Big changes are on the way in regards to USFK curfew and driving policies are scheduled to be announced today but here is a preview:
In GEN Sharp’s own words…
…we have great service members in our military; the great, great majority of them will always do the right thing. I do not believe we should punish these great service members for the acts a very few. We must also understand the acts a one or two can effect the strength of the ROK-US Alliance. Korean culture believes the acts of each individual reflect on the character of all.
CURFEW POLICY: the curfew restrictions on Friday night, Saturday, Sunday morning and U.S.-observed holidays will change from 0100-0500 to 0300-0500 but if you are on leave, you are exempt from curfew entirely, except the night before you are scheduled to report back to work.
POV POLICY: Basically, now if you are a command sponsored service member, you no longer have to get permission from the 1st Lt. Col. In your change of command to own a car. Also, ALL service members may take the drivers license test and be licensed with the approval of the first O5 in their chain of command. [Kosovodad]
These changes are supposed to start on August 15th. Everyone should be hearing more about this today from their commanders as well as listen to AFN for more details. I am sure Stars & Stripes will likewise have a report today as well. These changes should provide some pretty water cooler talk for everyone in USFK today.
In regards to the curfew change, I still like my Warrior Pass idea better but this current policy change is a good compromise that should leave people with few complaints. I also think it was wise to implement this change after President Bush’s visit on August 6th in order to limit the chances of a GI incident happening before the visit that the anti-US groups would try to exploit.
My biggest concern in regards to the curfew change is that when one incident happens will the old curfew be put back into place? An incident at 0230 in the morning is going to happen at some point and if the command does not have the fortitude to support their own decision then it would not be wise to change the curfew in the first place in my humble opinion.
Likewise with the driving policy my biggest concern would be if a soldier who wouldn’t have been driving before the policy is involved in a drunk driving accident that possibly causes a fatality, will that change the driving policy back to what it was? Personally the driving policy change concerns more then the curfew change because of the number of DUIs over the last year which will probably only increase with more cars on the road. A fatal DUI accident could give anti-US groups a life line to protest USFK compared to the GI incidents they have tried to exploit in the past.
Overall though the policy change is a welcome compromise that should prove to be extremely popular with with USFK servicemembers and it didn’t even require any bed checks. 
Make sure to read Kosovodad’s posting for more views on what he thinks will happen in regards to the curfew change.
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11:06 am on July 31st, 2008 1
I’m a big fan of the Warrior Pass too, GI. Reference the POV policy, hopefully a “command sponsored” soldier with his/her family here will be less inclined to drink and drive, but we’ll see…
11:40 am on July 31st, 2008 2
This is going to be a real gut check for our new General. I hope he has the intestinal fortitude to ride it out. Obviously, incidents will occur but life is not perfect and no matter how much we wish for it; military service is not a zero (zed) defect possibility. What I do not want to see is a bunch of young soldiers buy cars and have the policy yanked out from under them, costing them money.
/So no one has heard anything on Beavers?
12:33 pm on July 31st, 2008 3
Rob, I think that might depend on the family…
11:07 pm on July 31st, 2008 4
Am I reading this correctly, “I do not believe we should punish these great service members for the acts a very few.” ? Is that a four-star general saying that the curfew policy was “punishment” and not a “force protection measure” as the previous four-stars had repeatedly told us it was. Wish we could get some comments from those that kept it in place for so long.
6:28 am on August 1st, 2008 5
I do not agree with the new curfew policy. He’s writing everyone a blank check, across the board. There are certain demographics who do not deserve such a drastic increase in leeway. A “Warrior Pass” system is a way to go. Then, at least, folks would need to earn the privilege. Another way to go would be to implement a tiered curfew, in which people of different ranks would be able to stay out longer. The majority of people with higher rank are less likely to screw the pooch, having more to lose than a 20 year-old Joe.
The identification of the curfew as punishment for a few is definitely a contradiction to everything past commanders have claimed. First is was a force protection measure, then it was about maintaining a “Fight Tonight” condition. The truth is that its always been about human trafficking. The Juicy operation peaked in the late ’90s and early 2000s when all of the Filipinas and Russians were brought into the bars. 9/11 came and finally gave the old, white Christian dudes who run USFK the excuse they needed to shut things down. Now, seven years of curfew, the Korean government’s selective enforcement of prostitution laws outside of US camps, and USFKs own standards-based on- and off-limits games have totally neutered Joe’s ability to score poonani in the Ville. What is there for guys to do until 3:00 in the morning?
These changes will stand for a few years, until a couple E-6s screw things up. It’s always E-6s. In 2001, a couple E-6s were speeding, drunk, between Osan and Humphreys late at night with a Russian in the backseat. They hit a light pole and almost died, and the Russian knocked all of her teeth out on the gearshift. It was also an E-6 who caused a fatal accident while speeding drunk between Osan and Suwon. Was that in 2002, 2003, or 2004? Anyway, it was that dumb move that got POV privileges taken away from junior NCOs in 2004. That, and the congestion around the Yongsan PX and Dragon Hill Lodge.
8:01 am on August 1st, 2008 6
2 hours of “rest” great. You know its going to happen, just like the soldier driving the bridge transport that crushed the two children. Wasn’t a major contributing factor was the inadequate rest plan. GEN Sharp it won’t take long before this backfires and there is more anti-Americanism than ever before.
The curfew was never about force protection, it is a control measure for those who can’t control themselves.
9:03 am on August 1st, 2008 7
Nice catch Cray_Z.
I’d like to believe that grown men and women who are expected to fight, and possibly die for, their country, deserve the right to be proven wrong, but…
10:26 am on August 1st, 2008 8
8:31 pm on August 1st, 2008 9
Hey kids the only change is that the Command Sponsored automatically get the car…even if they are E6 and below. Have we notice a slow and almost total swing in favor of Command Sponsored people in Korea? First Medical in 2004 the Dental, now just about everything else
Anyway any Soldier can apply for a license and the request only has to go to the First O5 but yea all they can do is rent a car
Still the same, to actually register a car on post the AREA commander has to approve the request
8:32 pm on August 1st, 2008 10
They should name the new gym at Humphreys the Command Sponsored Gym and make it a excluse gym keeping out Soldiers and Non Command Sponsored low lifes
8:31 pm on August 6th, 2008 11
Gen BB talked - Gen S delivers!