By The Stars and Stripes has a good article today showing the various viewpoints from airmen stationed on Kunsan Airbase in regards to the restriction they have been hit by due to a taxi cab related incident from this past weekend. Here is what one of the airmen had to say they were told the reason was for the lock down:
Airmen said their unit leaders told them the measure was ordered partly to protect them from “retaliation†from any angry South Koreans, and to avert possible violence against South Koreans by U.S. servicemembers who might be angered over last week’s Virginia Tech shootings. The killer in that deadly rampage was South Korean.
If the Kunsan leadership was so worried about retaliation from the airmen against South Korean civilians over the Virginia Tech shooting than why didn’t they lock the camp down after the shooting? Additionally if they are so concerned about retaliation from South Koreans over the latest taxi cab related incident than why aren’t other USFK camps closed down when a taxi cab related incident happens?Â
I’m not sure what the context of the lock down is because there may be more alcohol related incidents that have happened on Kunsan that we don’t know about, but usually lock downs are used to create the appearance that the command is "doing something". I have seen these lock downs used before and what happens is that the guys that were locked down usually show an improvement in off post conduct, but after a few months a bunch of people PCS and are replaced with an equal number of new guys who all have heard wild stories about the ville in Korea and are ready to do a thunder run or two once they hit the country, but the only thing they end up hitting is the blotter. It is those new guys who get in trouble and screw all the guys that got hit with the prior lock down. Additionally the guys that are just a few days from PCSing are equally as likely to screw everyone else as well.Â
I have never been an advocate of lock downs because they are only a short term solution to the bigger problems that are never addressed.
8:40 am on April 28th, 2007 1
Since the quote about retaliation is only hears ay from airmen, I will not go totally ballistic. What a stupid comment if true. I think the group of current military leaders are a bunch of losers. I have heard of no case of retaliation against Koreans for VT and for someone to insinuate that American Servicemen will go out and hurt Koreans is just ridiculous and shows a real tin ear. Now Koreans can defame USFK as potential vengence seekers, nice job
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9:15 am on April 28th, 2007 2
[...] Drop: Kunsan AB Restriction ContinuesPosted 2 hours agoThe Stars and Stripes has a good article today showing the various viewpoints from [...]
9:30 am on April 28th, 2007 3
What a joke. Mass punishment is just a reflection of a poor command climate and inept leadership.
Lockdowns are an easy way out, they allow the people in charge to look like they are taking decisive action without actually investing any mental energy into analyzing the problem and dealing with it appropriately.
Marcus
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10:09 am on April 28th, 2007 4
Far out excuses. What a reach! That’s right out of my old playbook. Gotta give it to the Kunsan “leadership”, if you want to do career protection, make up bogus force protection issues. It’s like money in the bank.
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1:25 pm on April 28th, 2007 5
Hmmm…
When leadership takes an action like this, right or wrong, making lame excuses weakens everyone’s faith in leadership. It’s better to say nothing than to lie.
And, if it is necessary to lie, maybe the decision shouldn’t have been made in the first place.
Great leadership makes great decisions that have obvious and understandable reasons… even if everyone hates the decision, they understand why it was made.
Poor leadership makes poor decisions and then feel they need to rationalize why… and sell the validity of their decision to everyone.
…and, of course, even the lowest airman is smarter than that.
J!
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5:10 pm on April 28th, 2007 6
[...] [GI Korea] Kunsan AB Restriction Continues Published: Fri, 27 Apr 2007 21:09:10 +0000 The Stars and Stripes has a good article today showing the various viewpoints from airmen stationed on Kunsan Airbase in regards to the restriction they have been hit by due to a taxi cab related incident from this past weekend.Â* Here is what one of the airmen had to say they were told the reason [...] Read More… [...]
10:02 pm on October 3rd, 2007 7
[...] the idiots responsible for locking down all of Kunsan Airbase due to their taxi cab related incident exploits, have been found guilty and sentenced by the Korean [...]