Tag: PATRIOT

Congratulations to Major Lee for the command assignment and I hope she does well:

A female battery commander has been appointed for the first time in Korean air defense history. Maj. Lee Yeong-mi, selected on Jan. 6, will lead the Patriot artillery unit.

Although the Air Defense Artillery School has had a female battery commander in the past, her appointment is unprecedented because as a commander, Major Lee will be in charge of military operations.

Lee grew up in a military family and long dreamed of becoming an officer. As a child, she often listened to the war stories of her grandfather, who fought for the South during the 1950-53 Korean War.

“I wanted to devote myself to my country, following in the footsteps of my grandfather, and protect it,” Lee said.

She ultimately chose to join the Air Force under her family’s influence. Her father, Lee Seong-kyo, was an Air Force aviation maintenance sergeant when he was discharged from the Army, and her younger brother, Lee Jong-jin, is an Air Force master sergeant.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link, but it wasn’t that long ago that females in the ROK military were the ones fetching the coffee, so this is another example of how quickly things in Korea can change.

It looks like 35th ADA has wore out their welcome in Gwangju, actually I don’t think they were ever welcomed to begin with:

A battery of U.S. Patriot missiles stationed in the Gwangju area will be moved to Waegwan in North Gyeongsang Province by December, it emerged Thursday. U.S. Forces Korea command plans to relocate the 16 PAC-3 missiles, the 450-member 35th Air Defense Artillery Brigade 2-1 and two air defense batteries.

The missiles were moved to Gwangju in Novermber 2004 despite violent protests from anti-American organizations, university students and labor groups, and there is speculation that the move is a belated response to them. But U.S. officials say the move is strategically motivated and has nothing to do with anti-American sentiment. The chief of the air defense unit, Lt.-Col. Marcus Black, met with Gwangju leaders at the base on Aug. 18 to reveal the plans. It is understood that Black would not comment whether the relocation had anything to do with local resentment.

The relocation of the Patriot missiles to Gwangju came after Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff requested that the U.S. deploy the missiles there to protect the Gwangju Air Base. The USFK deplays a total of 64 Patriots at bases in Suwon, Osan, Gunsan and Gwangju.

It wasn’t a very good idea to put PATRIOT’s in Gwangju to begin with because of the anti-Americanism and communist sympathies down there, but incidents like February’s Gochu-gate incident didn’t help matters either. As far as defending the city from North Korean attack, I don’t think the Korean government is to concerned about that because if the North Koreans bombed Gwangju it would be like bombing one of their own cities.