Category: USFK

There has been another incident involving a USFK soldier, which is really one of the oddest incidents I can remember seeing in recent years:

Police said Friday they have detained two U.S. Army soldiers for attempted rape of a policewoman.

The soldiers, identified only as a 23-year-old sergeant and a 21-year-old private first class from a U.S. base north of Seoul, tried to sexually assault the plainclothes officer in an office bathroom in downtown Seoul around 9:20 p.m. Thursday, a police spokesman said.

More from the Stars and Stripes here. What makes this story even weirder is that these two guys were picked up just hours before by the Seoul police for sexually harassing another woman in the same area. Reading through the newspaper reports, if true, which is often not the case in the Korean media it appears these two are sexual predators because this appears to me more than just some guy getting drunk and assaulting a female as we have seen happen recently before.

This latest incident has of course caused commenters on various K-blog sites to blame everything from recruiters, 2ID, the Iraq War, PTSD, gangs, to General Bell for recent incidents. Unfortunately none of this has anything to with what is going on. First of all, 2ID is not solely to blame for indiscipline in Korea. For every 2ID incident I can name another incident caused by another USFK unit. It just so happens that 2ID has the most memorable incidents especially of the taxi cab related kind.

Here is run down of incidents involving a USFK member and off post incidents over the past two years and I broke them down by Area 1 soldiers and soldiers stationed in Seoul or further south:

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From the Stars and Stripes:

A report of a foul odor emanating from Vail’s room led to the discovery of his body, hanging by a belt tied to a towel rack in the bathroom. The door to Vail’s room was locked, and entry was made through a partly open window. Medical personnel pronounced Vail dead at 1:30 p.m. March 28, but Mortuary Affairs personnel said his remains indicated he had been dead for five to seven days, according to information published in Friday’s Morning Calm military newspaper. They confirmed his identity through dental records. 

To answer Nomad’s question on how this could happen here is my best explanation.  I had a situation like this happen before in a unit I was in a few years ago.  A staff sergeant committed suicide after receiving a Dear John Letter from his wife.  This guy was a really good NCO, that took care of his soldiers, but the break up with his wife just made him snap.  He hung himself in his closet in the barracks on a Saturday and wasn’t discovered until Monday morning when he didn’t show up for PT formation. 

The PT formations especially on Mondays are critical to account for everyone.  Accounting for people is one of the most basic requirements of leadership.  How this guy was able to slip through the cracks for up to week is quite unusual.  I think Mark offers the most plausible explanation that this NCO in the above article was on a RSOI tasking.  It is extremely hard to track the guys on these taskings.  My first sergeant hated these taskings because he was depended on soldiers calling their platoon sergeants in the morning on the phone to maintain accountability of them.  Usually the taskings have an NCO in charge of the group which helps with tracking them.  The hardest ones to track are the soldiers tasked to be VIP drivers because they have no NCO supervision.  They just drive a VIP around and operate on the VIP’s schedule.  However, they still have to be tracked daily and if they don’t check in somebody has to track them down. 

If this NCO was not on a tasking and just slipped through the cracks within his unit that is even a much larger break down in basic leadership than losing track of a soldier on an RSOI tasking.  Either way it is not good and a systematic breakdown in leadership.  Hopefully everyone across USFK reviews their accountability policies because things like this should not and cannot happen.  

This is great news, that General Bell plans on moving USFK bit by bit to Camp Humphreys:

Bell stressed that units will begin to move to Humphreys, as the facilities are ready.

“We’ve agreed ever since day one — and we’re going to execute this — whenever facilities are ready for a unit to move into, we’re going to move them,” he said. “So I would anticipate as soon as buildings … are completed and if we have room, we’ll begin to move units down there — small ones.”

The plan isn’t to wait until the entire project is complete in five years, he said.

“So there’s not going to be a giant movement one afternoon of thousands of Americans to Pyeongtaek,” he said. “It will be a deliberate effort, and it will be gauged against the completion of appropriate facilities.”

I said this back in January that if the Korean government is committed to delaying the USFK relocation than the command should begin moving units from either Yongsan or 2ID down to Camp Humphreys bit by bit just to show some kind of physical progress that the relocation is going to happen.  Preferably I hope that General Bell gets the 2nd Infantry Division moved off the DMZ and to Camp Humphreys first.  2ID should be moved first so soldiers in the division can take advantage of the new family housing and facilities planned for the Camp Humphreys expansion.  Yongsan already has some family housing and plenty of good facilities for soldiers.  Moving 2ID first would overall increase the quality of life for USFK soldiers as a whole, not to mention removing 2ID from their vulnerable position on the DMZ to North Korean artillery. 

Additionally like I have said before I will be amazed if all of Yongsan is turned into a city park after the relocation, and my prediction is becoming increasingly true:

“The original plan for the headquarters is clearly different now than it was two years ago,” he said. The original master plan called for the Combined Forces Command to move to Humphreys.

“Hundreds of Republic of Korea staff officers and commanders and leaders would have moved down there with that operation,” he said. “That is now not going to happen.”

South Korea will form its own new headquarters with the transfer of OPCOM.

Bell said he assumes South Korea will build the headquarters in Seoul to house what he refers to as a “Republic of Korea Joint Forces Command.”

"Build the headquarters in Seoul", any guesses what that quote means?  As was pointed out at Nomad’s place, it appears Yongsan may have some new tenants after USFK moves out.  The apartment developers are not going to like that. 

Any guesses when the first unit will move down to Camp Humphreys?  I say 2009, 2ID begins to move their first units there. 

Nomad is right, it is about time that USFK has finally cracked down on the housing scam that has been going on for years if not decades in Korea.  General Bell has taken another chip out of the USFK gravy train.

Well, here we go again, another 2nd Infantry Division Pass Policy, which pretty much just recycles from past division pass policies.  So in other words, really nothing new.  The curfew times are remaining the same, 2400-0500 on weekdays and 0100-0500 on weekends. 

Soldiers remain on a regular pass status at all times unless pass privileges are revoked by the unit commander:

This is something I would actually like to see improved upon.  Right now when a soldier looses his pass privileges to leave post the unit is limited on ways to track the guys movement.  Usually the guys that violate the removal of pass privileges are caught by other leaders in the unit who happen to see them in ville.  I can think of numerous examples of where guys who had their pass privileges revoked went off post anyway and proceeded to get into more trouble.

Why doesn’t the command program the BIDS systems to tell if an ID card has had its pass privileges revoked or not?  After the company commander revokes pass privileges, the commander should be able to call the MP station to program into BIDS that the soldier lost his pass privileges.  This would make it impossible for the soldier to get back on post without getting caught.  It would mean more work for the MPs, but it would be worth it because any troublemakers with pass privileges revoked would know they cannot beat the system if their pass status is loaded into BIDS. 

Here are the ordinary pass limits:

The percentages are all unchanged and the distance for the pass is the same as well.  So nothing new here. 

The Warrior Pass policy is pretty much staying the same as well.  This is the pass that allows you to stay in a hotel room off post during curfew.  It also allows you to stay in a off post home as well if you brought your non-command sponsored family with you to Korea.  However, there is one slight change, now even family members need to carry a Warrior Pass:

I would like to see how this is verified by MPs since many of the non-command sponsored wives are third country nationals.  Do the MPs start carding every third country national they see out past curfew? 

I have said it before, but I will reemphasize it here again the Warrior Pass should be revised to what it was just 6 years ago.  Back then a Warrior Pass meant the holder of the pass could stay out past curfew and additionally allowed these soldiers to go to an area like Hongdae.  The Warrior Passes were great because they created competition within the unit every week to get one of the limited number of Warrior Passes authorized for each unit.  Our unit First Sergeant was responsible for giving out the Warrior Passes and maintaining accountability of them.  My First Sergeant would only give a pass to soldiers that were doing a great job and were deserving of a Warrior Pass.  A side benefit of this that my unit First Sergeant really liked, was that it gave him even more leverage to influence soldier behavior when he was the holder of the coveted Warrior Passes. 

Will Warrior Passes end off post incidents?  No it won’t because the vast majority of soldiers who get in trouble off post are usually not top notch soldiers that could win a Warrior Pass to begin with.  Since they are not usually top soldiers that means they are more willing to bend the rules and get in trouble.  So if you have a curfew and off limits places you will still have that select few who will push their luck and think they can get away with it.  When they do break the rules they need to be slammed for it.  There is a saying in the Army that leaders spend 90% of their time dealing with the 10% of the problem soldiers in their unit and this 10% are the ones that get in trouble and unit leaders worth the rank on their uniform need to constantly supervise.  Since unit leaders have to constantly spend so much time dealing with this 10%, at least a Warrior Pass is a way to tangibly tell that other 90% doing the right thing that, hey we appreciate what you are doing and thus trust you enough to act like a responsible adult after curfew. 

The approval authority for the passes is staying the same with the unit commanders responsible for signing people out on leave, however with one caveat:

I am a big believer that all passes should go through the First Sergeant and then final approval of the Commander.  What this one exception causes is soldiers going on pass without being accounted for by the First Sergeant.  Only a certain percentage of soldiers can go on pass and by allowing staff officers to sign off on pass forms I can see soldiers slipping through the cracks and not being properly accounted for or counseled before going on pass.  Every soldier should look their First Sergeant and Commander in the eye before going on pass, not their staff captain at the office.  The soldiers of the staff sections of 2ID headquarters all have a First Sergeant and a Commander, let them do their jobs.

Here is part of the policy that alludes to one of my old tricks:

Hold a few random Saturday and Sunday formations and account for everyone in your unit.  You will be amazed by what you find out. 

Overall, this policy is nothing new.  It would be nice to see some bold and creative leadership for a change, but in 2ID just like in years past, bold and creative leadership is hard to find. 

From the Stars & Stripes:

The top U.S. commander in South Korea on Wednesday proposed immediately doubling the number of troops on accompanied tours in that country, and eventually shifting most troops with families to three-year tours there.

In testimony before the House Armed Services Committee, Army Gen. B.B. Bell also said he plans, in the near future, to give accompanied tour status to troops with unauthorized spouses in South Korea.

I think this is a great idea if approached correctly.  First of all more family housing on post needs to be built.  I wouldn’t increase the number of families in USFK if it meant more dependents living off post.  Most housing near USFK facilities are sub-standard plus USFK would run into landlords ripping off American families in a number ways that most of us who have been in Korea a few years know about.  Plus you have many young couples that are probably not mature enough to live off post on their own in a foreign country as well.  Also the force protection considerations of having that many family members living possibly off post needs to be considered.  Finally, the NEO plans would have to be updated and tested to see if they can accommodate the increased amount of family members this would need to be evacuated in case of hostilities on the peninsula. 

So great idea if approached right and facilities and built on post; could be a bad idea if these families are just sent to live in the ville and fend for themselves.  This is the scenario the hustler Korean land lords are probably praying for. 

You can read more on this at Lost Nomad.

Like the new marriage policy, I like the new battle buddy policy as well:

A revised 2nd Infantry Division “battle buddy” policy keeps the off-post system voluntary but spells out responsibilities and potential punishments.

The policy of leaving post with at least one other person remains “highly encouraged but not mandatory,” a phrase bolded and underlined in the policy letter signed by 2nd ID commander Maj. Gen. James Coggin and issued Friday.

However, commanders O-5 and above have the authority to impose mandatory battle-buddy restrictions on soldiers as they deem necessary.

If a commander does impose a mandatory battle-buddy policy, a soldier’s failure to look after a buddy “may be considered a dereliction of duty if the soldier knowingly or negligently fails to make reasonable efforts to intervene,” according to the policy.

But soldiers must not intervene if doing so would cause “increased danger” to others, the policy says.

The policy “doesn’t mean that (a soldier) will interfere with what ROK/U.S. law enforcement is doing,” said 2nd ID Staff Judge Advocate Lt. Col. Walt Hudson in a response to an e-mail query.

I have never been a fan of the mandatory battle buddy policy that has been used before in 2ID.  It should be encouraged but not mandatory which is what this policy is doing.  Here are some examples of why I don’t like mandatory enforcement.  What if you have a boy/girlfriend on another camp and want to meet he/she somewhere for a date, but you can’t leave your camp without a battle buddy.  Another example is that if you had a Korean boy/girlfriend, to go on a date you would have to have your battle buddy with you the whole time.  Another reason to not make it mandatory is that it give supervisors leverage on soldiers.  If a soldier is behaving poorly supervisors can counsel and recommend to the commander that the soldier should have a mandatory battle buddy. 

Now the punitive nature of the dereliction of duty for a soldier not keeping a battle buddy out of trouble will be interesting to see enforced.  I understand the spirit of it but I have to wonder about the practicality. 

Overall though, with all the other restrictions on 2ID soldiers at least they don’t need a battle buddy anymore. 

USFK Commander General B.B. Bell has released a statement recognizing the ROK Army sergeant killed by a terrorist bombing in Afghanistan:

“We mourn the loss of this brave soldier who died while rebuilding Afghanistan so that future generations there might enjoy the peace and liberty which have made Korea a beacon of freedom in Asia,” Gen. B.B. Bell said in a news release.

“On behalf of all USFK servicemembers, I express our deepest sympathies and condolences to his family,” he said in the release. “This tragedy reminds us all of the sacrifices made by all who risk their lives in the name of freedom, and we solemnly honor his memory.”

Classy statement by General Bell. 

Second Infantry Division Commander General Coggins has an interview in the Stars and Stripes defending his recent decision to implement a .10% blood alcohol policy.

Here is a picture from the 2ID Indianhead Newspaper showing the new cold weather gear being tested up in 2ID land:

Judging from the picture, this cold weather gear looks exactly like the old cold weather gear except a different color to match the new Army Combat Uniforms (ACUs).  Anyway I guarantee this cold weather gear is better than ROK Army cold weather gear: