Tag: US military

I have stated repeatedly that after a North Korean regime collapse that the ROK military should be the ones to secure North Korea not the US military.  Documents like this that advocate for 150,000 US troops in North Korea is why the Chinese government keeps the Kim regime in power.  Does anyone think the Chinese want 150,000 US troops that may potentially be there long term on their northeastern border?  What would people in the US think if 150,000 Chinese just parked themselves in Tijuana?

An additional 150,000 U.S. troops would be necessary to cope with the aftermath in the event of North Korea’s collapse, such as securing the communist nation’s nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction, a U.S. think tank said Tuesday.

“North Korea might suddenly collapse — either as a result of war or the failure of its economy and government. After such a collapse, a key U.S. concern would be to find, seize, secure, and remove its WMD, in particular its nuclear weapons,” RAND Corp. said in a report, titled “Building the Army We Will Need.”

“In such an event, the greatest burden would likely fall on U.S. forces to eliminate these weapons … We estimate that a North Korean collapse would require an additional 150,000 U.S. troops over and above the forces already stationed and presumed to be available in the Asia-Pacific region,” it said.  [Yonhap]

You can read the rest at the link.

I guess it is okay to wear the uniform to support social causes now:

What was supposed to be a photo to decorate the 1st Armored Division’s room for nursing mothers has gone viral online.

The photo, taken Thursday at Fort Bliss, Texas, shows 10 soldiers in uniform breastfeeding their children.

“We are officially trending on Facebook. It’s crazy,” said Tara Ruby, the photographer behind the image and a former airman who is married to a soldier.

“Today I believe we made history,” Ruby wrote on her Facebook page. “To my knowledge, a group photo to show support of active-duty military mommies nursing their littles has never been done. It is so nice to see support for this here at Fort Bliss.”  [Army Times]

You can read more at the link.

The Stars & Stripes profiled a book released this month by Megan MacKenzie titled “Beyond the Band of Brothers: The U.S. Military and the Myth that Women Can’t Fight”.  Here is the part of the article that shows this author knows little about what she is advocating for:

MacKenzie acknowledges differences between the sexes but objects to them being cited as evidence of women’s inferiority for combat positions.

“It’s starting to get old,” she said. “We keep going back to women and men are different but ignoring that warfare is also different and physical standards also potentially need to be adapted. Most militaries around the world are adapting the physical standards because war has changed so much. Just basing standards around measuring the fitness of an average 23-year-old male doesn’t tell us much about whether someone can be a combat soldier.”

Debate over physical standards also ignores that in recent years many women have been in de facto combat positions, particularly those who were in cultural support teams attached to Special Forces and Ranger teams in Afghanistan, she said. Many received combat-action badges. Some were wounded. Two died during direct-action raids.  [Stars & Stripes]

Unless exo-skeletons are invented fitness will remain a top requirement for an infantry soldier.  Serving in the infantry is physically hard and women are at a biological disadvantage.  I have no doubt that the few exceptions like 1LT Shaye Haver and CPT Kristen Griest who recently graduated from Ranger School would be welcomed in the infantry if that is what they wanted to do.

MacKenzie like other advocates before her also continue to cite female engagement teams as evidence women can serve in the infantry and special forces.  Female engagement teams did not do the grinding daily work of infantrymen and special forces; they had their purpose and they executed it well and their purpose was not to do infantry work.  Also being in a combat position and earning a CAB is also not evidence that someone can serve in the infantry.  She is basically making an argument that sounds good to people who have never served in the military before, but those of us who have served know better.

If at your next SHARP training session you get taught that it is not okay for you to go to spouses in your unit and kiss them on the lips this is why:

As Congress wrangled with the growing clamor over sexual misconduct in the military in 2013, a Fort Bragg commander made it a practice to give the wives of subordinates unwelcome kisses on the lips at public events.

After an anonymous letter was sent to the commander’s superiors, a subsequent investigation led to his removal from his job. But he stayed in the military and was allowed to quietly retire in April 2015 – more than two years after the initial complaint about his conduct.

An Army investigation – triggered by an anonymous letter to Lt. Gen. Daniel Allyn, commander of the 18th Airborne Corps at the time – reveals that Col. Chad McRee, former commander of the 16th Military Police Brigade, violated five of eight core expectations for Army leaders, made inappropriate remarks toward officers and noncommissioned officers and was unfairly authoritative toward Family Readiness Group members, officers and noncommissioned officers. [Fayetteville Observer]

You have to read the whole thing at the link to appreciate how outrageous this Colonel and his wife’s behavior was in regards to spouses in their unit.

1967 is when the first US-South Korea Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) was signed which handed over legal jurisdiction of crimes committed by US troops while off duty to the Korean authorities.  The most serious case that was first tried in a Korean court involving a US servicemember was the 1967 murder of Chun-ja Kim by Private Eugene D. Taylor.  Taylor was a cook assigned to Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry DIvision.  Taylor was just days away from completing his tour of duty in Korea when he arrested for the murder of his Korean girlfriend on November 5, 1967.

From the November 27, 1967 edition of the Stars & Stripes.

Before redeploying to the US, Pvt. Taylor decided to go on a drunken bender at his girlfriend’s residence.  For some reason during his drunken bender he decided to strangle and kill his Korean girlfriend, Chun-ja Kim that he supposedly had plans to return to Korea to marry.  He committed this murder two days before redeploying to the US.  This just shows that even back in the 1960’s soldiers at high risk of getting in trouble are those within 30 days of going home.  It also shows that the old Korean complaint of GIs committing crimes in Korea and then getting away with them by flying back to the US was also not true back then.

From the February 8, 1968 edition of the Stars & Stripes.

The landlord of the home that Ms. Kim lived at discovered the body in the morning along with Taylor bleeding with a neck wound.  He claims that when he woke up and discovered Kim’s dead body that he tried to commit suicide by slashing his neck with a piece of broken glass.  It appears he was drunk enough to kill someone else, but not drunk enough to kill himself.

From the March 7, 1968 edition of the Stars & Stripes.

Ultimately Pvt Taylor was convicted of the murder of Ms. Kim and sentenced to 8 years in a Korean prison.  It seems like a pretty lenient sentence, but the Korean court took into consideration the mitigating circumstances of him being a soldier deployed to defend Korea and the fact he was drunk.  So being drunk back in the 60’s was considered a mitigating circumstance just like it is today in Korean courts.

From the April 11, 1968 edition of the Stars & Stripes.

Taylor’s crime is now long forgotten in the dustbins of USFK history, but he does have the dubious distinction of being the first American servicemember convicted and sentenced for murder in a South Korean court.  This case shows that US servicemembers were held accountable for the crimes in Korean courts back then and continue to be held accountable today.

Note: You can read more GI Flashbacks articles by clicking on the below link: 

The height of the “DMZ War” was between 1967-1972 where a number of provocations by the North Koreans killed dozens of US troops.  However, if there was an event that could be looked back at as the start of the DMZ War it would probably be the 1963 Jeep ambush.  In the early morning of July 29, 1963 three soldiers from A Troop, 1st Recon Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division were driving down a dirt road 50 yards south of the Korean Demilitarized Zone to relieve a guard post.  As they passed over a bridge they were ambushed by a 5-7 man North Korean squad.  They used small arms fire and grenades which killed the driver and caused the Jeep to rollover into a minefield.  The three soldiers in the Jeep did not stand a chance at being able to defend themselves from this cowardly ambush.  The below picture of the acting 1st Cavalry Division Commander Brigadier General Charles Pershing Brown sums up how angry American soldiers at the time had to be about this ambush:

The attack made front page news back in the US because it was the first time the North Koreans had launched an attack on the South side of the DMZ:

Here is how the Stars & Stripes initially reported on the ambush:

What I find fascinating about this incident is that the US responded to the North Korean provocation much the same way we still do today, with United Nations letters and harsh rhetoric that was so famously lampooned in the movie “Team America: World Police“.  A follow on Stars & Stripes article would provide further information about the attack to include naming the casualties:

The two soldiers killed in the attack were:

• Private First Class Charles T. Dessert, 19 of Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania
• Private David A. Seller, 24 of Theresa, Wisconsin

Here is an article with David Seller’s picture on it that was sent to the Korean War Educator by his family:

Here is a picture of his flag draped coffin during his funeral in Wisconsin:

Here is another article with a picture of the other deceased soldier Private First Class Charles Dessert:

The wounded soldier from this attack was:

• Private First Class William L. Foster, 26 of Baltimore, Maryland

Amazingly Foster survived the attack despite being shot in the chest, hip, abdomen, and hand.  Doctors at a hospital set up a Kimpo Airfield were able to extract three of the four bullets.  The fourth bullet was lodged next to his spine so the doctors decided to leave it there.  What is even more amazing about Foster is that he fought and was wounded at the age of 15 in the Korean War as well:

Here is a picture of him as paratrooper in the Korean War via Getty Images:

He may be the only US soldier ever wounded in both the Korean War and the DMZ War.  I could not find out what ever happened to William Foster, but I hope he is living a long life right now to make up for the tribulations he went through in Korea as a young man.  He would probably be a fascinating interview if he is still alive and a journalist was able to track him down.

Anyway the next day after the attack that killed Dessert and Seller and wounded Foster, a four man North Korean patrol was found south of the DMZ.  The US and ROK forces were able to kill the four man infiltration team, but not before another US soldier and a Korean soldier were also dead:

The US soldier killed in the attack was:

• Corporal George F. Larion

Corporal Larion was a member of the 1st Cavalry Division and received posthumously a Bronze Star Medal for his actions during the engagement with the North Korean infiltrators.  Another soldier, Sergeant Abraham W. McManus also received a Bronze Star Medal during the same attack.

All of this combat happened just two days after the 10 year anniversary of the signing of the armistice to end the Korean War.  It was pretty clear that the North Koreans were using the date to send a symbolic message to the US much like they continue to use significant dates to signify provocations to this day.  Their provocations today have only been deadly against the Korean military, however as history has shown the North Koreans will attack US military members if they feel they can get away with it.  Obviously in 1963 and throughout the DMZ War period the Kim regime at the time felt comfortable that they could commit these provocations with little blow back due to the US being tied down in Vietnam and their support from China and the Soviet Union.  If the North Koreans today develop a reliable nuclear weapon capability would they feel confident again that they could launch attacks against US soldiers with little blow back?  Time will tell, but for soldiers serving in Korea today, this attack 1963 should serve as a reminder of what the Kim regime is capable of.

For more DMZ Flashpoints articles please click the below link:

GI Flashbacks is a continuing series of articles here on the ROK Drop that chronicles important events and incidents involving US military servicemembers in Korea.  Learn more about the servicemembers and events that have shaped the US-ROK alliance as we know it today at the below links:

• The 2006 Dongducheon Taxi Brawl
• The 2005 Osan Shakedown Scandal
• The 2004 Taxi Cab Rape Case
• The 2004 Shinchon Stabbing Incident
• The 2002 Seoul Subway Kidnapping
• The 2002 Armored Vehicle Accident
• The 2000 Yongsan Water Dumping Scandal
• The 1999 Murder of SFC Jeanne Balcombe
• The 1995 Seoul Subway Brawl
• The 1992 Private Kenneth Markle Murder Case
• The 1982 Defection of Private First Class Joseph White
• The 1981 Ingman Ranger Massacre
• The 1981 Deadly River Crossing Accident
• The 1973 Camp Page Helicopter Crash
• The 1971 Anjeong-ri Race Riots
• The 1970 Camp Red Cloud Motorpool Hanging
• The 1967 Eugene Taylor Murder Case
• The 1967 Specialist John Vaughn Homicide Case
• The 1967 Trial of Staff Sergeant Billy Cox
• (1957) The True Story of How Camp Red Cloud Received Its Name

DMZ Flashpoints is my ongoing series of articles chronicling the various incidents over the years that have occurred along the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).  A popular saying is that there is no “D” in DMZ and these decades of deadly incidents long the DMZ is proof of that.  Using newspaper archives I have been able to reconstruct the events of what happened in these incidents all those years ago.  You can learn more about these incidents and the brave servicemembers who gave their lives in defense of South Korea at the below links:

• The 2002 West Sea Naval Battle
• The 1987 KAL 858 Bombing
• The 1984 JSA Shootout
• The 1983 Hijacking of CAAC Flight 296 to Camp Page
• The 1976 DMZ Axe Murder Incident
• The 1969 Truck Ambush
• The 1969 Hijacking of Korean Airlines YS-11
• The 1969 EC-121 Shootdown
• The Deadly 1968 Truck Ambush
• The 1968 USS Pueblo Incident
• The 1968 Blue House Raid
• The 1967 Camp Liberty Bell Attack
• The 1967 Landmine Attacks
• The 1967 Work Detail Ambush
• The 1967 Camp Walley Barracks Bombing
• The Deadly 1966 DMZ Ambush
• The 1963 Jeep Ambush

The Stars & Stripes has a report stating that troops still feel like they are being retaliated against for reporting sexual assaults:

Too little progress has been made in countering perceptions of retaliation felt by those who report a sexual assault, and all the services must take measures to protect victims and others who report wrongdoing from reprisals, especially from peers, Pentagon officials concluded from an annual report on sexual assault in the military.

About two thirds of female troops who are sexually assaulted and report those attacks believe they experience retaliation afterward, according to the report.

“We’re not making enough progress on countering retaliation,” Defense Secretary Ash Carter said at a news conference when the report was released Friday. “Too many servicemembers, the data shows, feel that when they report or try to stop these crimes, they’re being retaliated against in some way.”

The retaliation numbers, which are unchanged from 2012, come from a survey done late last year, and were first released in December. At the time, then-Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced new training and an additional study designed in part to prevent retaliation.  [Stars & Stripes]

I think to really understand this issue you have to define what retaliation is?  Is retaliation the command going after you with UCMJ and other measures or is it simply people in the unit not talking to you?  With an issue like sexual assault people may be uncomfortable talking to someone who made a report and that could be interpreted by someone as being retaliation.

One of the criticism often claimed by anti-USFK activists is that US soldiers commit crimes and not be tried in Korean courts.  This is of course ridiculous, but it was a claim often made by Koreans especially during the 2002 anti-US movement period.  This claim had no truth to it stretching all the way back to 1967.  It was in 1967 that a US-ROK Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) was reached that allowed US troops to be tried in Korean courts.  Before then crimes committed by US troops were handled by US military court martials.  When the SOFA was agreed upon back in 1967 it was only a matter of time before someone became the first US servicemember tried in a Korean court.  That person would end up being US Air Force Staff Sergeant Billy Cox:

Billy Cox was arrested for crimes that are amazingly similar to stupid crimes committed by US servicemembers to this day.  SSgt Cox on the night of February 20, 1967 was accused of setting fire to the home of his Korean girlfriend named Kyung-soon Eum who lived in Osan.  He was alleged to have set the fire because he found out Eum had been cheating on him with another man.  After setting the fire he was then accused of assaulting a cab driver.  Considering all the incidents with cab drivers in recent years, it is only fitting that the first servicemember case handled by Koreans courts was a taxi cab related incident.  Here is how the March 10, 1967 Stars & Stripes described the incident:

As the case went to trial the Korean prosecutors asked the Seoul court to sentence SSgt Cox to three years in a Korean jail.  Here is how the June 7, 1967 Stars & Stripes described the trial:

The trial ended with SSgt Cox being acquitted on the arson charge, but convicted of assaulting the cab driver. He was given a 50,000 won fine by the court which was about $185 back in 1967.  So if there was ever a trivia question asking what crime the first US servicemember tried in a Korean court was convicted of, it would be for assaulting a cab driver all the way back in 1967.  Good luck though getting an anti-US activist in Korea to ever believe it.

Note: You can read more GI Flashbacks articles by clicking on the below link: