The decade-long process of turning the largest U.S. military installation in South Korea into a Central Park-like oasis in the middle of Seoul will begin in 2017, according to South Korea’s Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs.

The start of the transformation is timed to coincide with U.S. Forces Korea’s move from Yongsan Garrison as part of a long-planned consolidation of U.S. troops to the Pyeongtaek-Osan area and to Daegu, shrinking the military footprint in South Korea from 107 bases to 48.

Rotterdam-based West 8 and South Korea’s Iroje will design the project, which, according to West 8’s website, will emphasize sustainability, the preservation of green spaces and the “fundamental concept of healing.”

“Yongsan is kind of our sad history, and we thought that we need to heal,” said Choi Hyeyoung, a landscape architect for West 8.

In one of the most painful chapters in Korea’s past, Japanese forces occupied the peninsula from 1910 to 1945, basing a number of troops at Yongsan. USFK and 8th Army are now headquartered at Yongsan, operating out of a number of Japanese colonial-era buildings that remain standing.

Choi said more than 30 of the Japanese buildings will be incorporated into the design of the future park as art galleries, museums and exhibition centers, some exploring the base’s history.

“Keeping the buildings has a lot of architectural value,” she said, because few buildings from the first half of the 20th century remain standing in South Korea.

Choi said a greenway will connect the park to Namsan mountain and a land bridge will connect the park to the Han River area.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read the rest at the link.

View Camp Stanley in a larger map

Where Camp Stanley is located today was originally a truck depot during the Korean War and became a tent city to house troops following the war.  The tent city was eventually named after Colonel Thomas H. Stanley in 1958 who was the commander of the 36th Engineer Regiment during World War II that was killed in a vehicle accident in Italy.  I could not however find the reason why this camp was named after someone killed in World War II.  If anyone knows please leave a comment.   I have seen some of the veteran sites out there that offer old photographs of Korea but Bruce Richards’ site is the best archive of old photographs of USFK facilities I have seen yet. Using Bruce’s picture archives here are a few historic photographs of Camp Stanley:

For those that have been stationed at Camp Stanley before, the above image of tent city is starkly different from what has been built on the camp today. Not only is the camp extremely different but so is the terrain because the mountains in the background look completely deforested compared to the thickly forested slopes of the mountains today.

In this aerial photo from 1955 the rice paddies that still surround the camp to this day can be seen:

This next image from 1961 shows how much development took place in less then 10 years with all the tents replace with quonset huts and other permanent buildings:

This next image shows a 1964 image of the “ville” adjacent to Camp Stanley:

Here is an image of the airfield in 1965:

The first real barracks built on Camp Stanley in the 1970′s are the buildings pictured below which are still visible today:

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Here is what the front gate of Camp Stanley looked like in 1975:

Here is an image of Camp Stanley from the 1980′s:

The large quonset hut building in the picture above was what was used as the Camp Stanley PX until the new facility was opened in 2005. Needless to say the new PX was a huge upgrade compared to the old one.

Needless to say  Camp Stanley has changed a lot of the years and is currently a logistical support base for the 2nd Infantry Division after long being the home to 2-2 Aviation Battalion and the division’s artillery units for many years. Camp Stanley has actually escaped being surrounded by urban sprawl due to the fact that is located right next to a Korean prison and it’s adjacent rice paddies. From Camp Stanley you can sometimes hear the prisoners singing songs and cadence from the prison. You can often see them working in the prison’s rice paddies as well. The picture below is of Camp Stanley as viewed from Surak Mountain that show the rice paddies in front of the camp:

This picture provides another view of Camp Stanley as seen from Cheonbo Mountain in Uijongbu:

The Uijongbu Prison is easily seen due to its distinctive blue roof.  Camp Stanley also has a distinctive tree lined road that leads to its side gate that goes right by the prison.  While driving up the road the prison can easily be seen:

Camp Stanley is the largest base in Uijongbu which due to its size is the only US military installation in Uijongbu that has a true “ville” located adjacent to it appropriately called Stanleyville.  The base is located in the southeastern corner of the city and since it is surrounded by mountains and rice paddies it is unlike other bases 2ID where it has not consumed by the urban sprawl.  There has been talk in the past about closing Camp Stanley, but I think as long as 2ID remains north of Seoul this camp will remain open due to its size and location that is not a burden on the local community.  Here is the north entrance to Camp Stanley from the road leading up to the camp past the prison:

Compared to the earlier 1975 image the gate to the camp has changed a bit over the years.  Right next to this gate is the Nameless Music Cafe:

The other way of accessing the camp is by continuing to drive down Highway 43 to the camp’s main gate.  While driving down the highway there are some really nice views of Suraksan Mountain that can be seen:

Here is the eastern gate into Camp Stanley as seen from Highway 43:

This is the gate primarily used for military vehicles to enter the installation from.  Here is a view looking inside of Camp Stanley:

Here is a view of some of the barracks buildings on the facility:

Here is a picture of the old PX building that was pictured above which has been turned into a education center:

Right next to the old PX building is the new building that was opened back in 2005:

The new Camp Stanley PX when it opened was quite nice and I was surprised by how big it was considering the size of the camp plus the fact that other nearby installations were all being closed out back in 2005.  Well the employees at the PX found other people to sell the merchandise to as the Camp Stanley PX would have the distinction of operating one of the largest blackmarketing rings in the country that was finally broken up in 2009.  Here is the view looking to the east from the PX which on a clear day has quite a nice view of the nearby mountains across the valley filled with rice paddies:

Here is the view from the PX looking up the hill towards Surak Mountain where one of the few quonset huts on Camp Stanley is still visible:

Next to the PX is the Community Bank which is still open and serving customers on Camp Stanley:

Near the bank is the post chapel:

Near the church there is also a small theater on the camp:

Across from the PX is the commissary which now has this map posted on it in case somebody some how gets lost on this small post:

This commissary is the past has been recognized as the best small commissary overseas in the US military:

This commissary is actually pretty good because my wife and I found the customer service to be outstanding and the employees very friendly:

For being a small commissary the shelves were stocked with most items Americans would want to buy, but my only gripe like with many other commissaries in Korea is that the blackmarketing was easy to spot:

All in all though by 2ID standards Camp Stanley is pretty nice installation though it is much quieter now a days compared to past years when it was home to artillery and aviation units.  Likewise the ville outside of Camp Stanley, the appropriately called Stanleyville has also died down with the exit of all those combat arms soldiers.  There is still enough soldiers here though where Camp Stanley is still home to the only real soldier “ville” in Uijongbu where one can find the typical juicy bars, pawn shops, chicken on a stick shacks, counterfeit clothing stores, coin & plaque shops, and other typical staples of a “ville” in Korea:

The ville also has some apartments for families to live in for those thinking about bringing their families to Korea.  The few that I have seen were pretty rundown and I almost had to have one soldier move out of his apartment until the landlord agreed to fix some safety issues.  For those that have lived in Stanleyville please leave a comment and let everyone know what you thought about your time living there?  Likewise if you have been stationed on Camp Stanley please share your thoughts about the camp in the comments section.

The final picture once again from Bruce Richards site is an aerial picture of what Camp Stanley looks like today:

In the above aerial image you can see Camp Stanley in the middle of the image while Stanleyville is the area with the blue roofed buildings on the left. The Uijongbu Prison can be seen on the right side of the picture. The fields of rice that could be seen in the earlier images, like I said before are still visible today around Camp Stanley and are worked by the prisoners housed at the correctional facility.  I hope everyone enjoyed this profile of Camp Stanley considering it days are supposedly numbered due to impending USFK transformation plan if it ever happens. Due to Korean governmental delay games and US budget issues I wouldn’t be surprised if Camp Stanley is open for another decade or more.

If you have an interesting or funny veteran story from your time in Korea I would love to hear it. If it is a good story I am willing to publish it here on the ROK Drop. It doesn’t matter what decade you served just as long as it is interesting or funny. If you have a story to share you can e-mail the story to me at gikoreaonline – at – yahoo.com. Thanks for reading the ROK Drop.

More “A Profile” series postings worth checking out:

• A Profile of the Western Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ)
• A Profile of USFK’s Western Corridor Camps
• A Profile of USFK Camps In Dongducheon
• A Profile of the TDC Ville
• A Profile of Bosan-dong Ville
• A Profile of Teokgeo-ri
• A Profile of Uijongbu
• A Profile of USFK Camps In Uijongbu
• A Profile of Closed Out USFK Camps In Uijongbu
• A Profile of Camp Red Cloud
• A Profile USFK Camps In Seoul
• A Profile of the Korea Training Center
• A Profile of the Chinese Tunnel
• A Profile of Camp Mujuk
• A Profile of Camp Page

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The chief of U.S. Forces Korea requested a beefing up of the U.S. Air Force’s capability in South Korea amid rising tension on the Korean Peninsula over North Korea’s missile launch program.

“We do not have a full combat aviation brigade there,” Gen. James Thurman said during a hearing at the U.S. House Armed Services Committee Wednesday, testifying about the security situation in the South. “I have asked the department as well as the Department of the Army and back through [the U.S. Pacific Command] and the Joint Staff to look at adding that battalion back that was repositioned out of there to meet requirements for the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.”

Military experts told the JoongAng Ilbo that the U.S. once stationed three squadrons of Apache combat helicopters in the South, but two of them were moved out of the region under the George W. Bush administration. The remaining squadron does not maintain full-fledged combat capability, they said.

Thurman, who commands around 28,000 U.S. forces in the South, cautioned against an attack from the North, which he said can hit the South with little or no warning. He said the North continues to improve its ability to attack the South, in particular, Seoul.

“Our deterrent capability is based on U.S. and [South Korean] military readiness,” he said, adding that he is looking at “how we can build readiness at best value.”   [Joong Ang Ilbo]

Moving away from North Korea, Thurman told Congress that the tour normalization program — increasing the number of accompanied tours in South Korea — for U.S. troops will not be expanding at this time.

“The Department is not able to afford tour normalization at this time, and I am content to remain at the currently authorized 4,645 command-sponsored families,” he said. “I am convinced, however, that a change in personnel policies will improve the readiness of USFK by reducing turbulence. We are working with the Department of Defense to examine how individual tour length extensions and unit rotations could help address this readiness issue.”

USFK spokeswoman Jennifer Buschick said Thurman was referring to the turnover of 600 to 700 troops each month, which hinders unit stability.

U.S. troops have typically been stationed in South Korea on one-year unaccompanied tours, but Thurman’s predecessor, now-retired Gen. Walter Sharp, announced plans in 2008 to gradually expand the number of command sponsorships. Under that plan, approximately half of USFK’s 28,500 troops would be stationed in South Korea with their families on two- or three-year tours.

The high demand of the program and the cost of expanding infrastructure to accommodate families forced the military to cap the program in 2010.  [Stars & Stripes]

So much for a tour in Korea being like one in Germany.  I never believed it was going to happen anyway.  I do wonder how this will affect the relocation plans to Camp Humphreys?  Will money be used as a excuse perhaps to stop the Yongsan and 2ID relocations to Camp Humphreys as well?

A US military F-16 jet crashed in southern South Korea Wednesday during a training mission but its pilot ejected to safety, US authorities said.

The plane crashed into a rice paddy around noon (0300 GMT) near a US air base in the western port city of Gunsan, the US military said in a statement.

“The (lone) pilot safely ejected before the plane crashed. Emergency response teams are on scene at this time,” it said.

There were no casualties or serious damage on the ground, a US air force spokesman said, adding details would be released later.  [AFP]

No word yet if the Chinboistas are going to demand President Obama apologize for the crash during his upcoming visit.  ;-)

Regarding the March 13 article “No Yongsan alcohol sales after 9 p.m.” (Pacific editions): Now that the curfew is in effect, alcohol-related incidents [among U.S. servicemembers] have decreased in downtown Seoul and increased on post. Now there is a new policy to ban sales of alcohol on post in Army and Air Force Exchange Service facilities after 9 p.m., which is going to drive the folks most likely to get into alcohol-related events to go downtown to get their booze.

Why are we punishing the 99 percent of our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines who abide by the laws and regulations for the actions of the few who most likely shouldn’t be in the service in the first place? Most of the folks causing the problems are not model citizens and have shown a path of problems through their time in service. Stop sending these people overseas and instead remove them from the service before they can cause problems.

If superiors cannot do that, may I suggest a tiered pass system that an Air Force commander on Okinawa initiated several years ago? An airman who has good ratings and no disciplinary problems was issued a Gold Pass that meant no restriction on leaving base whatsoever, showing trust for the individual. An airman who had fair ratings and no disciplinary problems was issued a Silver Pass that restricted the time he or she could go off post. And an airman who had poor ratings or any disciplinary action received no pass and was restricted to the base.

Master Sgt. Rick Osteen (retired)

U.S. Army Garrison Yongsan, South Korea

Has anyone else heard anything about this new training?

By all accounts, Robin B. Akin, a U.S. army brigadier general stationed in South Korea, has had a successful military career, spanning 30 years.

From a small town in Tennessee, Akin, now in her third tour of duty to South Korea, has gone all over the world, fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan and leading rescue missions in earthquake-ravaged Haiti. She has also served in Germany, Italy and Japan.

But such an extensive career isn’t so out of place in her family.

Akin has been the assistant chief of staff for logistics at United States Forces Korea (USFK) and also deputy assistant chief of staff for logistics at South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command (CFC) since July last year. Her father-in-law, retired Maj. Gen. George H. Akin, had also been the CFC’s deputy assistant chief of staff for logistics; he was the fifth in the position, and she is the 23rd.

“At one time, there were four army colonels on active duty and my father-in-law was a major general (in the extended Akin family),” Brig. Gen. Akin told Yonhap News Agency in an interview last Wednesday. “So that’s definitely a team of teams. More importantly, we, for the time I’ve had the name Akin, have always come together for each other anytime there was a ceremony.”

Akin said her father-in-law told her stories about South Korea when he served here, and said she is happy to have “the great opportunity to walk in his footsteps.”

“Some of the issues we had 25 years ago are still issues today in logistics,” Akin said. “Many times, when I get out and see different people, I meet people that knew my father-in-law. He was a great man. More importantly, it’s a great family.”  [Yonhap News]

You can read more at the link but the Akin’s sound like quite a proud military family.  It is amazing sometimes when I talk to people and find out how many people in their extended family have served or is currently serving.

Troops will no longer be able to buy alcohol after 9 p.m. at two Yongsan shoppettes under a new policy that will go into effect on Thursday.

The policy promotes the health and welfare of the military community and is meant to standardize the hours for alcohol sales for Army and Air Force Exchange Service facilities in Area II, which covers the greater Seoul area, according to a statement issued Monday by U.S. Army Garrison Yongsan commander Col. William Huber.

“Stopping the sale of alcohol after 9 p.m. helps implement an alcohol risk reduction and prevention strategy that responds to potential problems before they jeopardize readiness, productivity, and careers,” he said.

The policy will affect the AAFES shoppettes at the Dragon Hill Lodge and the Main Post Mini-Mall. Other Area II shoppettes, at Hannam Village and K-16, close before 9 p.m., and the Yongsan AAFES Post Exchange, which sells some alcohol products, closes at 8 p.m.

The restriction on alcohol sales comes following a sharp rise in drinking-related incidents on installations across the peninsula during the first fiscal quarter of 2012. Between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31, 2011, USFK recorded 127 such incidents, a 53 percent rise from the previous quarter.

Yongsan spokesman Mark Abueg said the alcohol sales cutoff was not due to the recent rise in alcohol-related incidents, or to a curfew put in place last fall following the high-profile rape of a South Korean teenager by a U.S. soldier.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link but to claim that that alcohol sales cut off is not because the command is trying to reduce alcohol related incidents breeds just as much cynicism as claiming the curfew is for force protection reasons and not about reducing off post incidents.  By the way I just checked both the USFK and 2ID websites and saw nothing posted about the new blood alcohol content policy.  You would think that something as important as this would have been posted by now and the Stars & Stripes would have run an article as well.

 In a sharply worded memo, the commander of U.S. Forces Korea called out his officers and enlisted leaders for a lack of self-discipline after more than 50 officers and noncommissioned officers were caught violating an off-post curfew in the first quarter of fiscal year 2012.

“These violations from Leaders, who are responsible for the enforcement of the curfew they are violating, are unacceptable,” Gen. James D. Thurman wrote in a Feb. 10 memo titled “Leader Discipline” that was obtained by Stars and Stripes.

In the memo, Thurman points out that 168 troops — a third of whom were NCOs or commissioned officers — were apprehended for violating the curfew from Oct. 7 to Dec. 31, 2011. The curfew was enacted following a number of off-base incidents, including two soldiers being accused of raping South Korean teenagers. One of the soldiers was convicted, while the other is awaiting trial.

“I cannot and will not tolerate the actions of Officers and NCOs who lack self-discipline and choose to intentionally disregard an existing lawful military order that it is their duty to uphold. …This displays not only a lack of judgment, but a disregard for the values of our profession and sets an extremely poor example to the very Service-members who we are charged to lead. More to the point, it represents a highly disappointing lack of self-discipline and military leadership,” Thurman said in the memo.

He called on the Army leadership to reinforce the curfew, focusing specifically on the officers and NCOs.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link but there has also been a 53% increase in on-post alcohol related incidents during this same time frame.  This is all predictable and we have seen it before with prior curfews.  However, with that said leaders should not be violating curfew if they agree with it or not.  USFK has put out clear cut guidance on what the curfew is and everyone should follow it.  As far as the curfew my Warrior Pass policy idea would avoid a lot of these problems.