Tag: USFK

The sentencing of these three soldiers may appear to be light but from my experience the sentences are consistent with what a Korean would have received in similar circumstances:

SEOUL, South Korea — Three 2nd Infantry Division soldiers were given suspended sentences Wednesday — essentially putting them on probation — for causing a drunken disturbance at a South Korean water park.
The division later issued a statement that said situations such as the May 31 incident at Everland theme park’s Caribbean Bay attraction undermine the volunteer work other 2ID soldiers perform in the community, from serving in soup kitchens to distributing coal and volunteering at orphanages.
“I will not allow careless acts of indiscipline to tarnish 2ID reputation and our strong relationship with our Korean neighbors,” division commander Maj. Gen. Thomas S. Vandal said in the statement.
Three Camp Casey-based soldiers — Pvt. Marcus Cobb, Pfc. Alex Wilkerson and Spc. Nicholas Myers — were sentenced to six months on convictions of obstruction of performance of official duties. (Stars and Stripes via reader tip)

You can read more at the link but the judge may have also considered the punishment the U.S. military will give to these soldiers which hopefully will include bars to reenlistment. We do not need people like this in the ranks that want to act like children instead of being the professionals they are expected to be.

Talk about a bunch of hyperbole from the mayor of Uijongbu:

The Uijeongbu mayor boycotted a friendship concert at Camp Red Cloud last week after a 2nd Infantry Division soldier allegedly assaulted a taxi driver.

A second incident further exacerbated simmering resentment among local residents at what they see as a never-ending string of crimes by American soldiers, said a spokesman for Mayor Ahn Byung Yong.

2ID commander Maj. Gen. Thomas Vandal apologized in writing and in a telephone conversation with Ahn. Brig. Gen. Richard Kim, assistant division commander for maneuver, met with the mayor.

The soldier, identified by Uijeongbu police as a sergeant, is suspected of assaulting a taxi driver shortly after midnight on Sept. 2 on a road near the base’s back gate. The driver was taken to a hospital after losing control and running onto a curb. No information on his injuries was available………….

Another soldier was accused of flirting with a 26-year-old South Korean woman around 10 p.m. on Sept. 7 at Hoeryong Station, one stop from Uijeongbu, then shoving her toward a wall………………

“I wouldn’t go so far as to say people can’t step out onto the street at night. But they are nervous, and they are scared (of U.S. soldiers),” he said.  [Stars & Stripes]

So two minor drunken incidents involving US soldiers means there is a crime wave and Koreans need to run in fear of every soldier they see?  With thousands of US soldiers stationed and rotating through Korea there is always going to be crime committed by US soldiers just like there is crime committed by Koreans.  Has the mayor eliminated all crime in Uijongbu? You know how many drunken Koreans I have seen on the subway push people?  Heck how many drunk ajushis have gotten into shoving matches just on the sidewalks?  Is the mayor going to grandstand and make an issue of that?

What matters in all of this is how these incidents are dealt with.  There is no doubt that the 2ID leadership takes these incidents very seriously and will comply with the SOFA to have them properly investigated compared to if a Korean gets pushed on the subway by another Korean likely nothing would ever come of it.

Next week the OPCON transfer talks are scheduled to continue:

Korea and the United States will hold a high-level defense meeting in Seoul next week to discuss the timing of the planned wartime operational control (OPCON) transfer, the defense ministry announced, Friday.

The Korea-U.S. Integrated Defense Dialogue (KIDD) is scheduled for Tuesday ahead of next month’s Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) in Washington, where the two nations’ defense ministers are expected to agree on the delayed handover.

The talks will be led by Ryu Je-seung, chief of the Office of Planning and Coordination at the defense ministry, and David Helvey, deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia.

“They will discuss proper conditions and the timeframe for the transfer,” the defense ministry said in a statement.

With the OPCON transfer slated for December 2015, Seoul asked the U.S. in May of last year to reconsider the process, citing continuing threats from North Korea. Then Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin and U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel agreed in October that the handover should be conducted depending on conditions on the Korean Peninsula, indicating the U.S. has all but agreed to Korea’s request.

The Korean side is reportedly attempting to push back the transfer five to seven years, until somewhere between 2020 and 2022.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.

For US military members in Korea with dependents be advised that the Courageous Channel exercise is coming up:

Military family members and a number of civilian employees in South Korea soon will take part in the annual Courageous Channel evacuation drill, essentially a dress rehearsal in case of war or natural disaster on the Korean peninsula.

The noncombatant evacuation exercise, frequently called NEO, will be from Sept. 15-Oct. 5 at various installations on the peninsula, U.S. Forces Korea announced Tuesday.

During the exercise, participants will undergo a walkthrough of a potential evacuation that will include NEO binder checks, briefings and practicing assembly and registration procedures at on-post NEO centers. All Department of Defense-affiliated noncombatants with a date eligible for return from overseas of Nov. 1, 2014 or later, including nonemergency essential U.S. government employees, are required to participate. [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link.

The North Koreans are making an attempt to try and draw a wedge between USFK and the South Korean public by making the claim that peace in our time would come if only the US military would withdraw from South Korea:

North Korea said Sunday that its relations with South Korea won’t improve unless the United States withdraws its troops from South Korea.

It is not unusual for Pyongyang to make such a demand, but the latest one came a day after North Korea fired three short-range missiles into the sea off the country’s east coast in what could be the latest show of force against Seoul.

Saturday’s firing marked the 19th time that North Korea has launched missiles or rockets this year, with the number of projectiles fired totaling 111, according to data of South Korea’s military.

“It is not possible to improve the North-South relations nor is it possible to achieve peace, reunification … as long as the U.S. military presence in South Korea is left intact,” the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea said in an English-language statement carried by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

That is what this Yonhap News report is claiming:

South Korea and the United States have agreed to make the Combined Forces Command (CFC) exempt from their plan to relocate U.S. troops until Seoul retakes wartime command of its forces from Washington, sources here said Thursday.

Seoul and Washington had been at odds over whether to move the CFC headquarters and its affiliated forces to Pyeongtaek, some 70 kilometers south of the capital, in accordance with their 2004 agreement to move the Yongsan Garrison, the sprawling U.S. military headquarters in central Seoul, and the 2nd Infantry Division stationed north of Seoul to the southern town by the end of 2016.

“The two sides have agreed to maintain the CFC in Yongsan, where it is currently located, until we regain the operational control (OPCON) from the U.S.,” a senior Seoul government source said, requesting anonymity.

The CFC, which has the command over South Korean and U.S. troops stationed here, was to be disbanded upon Seoul’s OPCON transfer in December 2015, but a bilateral agreement to delay the transfer has led the CFC to remain intact.

“Albeit temporarily, we, in fact, accepted the U.S. request to stay them in Seoul. The U.S. has proposed the CFC be an exception for the relocation plan, citing smooth policy coordination between the allies,” the source said.

“Though the U.S. wants to have most of its forces under the CFC stay in Yongsan, we have conveyed our position that it would not be possible. Discussions are under way about the size of the remaining forces,” he added.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link, but the ROK Defense Ministry are denying the report.  If true it will be interesting to see how large of a footprint will remain on Yongsan and will the commissary, PX, and other facilities remain open as well?

After the decision to created a combined US & ROK division the two allies now have differing views on whether there will be a residual force left behind in Area 1:

South Korean defense officials said Friday the U.S. will not leave residual forces near the Demilitarized Zone after it shifts most of its troops on the peninsula to southern regional hubs, while American officials didn’t rule out the prospect of leaving some troops behind “temporarily.”

The two statements reflect the sensitivities north of Seoul, where cities already have plans for the land that will be handed over as American forces vacate bases there.

The Ministry of National Defense’s announcement that no residual forces would remain in Area I came one day after the two allies said they would form a combined division next year.

The division will initially be headquartered in Uijeongbu but will eventually move to Pyeongtaek as part of the relocation; and be led by an American commander with a South Korean deputy. Officials from both countries said the creation of the combined division would not affect the relocation.

U.S. Forces Korea, however, issued a statement Friday that said “no decision has been made to temporarily keep a U.S. residual north of Seoul. As with other issues involving Alliance agreements, a decision to keep a residual U.S. force will be managed in a collaborative manner.”  [Stars & Stripes via reader tip]

You can read more at the link, but it will be interesting to see how USFK defines “temporary”.

I have always liked this idea of a combined division and it appears it will become a reality:

South Korea and the United States have agreed to establish a combined division of their troops next year that will be tasked with carrying out wartime operations, Seoul’s defense ministry said Thursday.

The unit, slated to be organized in the first half of next year, will be comprised of the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division and a South Korean brigade-level unit, according to the ministry.

The 2nd Division commander plans to head the newly-made joint staff of the combined unit, with South Korea’s brigadier general-level officer to be its vice chief, the ministry said, adding that an equal number of dozens of service personnel from the two sides will form the leadership.

“While being operated in a separate fashion in peacetime, the 2nd Division and the Korean brigade will carry out joint exercises when necessary,” a ministry official said, asking not to be named.

In time of war, the two entities will get together to carry out diverse “strategic operations” such as eliminating weapons of mass destruction as well as civil missions against North Korea, he noted, without elaborating further.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link, but the article says this will not impact the relocation of the 2ID to Camp Humphreys.  However, I wonder how it is going to impact the residual combat power in Area 1 that has long been discussed.

In recent years the US military has seen massacres committed by  fellow soldiers such as the 2009 Nidal Hasan and the 2014 Ivan Lopez shootings at Ft. Hood.  However, these recent massacres are not something new as an incident that happened over three decades ago in South Korea proves.  On June 5, 1981 soldiers from the 2nd Engineer Battalion were conducting an M-16 qualification range at Ingman Range on Camp Casey.  Ingman Range is named after Corporal Einar Ingman Jr. who was recognized with the Medal of Honor for heroic combat actions on February 26, 1951 while serving with the 7th Infantry Division.  During the battle he was seriously wounded and survived his wounds to become one of 39 living Medal of Honor recipients from the Korean War.

In recognition of Corporal Ingman’s combat actions the 2nd Infantry Division named Ingman Range in his honor.  Unfortunately a range that was named after someone so honorable would become the scene of possibly the most dishonorable act committed by soldiers of the 2nd Infantry Division.

As the 2nd Engineer Battalion soldiers conducted the M-16 range in 1981 everything started out quite normal.  Ingman Range has 8 firing points with two firers per foxhole with a Non-commissioned Officer (NCO) working as range safeties standing behind them.  However, an unusual feature of the range was that firing points 6, 7, and 8 are obscured from the range control tower due to terrain masking caused by the range being built on the slopes of Mt. Soyo. The website KoreaATourOfDuty.us has a 1968 picture of the steps leading up to these firing points on Ingman Range:

After the range control tower gave the command, firers in the foxholes began to engage their assigned targets on the range.  After the first round of firing the personnel in the tower saw something strange happen.  The white helmet that designated a range safety was seen rolling down the hill from between firing point 6 and 7.  The tower immediately called a halt to firing on the range.  The NCO range safety on firing point 6, Sergeant Bruce Cardinal ran up the steps to firing point 7 to see what was going on.  He was then shot and fell back down the hill.  Other soldiers rushed to him to give him first aid.  While first aid was being administered to SGT Cardinal, two soldiers Specialist Archie Bell and Private First Class Lacy Harrington were then seen walking down the steps from firing point 7 with Bell claiming there was a crazy man up on the hill shooting people.  Bell then fainted and was carried over to a shady area while the rest of the soldiers gathered on nearby bleachers.  By this time the Military Police had arrived and began to investigate the scene on the hill.  At firing point 7 they ended up finding 4 dead soldiers, 3 white and 1 Hispanic who had all died of gun shot wounds.  The names of the deceased soldiers were:

• SPC Ralph M. Clark
• SGT James M. Elliott
• PFC Richard L. Marteny
• (Could not locate the 4th name)

By this time SPC Bell had become the chief suspect because he had woken up shouting in Arabic and English “They are Devils” and that he did it.  He also told people to “Study Islam, then you’ll understand.  I took the first step, the rest is up to you.”  The wounded SGT Cardinal told the MPs that Bell had shot him and PFC Harrington would later tell investigators that Bell came down from firing point 8 and shot the scorer and safety NCO there after he had already shot the two people up on firing point 8.  Bell apparently did not shoot Harrington because he was his roommate, but told him to keep quiet about the killings. The fact that four non-black soldiers were killed by a black soldier with a Nation of Islam background who did not kill a black soldier caused immediate concern within USFK that this could be interpreted as a racial hatred incident.  In 1991 Richard Machamer wrote a detailed case study about the Ingman Range murders and how the Public Affairs Office (PAO) handled the messaging to ensure that it was not interpreted as a racial incident.  It appears that the PAO’s messaging worked because there was little state side news coverage of the killings and what stories there were did not dwell on the racial angle.  Here is an example of the limited news coverage of the massacre at the time:

[Times-News – June 6, 1981]

This link shows a Miami Herald article that provides another example of the limited news coverage this massacre received that trumpeted the messaging put out by USFK. The article also shed light on the fact that Bell was a 21 year old high school drop out from New Jersey who was considered “well adjusted” before joining the Army.  This “well adjusted” individual was ultimately arrested for the murders of four soldiers and the attempted murder of SGT Cardinal.  However, SPC Bell would never stand trial for the murders because a medical board met the same night of the murders and declared that he was crazy and lacked the capacity to appreciate the criminality of his conduct.

Armv Declares GI Insane SEOUL, South Korea (UPI) An American GI charged with shooting to death four fellow soldiers during rifle practice has been declared insane by an army sanity board, U.S. military authorities said Thursday. An army official indicated Spec. 4 Archie R. Bell would not be put on trial. He said the board Wednesday also found thai Bell, 21, of Long Beach, Calif., “does not possess sufficient mental capacity lo intelligently coop- crate in his own defense.” Bell apparently went berserk June 5 and was one of two soldiers who fired on a group of -10 men taking part in Ml 6 qualification firing on a rifle range. Four soldiers were killed and one wounded. Pvt. Lacy M. Harrington, 19, of Baltimore, Md., also has been charged in the shooting. Army officials said he, too. was examined by a sanity hoard, but no official report on those hearings have been released. He remains in custody of U.S. military authorities at the 8th Army confinement facility at Camp Humphrey, 40 miles south of Seoul. Bell was charged with four counts of murder and one count of attempted murder. The official said he will be transferred to the Eisenhower Army Medical Center at Fort Gordon. Ga., for further treatment.  [Syracuse Post Standard – June 19, 1981]

It is interesting that this diagnosis happened so quickly after the incident and coincided well with USFK not wanting this to be interpreted as a racial incident.  Plus Bell would not have to stand trial which could inflame racial tensions if he decided to take the stand and make provocative statements.  However, the diagnosis of Bell as being crazy would not end USFK’s racial tension concerns because it would later come out that Harrington may have been involved in the murders as well.

On June 9th Army investigators questioned Harrington after his account of what happened on the hill did not match the forensic evidence.  Faced with the ballistic evidence and then failing a polygraph test, Harrington admitted that Bell forced him to shoot the range safety on firing point 7, SGT James Elliott.  However, Bell would go on to maintain that he killed all four soldiers on firing point 7 and 8, but could not remember shooting SGT Cardinal who ran up the stairs to see what was going on.  As the investigation turned to focus on Harrington’s involvement, SGT Cardinal began to change his story as well.  Under hypnosis he began to remember that it was Harrington that shot him and not Bell as be had originally believed.  That fall Harrington would receive a court martial for murder and attempted murder and it would be the first time that hypnosis induced testimony would be used in a trial:

[Pacific Stars & Stripes – Nov. 4, 1981]

During the trial Bell was also brought in to testify against Harrington where he maintained that he killed all four soldiers on the firing points, but that Harrington shot SGT Cardinal.  Ultimately the jury convicted Harrington of unpremeditated murder and sentenced him to 20 years of confinement.

[Eugene Register Guard – Nov. 5, 1981]

However three years later in 1984 a military appeals court over threw the convictions due to the hypnosis induced testimony by SGT Cardinal.  Harrington was released from confinement in Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas with an honorable discharge from the Army.  So an admitted killer of a US Army NCO was set free and treated as if nothing had happened because Army prosecutors were dumb enough to enter hypnosis based witness testimony into the trial to support the attempted murder charge.

Whatever happened to PFC Lacy Harrington after the trial is unknown.  He is from Baltimore, Maryland and would be around 52 years old today. I was able to find this MyLife profile for a 52 year old Lacy Harrington living in Baltimore, but I have no idea if it is the same person.  It would probably be an interesting article if someone from the media was able to track him down and interview him about what happened that tragic day in 1981.  As far SPC Archie Bell, I could find nothing out about what he is doing today either.  I would hope he is still locked up in a mental institution somewhere for these murders.  Justice would not be served if both of these individuals are both walking free today.

As far as Ingman Range is concerned, today it is still used by soldiers of the 2nd Infantry Division stationed on Camp Casey:

The range has gone on to train thousands of soldiers each year living up to the honor shown by the range’s namesake CPL Einar Ingman.  Today what happened in 1981 has largely been forgotten by the US Army, but here on the ROK Drop the lives of the soldiers lost that day will not be forgotten.

Further Reading:

• 1981: GI Kills Fellow Soldiers
• An Incident in Korea: A Case Study of US Army Public Affairs Activities in Response to the Ingman Range Murders in 1981