment.