By This is great news for some people getting stationed in 2ID:
For the first time, the majority of servicemembers in parts of U.S. Army Garrison-Red Cloud will be able to obtain command sponsorships for their families, U.S. Forces Korea Commander Gen. Walter Sharp said Friday.
Effective immediately, servicemembers at camps Red Cloud, Stanley and Jackson can move their families to South Korea under the Status of Forces Agreement and receive off-post housing allowance and other benefits.
However, at the Camp Casey enclave — where the bulk of the 2nd Infantry Division’s two South Korea ground brigades are stationed — nearly all servicemembers must still serve one-year, unaccompanied tours because Joint Federal Travel Regulations still prevent command sponsorships there.
Sharp will continue looking hard to “see if it’s a smart thing to do,” he said of the Casey restriction.
Sharp’s concerns for Camp Casey servicemembers, as well as for those who want command sponsorships at eligible bases, are the limited services available to families.
Bases within U.S. Army Garrison-Red Cloud, also known as Area I, will close when USFK moves its servicemembers to an expanded Camp Humphreys, south of Seoul. That plan is tentatively scheduled for 2012, and Sharp says he should have a firmer timeline within weeks.
Because of the planned move, Area I can’t get extensive funding for expanded family services.
“We’re not going to be able to build schools, and we’re not going to be building a hospital [within the garrison],” Sharp added.
Sharp’s policy letter, which became public Saturday at www.usfk.mil, requires servicemembers to sign a counseling form saying they understand the limitations on benefits for command-sponsored families.
Servicemembers who request command sponsorship will sign on for two years instead of a one-year, unaccompanied tour. Those tours could eventually be extended to three years following the move to Humphreys.
“We’re not ready to go to three-year tours now because all the facilities are not there [in Area I],” Sharp said. [Stars & Stripes]
You can view General Sharp’s press release here. The press release offers some good stats on how many dependents are in Korea now:
The command’s tour normalization goal is the great majority of U.S. service members assigned to Korea who have families will be stationed here with their families, compared to today’s figures. Currently about 55% of all service members have dependants. About 28% of these service members with families have their families in Korea and only about 14% of these are currently being command sponsored.
Uijongbu is actually not a bad place for dependents to live at, but I can understand why General Sharp not wanting to extend more command sponsorship to Camp Casey because it just does not have the same amount of access to services as the camps in Uijongbu has. Plus in my opinion Dongducheon is just more of a sleazier place to have hundreds of families living at compared to Uijongbu which has turned into a nice commuter suburb of Seoul.
However, don’t get me started on the non-combatant evacuation (NEO) problems these extra families will cause, but I guess it was a risk the general was willing to take to increase the quality of life for USFK servicemembers in 2ID.
Something else that concerns me though is that I hope people don’t get to comfortable with having families in 2ID and lose a sense of urgency to make the Camp Humphreys relocation happen.
This is a good short term fix though to one of the major issue why GI’s complain about Korea.
1:23 am on September 29th, 2008 1
Hopefully this will make the quality of service a bit better for you guys out there.
1:24 am on September 29th, 2008 2
I meant, hopefully this will make the quality of life a bit better for you guys out there.
9:22 pm on September 29th, 2008 3
As long as these folks are safe inside by the 9PM curfew, use the battle buddy system, and don't spend all the hardship pay their spouse/parent receives – bring them on.
9:24 pm on September 29th, 2008 4
I spent some time at Casey last week, waiting in the PMO parking lot while a coworker was inside conducting business. The number of NASCAR fans with their Filipina wives pushing strollers into the BIDS registration office was staggering. They might as well have made a line out the door as there could not have been adequate seating in the waiting area. Is that what America wants for its sons? Everyone laughs at the TDC Stroller Brigade and makes jokes, but no one has enough between their legs to do anything about it.
10:32 am on November 26th, 2008 5
ME AND MY HUSBAND HAVE BEEN MARRIED FOR ALMOST 8 MONTHS AND WE HAVE DECIDED TO DIVORCE. I HAVE JUST LEARNED THAT UNDER THE GARRISON COMMAND, MY HUSBAND DOESNT HAVE TO GIVE ME A DIME. SUITS TO SAY MY HUSBAND HASNT BEEN SUPPORTING ME SINCE WE GOT MARRIED. MY PARENTS HAVE. NOW THAT HE HAS JUST FILED FOR ME TO GO HOME I MIGHT HAVE TO WAIT 2-3 MORE WEEKS BY MYSELF. AND CAB'S DONT COME CHEAP. HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ME RIGHT. IS THERE ANYTHING I CAN DO AS FAR AS GETTING MONEY?
10:47 am on November 26th, 2008 6
"IS THERE ANYTHING I CAN DO AS FAR AS GETTING MONEY?"
Get a job?
1:14 pm on November 26th, 2008 7
"The number of NASCAR fans with their Filipina wives pushing strollers into the BIDS registration office was staggering."
What a racist M/F you are…I do hope I run across you someday. We'll see if you have the balls to voice your opinon then…Korea is a small place.
NASCAR Forever!
3:53 pm on November 26th, 2008 8
DELETED BY ADMIN (You don't need to launch a personal attack)
5:19 pm on November 26th, 2008 9
Tawanda! Front and center!
8:04 pm on November 26th, 2008 10
CalmSeas,
"What a racist M/F you are…"
You tell that racist SOB!
NASCAR fans have suffered long enough in the shackles (or spike strips) of racism and intolerance!
Just because NASCAR-Americans have fewer teeth than other races and feed primarily on a diet of beer and opossum, doesn't make them inferior. They are just diverse.
And diversity is beautiful because it takes a village (to raise 6 dirty kids in a fetid swamp).
NASCAR-American's mullets are as beautiful and unique as slant eyes and big lips. Living in a trailer surrounded by junk cars and Jack bottles is no different than a grass hut or an igloo. A wife-beater is an ethnic costume equal to the loincloth and the tuxedo.
Even the sexual size dimorphism of NASCAR-Americans, which insures the female of the race is frequently up to 3 times larger than the male, is no reason to look down upon them.
We must celebrate our differences and not be judgmental about other races.
In fact, to counter years of discrimination and lack of educational opportunity, I support legislation to give hiring preference to NASCAR-Americans in all service-related jobs, though it would be inappropriate to suggest that NASCAR-Americans are somehow racially suited to repairing engines, much like it would be inappropriate to suggest Chinese can do laundry or Arabs work at 7-11.
It is time to set our people free.
Peace out, my naz'ca'.
12:31 pm on November 27th, 2008 11
NASCAR-Americans ROTLMFAO
1:33 pm on November 27th, 2008 12
The USFK NASCAR demographic does more to discredit America's image over here than all of the ethnic/social groups ever could. First of all, the dominant ethnicity committing off-post offenses is caucasian. How many rapes or sexual assaults have been black servicemembers, off-post?
Secondly, however much you think that it's shallow or petty, Koreans make a big judgement on personal appearance. Tired-looking whites in NASCAR jackets and their jumbo-sized wives don't stand up too well when stood side-by-side with young black males who are more than likely to be physically fit, and who probably spend a lot more of their income on clothing.
6:13 am on November 28th, 2008 13
#12:
Okay, Mr. GQ…heading out to go shopping for some "Threads" right now…just as soon as I remember where I put my NASCAR jacket…will hit the Gym later on and am going to base legal to divorce my Fat wife, so I can find a skinny one to marry.
Got to impress the Koreans…don't ya know, since they are such a highly developed society that we should strive to emulate.
10:31 am on November 28th, 2008 14
It's funny how folks on this site always talk about the need to lessen the USFK footprint. That "transforming" USFK's presence will begin to facing up to present-day, post-Cold War realities. And that finally Koreans can be weaned off the USFK gravey train.
What I don't understand is if this is the case, why have all these command sponsorships. If anything this will increase the footprint of USFK. If servicemen and women bring their significant others and family members, there's a need to build facilities and infrastructures to house and support these individuals. All this takes up time, money, and most importantly space.
If certain USFK personnel are serious about "transforming" USFK's presence then they need to find a more consistent method in which to square command sponsorships with their larger policy goal.
Finally, it's all true about the NASCAR demographic and their third-world "war brides". Deny it all you want. At the very least it's an observable fact. I'd wager if one did a survey these impressions would only be confirmed.
But hey, everybody needs somebody. Even Filipinas and NASCAR rubes.
2:13 am on May 12th, 2009 15
On orders to 2ID for 3rd time in 6 years. Submitted my paperwork for sponsorship 4 months before report date. I still have not received any approval/denial…and my gaining unit Bde XO is on the case. I trust the Bde XO, but I do not trust the system that was set up for approval/denial of CS. I wonder if the 2ID CG is aware that this G1 (nor his staff) does not return e-mails, or really care about the status of those soldiers (requesting CS)that the command wants to remain in Area 1 so badly? I am considering just leaving the family in the states (again) and gutting out another year in ROK…Maybe that is what they really want anyway. I should not expect any miracles from 2ID or EUSA, but geez! come on! 4 months and no approval/denial? Maybe I should consider this behavior a denial and move out?
6:03 am on May 12th, 2009 16
Not Hopeful,
You're right…they really couldn't care less.
12:19 pm on May 12th, 2009 17
Include "PHT" in the subject line of your email, at least you know they will read it.
7:14 pm on May 12th, 2009 18
Perhaps you should contact one of the local "business associations" and ask if there is a way to make a "donation" to help community "friendship and understanding"… oh, and can they assist you with command sponsorship?
9:48 pm on May 12th, 2009 19
They can always be found around the golf courses on various installations…
9:57 pm on May 12th, 2009 20
Get someone to write congress on your behalf if you think that they're screwing you. The process exists for a reason. At the very least, it will trigger a commander somewhere to track down your request and provide the congressperson a status.
It's the S1s and G1s of the world who mess things up and get people screwed. Given the emphasis that the increase in command sponsorships has received from the top, most commanders in Korea a quick to get things going.
You might here something contrary from Gardner…
11:55 pm on May 12th, 2009 21
No, unsatisfied victim is right. A congressional will get results. Too bad nothing short of that will.