John Kelly strongly — and successfully — dissuaded Trump in February from ordering the withdrawal of all U.S. troops from the Korean Peninsula, @NBCNews reports. This fits with accounts I heard about Trump throwing papers in the Oval, yelling about S.Koreahttps://t.co/JYqiqQHaqjpic.twitter.com/QBo6xHWu5K
In March of 1951 United States Forces Korea (USFK) was executing their annual Team Spirit exercise. Team Spirit was the major joint exercise held annually with the Republic of Korea (ROK) military from 1976 to 1993. Team Spirit ended in 1993 as part of the efforts to end the nuclear crisis with North Korea that began that year. Team Spirit exercised the logistics of supporting US warfighting units on the peninsula and joint operations between the US and ROK militaries.
In 1981 USFK held its largest ever Team Spirit exercise up to that point that featured 27,000 US military personnel stationed in Korea and 33,000 US military personnel from outside the peninsula. In addition to the US military personnel, over 100,000 ROK military servicemembers participated in the exercise as well. The April 8, 1981 Stars and Stripes called that year’s Team Spirit “the largest ground field maneuver exercise in the Free World”. This was the first Team Spirit exercise held during the Ronald Reagan administration where US and ROK ties had noticeable improved after much deterioration during the prior Carter administration.
The 1981 Team Spirit exercise featured a scenario where North Korea attacked southwest across the Han River which caused US and ROK forces to fight a delaying action southeast of the river. After completing the delaying action, US and ROK forces would then launch a counterattack to push the North Koreans north of the Han River again.
The Deadly Accident
On March 15, 1981 soldiers from Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 31st Mechanized Infantry (C/1-31IN) from the 2nd Infantry Division stationed in South Korea found themselves participating in the counterattack portion of the exercise. Their unit was participating in a river crossing exercise where their armored personnel carriers would cross a pontoon bridge constructed on the Namhan River outside of the city of Yeoju, 35 miles southeast of Seoul.
City of Yeoju located on the far bottom right and Seoul on the upper left. The Namhan River can be seen flowing north from Yeouju and connecting with the Han River that flows through Seoul.
Due to the many large rivers in South Korea, river crossing exercises are an extremely important skill to master. To this day river crossing exercises are conducted on major rivers in South Korea to include the Namhan River:
However, for the soldiers of C/1-31IN, the river crossing exercise executed during the 1981 Team Spirit exercise quickly turned deadly. 12 soldiers found themselves fighting for their lives when two armored personnel carriers fell into the frigid water when the pontoon bridge broke apart. Eight of the soldiers were rescued, but the accident ultimately cost the lives of four USFK soldiers. Sergeant Harry Pickins, age 26 of West Memphis, Arkansas was the first body recovered on the same day of the accident. He was assigned to the 17th Field Artillery battalion:
Stars & Stripes newspaper, March 21, 1981
The Stars & Stripes newspaper reported five days later that the body of 18-year old, Private First Class Philip Pidgeon from Carbondale, Pennsylvania had been recovered about one mile downstream from the accident site:
Stars & Stripes newspaper, March 26, 1981
Two weeks later the Stars & Stripes then reported that the body of 21-year old Sergeant Vernon Cude was recovered from the river:
Stars & Stripes newspaper, April 12, 1981
Sergeant Cude reportedly helped others to find their life vests before the cold water and fast current washed him away. The only other body that had not been recovered was of 22-year old Sergeant Gary Schlecht. Much like Sergeant Cude, he attempted to help save soldiers without life vests before the swift current washed him away. I could not find any additional articles in the Stars & Stripes archive reporting on whether Sergeant Schlecht’s body was eventually recovered. However, the Find A Grave website does have a memorial marker for Sergeant Schlecht in Dayton, Ohio.
Stars & Stripes newspaper, April 8, 1981
River Crossing Accidents in Korea
Unfortunately this accident would not be the last deadly river crossing accident in South Korea. The May 10th, 1985 Stars & Stripes newspaper reported that a US soldier lost his life when an armored personnel carrier fell off a pontoon bridge on the Imjim River. In 1998 four US soldiers and a Korean Augmentee to the US Army (KATUSA) lost their lives when once again an armored personnel carrier fell off a pontoon bridge on the Imjim River. It was this accident I remember being briefed to my unit when we conducted my first river crossing exercise on the Imjim River back in 2000. Safety was of the up most concern during every river crossing exercise I have ever done in Korea since then and fortunately there has been no other deadly accidents since 1998.
Remembering the tragic deaths during the 1981 Team Spirit exercise serves as a reminder of the importance of safety during potentially dangerous training and making sure all efforts are made to mitigate risk. I don’t know if everything was done to mitigate risk before this tragic accident in 1981, but leaders today owe it to the memories of those killed in tragic accidents like this to take all measures to prevent future accidents.
This South Korean farmer was lucky some US and ROK soldiers were nearby to assist him:
A team of South Korean and U.S. commandos participating in the Foal Eagle field training on Thursday provided assistance to an injured South Korean farmer south of Seoul, the allies’ command said.
The farmer in his 50s was injured and unconscious after an accident with his tractor, which turned over and caught fire, in the vicinity of Yeongcheon, North Gyeongsang Province.
“The special operations professionals provided first aid and stabilized the man, as well as extinguished the fire and ensured the area was safe,” the Combined Forces Command said.
The U.S. service members were in Korea from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, participating in the joint Foal Eagle drill that started on April 1 for a four-week run. [Yonhap]
Comedian Jon Stewart relays an audience question during a USO show at Osan Air Base, South Korea, Monday, April 23, 2018.
Comedian Jon Stewart and a host of other celebrities that included a country music singer and a TV chef entertained troops Monday evening at the home of the 51st Fighter Wing.
Servicemembers packed Osan’s Enlisted Club for the USO show, which kicked off with a monologue by Stewart followed by a one-on-one basketball lesson from former Detroit Piston Richard “Rip” Hamilton.
Things shifted into high gear when chef Robert Irvine challenged anyone in the audience to knock out 100 pushups before he could grill a steak. Irvine easily won, and later gave Stars and Stripes some tips on how to beat him. [Stars & Stripes]
Via a reader tip comes news that the ROK military may finally be the ones to end the ridiculous blockade of the THAAD site in Seongju:
South Korea’s defense ministry said Thursday it is mulling an alternative to dialogue with activists and residents near the U.S. military’s new missile defense base on the peninsula.
They have been blocking the transport of construction materials and equipment into the THAAD site in Seongju, North Gyeongsang Province, for months.
They are concerned that the military will expand helipads and other facilities associated with military operations in the compound.
The Ministry of National Defense stressed that it’s urgent to improve the living conditions of hundreds of American and South Korean troops there with no adequate amenities.
“In connection with the deployment of the THAAD system, we have tried to respect residents’ opinion as much as possible, abide by democratic procedures and maintain transparency,” the ministry’s spokeswoman Choi Hyun-soo said at a press briefing.
However, it’s believed to be difficult to resolve the issue through dialogue, she said, adding that the military plans to seek a “necessary measure.”
The statement was a de facto ultimatum, although no deadline has been set publicly.
It heralds a police operation to disperse the protesters and clear the way for the delivery. A fierce physical clash is expected. [Yonhap]
Pyongyang’s goal might be to negotiate away our missile defenses, air power & nuclear umbrella while keeping plenty of American targets in range as hostages. It wd give S Koreans a false sense of security as their gov't gives in to NK’s political demands. https://t.co/WLLlno5U8L
This seems like a long time after the fact to be complaining to the ROK Defense Ministry to clean up soil pollution:
Camp Sears in 2005.
The city government of Uijeongbu, north of Seoul, has demanded the defense ministry conduct an examination into soil contamination at a former U.S. military base site in the city, officials said Tuesday.
The Uijeongbu city government bought the former Camp Sears site from the defense ministry in 2012 after the land was returned to the ministry in 2007 under a base consolidation and relocation plan, known as the Land Partnership Program (LPP).
Nine oil tanks had existed on the base to supply oil to other American bases north of Seoul. When the site was returned, most of the land was contaminated, with total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) levels up to 73 times the maximum permissible levels.
The ministry commissioned the Korea Environment Corporation to clean up the site from 2009 and 2012 before the Uijeongbu city government purchased the land as part of a project to establish an administrative complex housing public and government agencies.
Last month, the city broke ground at the site to build a fire department headquarters.
But the construction was halted recently as oil residue was found at the site. Tests were conducted on samples taken from four locations at the site, and two of them had TPH levels of 836 mg per kilogram and 585 mg/kg, which is higher than the permissible 500 mg/kg, officials said. [Korea Times]
You can read the rest at the link, but the ROK Defense Ministry wants tests to be done to prove the pollution is from military activity and not from someone dumping it there after the handover. Camp Sears was closed all the way back in 2005 and it was no secret that fuel tanks were on the base. Here is a 2011 picture of the fuel tanks from after the closure of Camp Sears:
You would think that the city would have done a thorough inspection for pollution around the old fuel tanks. On the old site of Camp Sears a number of government offices were built after its closure and maybe the ROK Defense Ministry is concerned that construction companies were dumping waste on that side of the camp?
I wonder what the backstory to this relief of command is? It seems when colonels get relieved it is because of infidelity or getting arrested for something:
Col. Kerry Proulx, commander of Osan Air Base’s 51st Mission Support Group, has been relieved due to a loss of confidence in her ability to effectively lead, according to the Air Force.
The commander of a support unit at America’s largest air base in South Korea has been relieved of her duties, an Air Force statement said.
Col. Kerry Proulx, commander of the Osan-based 51st Mission Support Group, was relieved Friday due to a loss of confidence in her ability to effectively lead, the statement said.
“This was a tremendously difficult and unfortunate decision to make, but it’s the right direction for the 51st Fighter Wing,” Col. William Betts, the wing’s commander, said in the statement.
Officials wouldn’t give specifics as to why Betts lost confidence in Proulx, who had been overseeing 2,600 personnel in the support group’s five squadrons, including security forces since July 2016. [Stars & Stripes]
Here is the latest on the US-ROK cost sharing talks:
The United States has demanded South Korea share the cost of deploying U.S. strategic assets around the Korean Peninsula during recent talks to renew their cost-sharing agreement for American troops stationed here, a foreign ministry official said Friday.
Seoul rejected the request saying the issue should not be part of the negotiation.
“Our basic stance on this matter is that the agreement deals with how to share the upkeep cost of stationing the U.S. troops,” the official told a group of reporters on condition of anonymity.
The two sides held their second round of the talks on the southern island of Jeju earlier this week. The first round was held in Hawaii last month.
The official said that there are “big differences” to be ironed out in the amount of money proposed by each side, which he said requires more discussion going forward. He didn’t provide specific numbers.
With regard to another potential issue of how to share the cost of operating the U.S. THAAD anti-missile system that was installed here last year, he said it was not mentioned in the meeting.
He noted, however, that the matter could be discussed as the cost of the THAAD operation could be dealt with in line with the “logistical support” part stipulated in the agreement. [Yonhap]
I feel bad for workers being laid off because of the planned relocation of the 2nd Infantry Division, but this is something that has been known for many years and should not be a surprise to anyone:
DONGDUCHEON, South Korea, April 8 (Yonhap) — Many South Koreans working at a major U.S. military base in Dongducheon, north of Seoul, are likely to be laid off within the year due to its planned relocation to the southwestern city of Pyeongtaek, their union said Sunday.
The U.S. 2nd Infantry Division notified the union of its plan to dismiss South Korean workers at Camp Casey in the city last month, according to official sources.
But the U.S. Force Korea (USFK) has yet to disclose the scale or timing of the declared layoffs, the union said. It added that the USFK is reportedly to maintain the total number of workers at U.S. bases across the nation at some 8,000 by September and cut this to some 7,750 in the latter half of the year.
Most of the workers are doing odd jobs like cleaning, with a considerable number of them being the breadwinners of four-member families and receiving just under 40 million won (US$37,418) per annum, the union said.
The USFK has not given any prior account of whom will be fired thus far as South Korean workers belonging to the USFK are not subject to the domestic labor law but come under the jurisdiction of the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), signed between the two nations, the union said.
According to the SOFA, the USFK are only required to give notice 45 days in advance before dismissals, with no explanations needed, it added. [MSN via reader tip]
City of Yeoju located on the far bottom right and Seoul on the upper left. The Namhan River can be seen flowing north from Yeouju and connecting with the Han River that flows through Seoul.
Stars & Stripes newspaper, March 21, 1981
Stars & Stripes newspaper, March 26, 1981
Stars & Stripes newspaper, April 12, 1981
Stars & Stripes newspaper, April 8, 1981
