thedrifter
03-07-07, 01:35 PM
Commander seeks 3-year Korea tours
By William H. McMichael - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Mar 7, 2007 12:37:53 EST
The general who commands all U.S. troops in South Korea said Wednesday he wants to stretch normal tours of duty from one year to three and authorize all married U.S. troops assigned there to bring their families.
Army Gen. Burwell Bell, commander of U.S. Forces Korea, also told the House Armed Services Committee that he wants to change the status of 2,000 family members now in South Korea classified as noncommand-sponsored — that is, in country without military authorization and with limited access to U.S. facilities such as health clinics — to an authorized or “accompanied” status.
“It’s time for us to transition from a one-year combat rotation … to a normal three-year kind of tour,” Bell said.
Bell said that despite “highly provocative” actions by North Korea during the past year — referring to ballistic missile launches — he feels “extremely confident” in the Republic of Korea army’s capability to defend South Korea, in concert with U.S. ground, air and naval forces.
He noted that U.S. forces are gradually moving south, away from the demilitarized zone, as the U.S.-led Korea command moves to cede wartime operational control of South Korean for the first time since 1950, a move due to be completed by 2012. The move will take U.S. forces — and, if approved, their families — further from the conventional threat North Korean forces pose, he said.
Such a change, Bell said, would help build the U.S.-South Korean alliance “one family at a time.” And, he added, “It would do right by our families.”
About 2,900 family members currently are authorized to live in South Korea with their military sponsors, generally in areas well away from the demilitarized zone, Bell said. About 29,000 U.S. troops are now in South Korea, down from about 37,000 four or five years ago.
Maintaining the status quo that prevents most troops from bringing their families with them to Korea contributes to “several debilitating realities,” Bell said in a written statement provided to the committee. “We are needlessly separating our families from their service members — service members who are already relentlessly rotating from their bases in the United States and Europe to repeated combat tours.
“Given the nature of the Global War on Terrorism, most political-military analysts predict that the U.S. military will continue rotational commitments to combat zones for years to come. We are needlessly contributing to increased rotational turbulence by continuing short tours in a modern Korea.”
Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., ranking Republican on the armed services committee, asked Bell whether such a change would be a wise move in light of continuing concerns over North Korea’s nuclear weapons development.
“It is not unusual for families of service members to be under the arc of nuclear weapons,” Bell replied, referring to the stationing of family members in Western Europe during the Cold War.
Ellie
By William H. McMichael - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Mar 7, 2007 12:37:53 EST
The general who commands all U.S. troops in South Korea said Wednesday he wants to stretch normal tours of duty from one year to three and authorize all married U.S. troops assigned there to bring their families.
Army Gen. Burwell Bell, commander of U.S. Forces Korea, also told the House Armed Services Committee that he wants to change the status of 2,000 family members now in South Korea classified as noncommand-sponsored — that is, in country without military authorization and with limited access to U.S. facilities such as health clinics — to an authorized or “accompanied” status.
“It’s time for us to transition from a one-year combat rotation … to a normal three-year kind of tour,” Bell said.
Bell said that despite “highly provocative” actions by North Korea during the past year — referring to ballistic missile launches — he feels “extremely confident” in the Republic of Korea army’s capability to defend South Korea, in concert with U.S. ground, air and naval forces.
He noted that U.S. forces are gradually moving south, away from the demilitarized zone, as the U.S.-led Korea command moves to cede wartime operational control of South Korean for the first time since 1950, a move due to be completed by 2012. The move will take U.S. forces — and, if approved, their families — further from the conventional threat North Korean forces pose, he said.
Such a change, Bell said, would help build the U.S.-South Korean alliance “one family at a time.” And, he added, “It would do right by our families.”
About 2,900 family members currently are authorized to live in South Korea with their military sponsors, generally in areas well away from the demilitarized zone, Bell said. About 29,000 U.S. troops are now in South Korea, down from about 37,000 four or five years ago.
Maintaining the status quo that prevents most troops from bringing their families with them to Korea contributes to “several debilitating realities,” Bell said in a written statement provided to the committee. “We are needlessly separating our families from their service members — service members who are already relentlessly rotating from their bases in the United States and Europe to repeated combat tours.
“Given the nature of the Global War on Terrorism, most political-military analysts predict that the U.S. military will continue rotational commitments to combat zones for years to come. We are needlessly contributing to increased rotational turbulence by continuing short tours in a modern Korea.”
Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., ranking Republican on the armed services committee, asked Bell whether such a change would be a wise move in light of continuing concerns over North Korea’s nuclear weapons development.
“It is not unusual for families of service members to be under the arc of nuclear weapons,” Bell replied, referring to the stationing of family members in Western Europe during the Cold War.
Ellie