2004:

SITE NOTE: The Korean Federation of Teachers Union (KFTU) came out in support of the left-wing Democratic Labor Party (DLP) in the Apr 2004 elections. Remember that the DLP are the guys that want the USFK out of Korea completely. KFTU is the union that posted anti-American lesson plans on the web during the Mar 2003 mini-anti-American spike following the start of the Iraq War. The KFTU has strong support in teachers of Kunsan...though officially that would be denied.

SITE NOTE: Though Kunsan AB's work with orphanages is highly commendable, the base hierarchy fails to realize that to the Korean populace does NOT like to think about orphanages in general. They are a sore in their cultural framework intertangled with the lack of a social safety net, inhumanity towards fellow Koreans, sex trade, Confucian ethics of prized male progeny, and many more ills directly related to these orphanages. To Koreans, it is a blemish to recognize publicly that 2/3 of all U.S. adoptions are from Korea.

Though the orphanage work makes the U.S. airmen feel good, the Korean populace as a whole do not pay attention to these humanitarian deeds. These good deeds do very little to improve the community relations for the base. Sadly all the press releases in the Wolf Pack Warrior of the good work at the orphanages is for U.S. personnel consumption only. The pictures of the orphanages make GIs feel good and is good PR outside Korea -- but inside Korea, it simply is another embarassment that the ROK citizens don't want to talk about. The only Korean articles written about orphanages deal with the stigma attached to adoption -- not the love given by the adopted parents.

Ask the question, how many Korean families adopt Korean babies? The answer will tell you something of Korean culture and family structures -- and how much of their good works is publicized in Korea. In 2003, about 1,600 children were adopted domestically, while 2,400 were sent abroad. (Some may quibble with the "official" number due to adoption brokers that operate in Korea.) While Korean adoptee organizations abroad say international adoption has many problems, such as racial discrimination and identity crisis, domestic demand falls far below the supply, adoption agencies say. It is a source of embarrassment for Korea that 2/3 of all adoptions in America comes from Korea.

There is a lot wrong with the Confucian-based law that stigmatizes adoptees, as well as the adopted families. Based on the Confucian definition of family based on blood ties, the South Korean family law requires adopted children and birth children to be registered seperately. An adoptee identification documents will reveal that she was adopted, as South Koreans are required to submit those documents for education, employment and other purposes.

While the South Korean government encourages domestic adoption to reduce international adoption, experts say the country's legal system serves as an obstacle, as the family law requires the names and addresses of the birth parents on the child's identification documents. Those who consider adoption often give up, afraid of revealing their identities to the birth parents or having social bias against their new children.

It is a common practice among adoptive parents to choose an illegal way to have the children registered as their own, such as claiming "birth at home." They believe a one-time lie is better than the lifetime prejudice that their adopted children will have to bear.

Local adoptive parents demand the South Korean government to adopt a system for identifying both a birth child and an adoptive child with the term "child" in identification documents. Several such proposals have been submitted to the National Assembly since 1998, but none of them have been approved. Last year, the motion was dropped as lawmakers did not discuss the issue by the deadline. This year, a new revision is pending in the assembly.

Koreans like to watch TV when the orphans return to Korea and try to find their roots, but they don't want to be reminded that their Confucianist society demanding boys is what created this mess in the first place. Ever notice that the majority of children up for adoption are girls? Also there is a lot wrong with the society safety net and programs for the care of the mentally retarded. The majority of the older children found abandoned in bus and train stations are mentally retarded. There is a lot wrong with the society -- and the cute little orphans just remind the Korean of their failures.

December 2003: Local Residents Tour Base The Good Neighbor Policy of the USFK continues with a tour at Kunsan in December 2003. This was touted as "opening the gates of Kunsan" was actually a small group tour for seventy selected members from the community. It was started in 2000, but fell apart. Only the success of the 2d ID Good Neighbor programs after 2002 resurrected this program. Regardless, it was a start...and something that should have been done long ago.

In January 2004, another news article reported that this open house changed the mindset of many of the Koreans who visited the base during this tour. With this in mind, it would be highly recommended to hold open houses like the 2d ID does where the WHOLE community has been invited...instead of select individuals. Kunsan has had these "open houses" in the past years (starting about five years ago) which were actually only for selected residents. The 70 residents does NOT even come close to representing the thousands of people who were awarded payments for the noise pollution.

This is an area that the base should expand on to attempt to reach out to the residents surrounding the base. The contacts with airmen are minimal as the areas surrounding the base (three-mile exclusionary zone) are off-limits except for transitting through the area. The base could do a lot better job of public relations in this area. These visits fall under the "Good Neighbor Program" (8th Fighter Wing Instruction 35-1 16 May 2003) to foster goodwill in the community.

The following is the article from the Stars and Stripes on Dec 10, 2003.

S. Koreans get look at U.S. air base

By Choe Song-won and Joseph Giordono, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Wednesday, December 10, 2003

YONGSAN GARRISON, South Korea — Kunsan Air Base officials opened the gates to local residents last week, hoping a closer look at their mission would help make up for noise issues and bombing ranges shared by U.S. and South Korean jets.

And judging by the reactions of some of those on the tour, the effort was a success.

“It was my first time in my whole life visiting the Air Force Base,” said Shin Dong-ho, a 60-year-old fisherman from nearby Bangchuk-do. “As a citizen of South Korea, I felt that we should know what they all do to defend this country, and their training must be inevitable in some sense.”

In years past, Shin has filed official complaints claiming noise from constant flights that left his house shaking, his children frightened and his fishery damaged. But after last week’s tour, which he called “valuable,” his opinion has changed slightly.

“We might have to put up with their noises to certain extent,” he said.

The tours have been done sporadically for the past few years, officials said.

(SITE NOTE: The "officials" did not mention that in the past it was for very small select group who were taken on a standard tour of the base. What was different from the past was that the base attempted to choose community leaders at the lower grassroots level. It was a promising start in 2000 that fizzled.)

The point is to educate residents on how U.S. and South Korean air forces work together, said Maj. Kim Song-kyu, who organized the participation of the Republic of Korea Air Force’s 38th Fighter Group.

Including local area leaders, farmers and fisherman about 70 South Koreans were invited this year, Kim said.

“As requested, we want to expand our assistance for them. Our effort to help them when they suffered from typhoon Maemi this year was pretty successful,” he said, referring to the devastating typhoon which struck southern and central South Korea earlier this fall.

“But what they loved the most was maybe the photos we took for each of them. Sitting in a F-5 [jet] to have their photo taken must have been something for them,” Kim said.

Along with static displays of South Korean F-5s and U.S. F-16s, area residents were taken to the control tower and the “hush house,” a sound-insulated hangar where jet engine repairs and tests are conducted, 8th Fighter Wing public affairs officer Capt. Krista Carlos said.

“It was pretty impressive experience,” said Paik Jung-tu, a 63-year-old farmer. “I didn’t have any good feelings toward the air base before, but I feel like I have some kind of bond with them now. The way they work for this country was nice and their good-mannered attitude looked awesome.”

Kunsan is home to the U.S. Air Force’s 8th Fighter Wing, which in 2001 passed a milestone of 300,000 F-16 flight-hours since the aircraft deployed here in 1981, officials said.

Wing pilots flew more than 227,522 sorties, an average of 29 sorties every day for 21 years. And ranges on islands near Kunsan are used “fairly regularly,” officials said

Off-base Issues Affecting Kunsan AB:

Kunsan noise case plaintiffs win damages

By Jeremy Kirk and Choe Song-won,
Stars and Stripes Pacific edition,
Friday, January 30, 2004

SEOUL — More than 1,800 South Korean residents near Kunsan Air Base will get lump sum payments of either $936 or $1,548 for enduring noise from jet fighters over the last three years, a Seoul judge ruled Tuesday.

It’s the first time a South Korean court has granted residents damages caused by a U.S. military base, said attorney Park Oh-soon, former president of the Korean Environmental Litigation Center. Under the ruling, the South Korean government must pay the damages.

“I’m so happy that this local court admitted those people have been damaged by the U.S. base for a long time,” Park said. “But I can’t be satisfied with the amount of money.”

Capt. Krista Carlos, 8th Fighter Wing and Kunsan Air Base spokeswoman, said the base was not involved in the claim, although when noise complaints are received, they are investigated to ensure no breach of procedure was committed.

The class action suit, filed in May 2002, asked for about 10 times more than the $2.85 million awarded. Although 2,046 Kunsan area residents signed on to the suit, only 1,878 will receive compensation based on noise tests.

Homes were tested according to the Weighted Equivalent Continuous Perceived Noise Level (WECPNL) scale. The measurement assesses continuous exposure to long-term noise caused by aircraft.

People whose homes registered less than 80 WECPNLs — less than 70 decibels — received no compensation, said Judge Son Yoon-ha, who made the ruling. Residents who experience higher than 80 WECPNLs are eligible for the lower amount. The highest amount goes to those exposed to more than 90 WECPNLs, he said.

In comparison, normal breathing tests at 10 decibels, according to the League for the Hard of Hearing, and shouting in someone’s ear registers at 110. A jackhammer, air-raid siren and symphony percussion section all test at 130 decibels.

Under South Korean law, both sides may appeal. Park said the residents will appeal the verdict to try to get more money. If the South Korean government also appeals, the case will be sorted out by the Seoul High Court, an appeals court, Park said.

Kunsan Air Base, on the west coast of South Korea, is home to the 8th Fighter Wing, consisting of two F-16 squadrons, and the South Korean 38th Fighter Group, which uses F-5s.

The runway is shared with Kunsan International Airport.

Last December, the base opened its gates to local residents, some of whom said their poor impressions were changed by the visit.

Park Yang-kyu, an activist with Green Korea United, said he was pleased with the ruling. The group, which frequently focuses on environmental issues involving the U.S. military, helped fund a noise study in 1999 and gave it to Kunsan city officials, Park Yang-kyu said.

Resident Kim Joong-kon, who is in his mid-50s and has lived near the base all his life, said vibrations from the fighters cause cracks in walls and distract studying students.

Kim said he remembers as a child seeing glass jars shake from the noise, adding that it makes people irritable.

The U.S. Air Force employs various methods to stem noise complaints, including using special sound-insulating “hush houses” to conduct engine tests and repairs, Carlos said.

Wing pilots normally fly 175 sorties per week, or about 700 a month, Carlos said. Personnel can’t run jet engines above 85 percent power from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. unless they are in a hush house, Carlos said.

Pilots can’t exceed the speed of sound over land, she said.

“We try to do everything we can to limit the amount of unnecessary noise,” Carlos said.

Late Wednesday, other citizens groups said they were encouraged by the ruling and are moving to file suits of their own. Residents near Pyongtaek and Osan Air Base are expected to file noise lawsuits in the coming days, as are residents near Camp Page, a major U.S. helicopter base in the 2nd Infantry Division area.

Residents near Kooni Range Compensated and Range Slated for Closure The range, built in 1955, in a 7.19 million-pyong sea and land area, is on Nong Island, off the coast of Maehyang-ri, Hwasong County in Kyonggi Province. The villagers had at first received a non-collectible judgement from the courts (due to the SOFA) because of the claimed damages from bombing exercises by the USAF in the firing range on May 8, 2000. The residents -- with the assistance of the NGO activist group Green Korea -- appealed the suit.

A USAF A-10 plane flying from Osan Air Base on a bombing run, developed engine problems and in order to lessen the aircraft weight, dropped six 500# bombs in the sea, off the coast of Maehyang-ri, where civilians usually gather. Villagers claimed that the explosion caused damages to hundreds of houses and injuries to some people. The residents demanded a compensation of 21.61 billion won, saying that the bombing exercise by the U.S. air force in the firing range on May 8 wounded villagers and destroyed hundreds of dwelling houses.

In April 2000, Maehyang-ri residents won a victory in a court battle when the court ordered the government to pay 132 million won in compensation to 14 Maehyang-ri residents. The ROK government appealed this decision.

After the initial victory in Apr 2000, another lawsuit in August 2003 by another 2,200 residents seeking 20 million won ($15,500) each from the government.

The Maehyang-ri residents wish the closure of the Kooni Range which Kunsan and Osan AB aircraft use. Actually, plans have been in place to close down Koon-ni range for several years. The Koreans built Inchon International Airport and the range was too close for bombing use. The range was restricted to strafing only.

The range was excluded from the LPP closure because of a stalemate where the ROK considered the Kooni Range a USFK range because of the March 2000 judgement. The ROK claimed it was the USFK responsibility. In Jan 2004, Donald Rumsfield stated that the range would be returned to the ROK in 2005 to end the dispute.

The protestors also claim the area of Maehyang-ri is "seriously contaminated, with lead ingredient 34 times and chromium 3,700 times those in an industrial area." Also they claim that due to severe noise pollution many inhabitants around Maehyang-ri cannot hear properly and are seeking damages for this as well. (The U.S. used the range for a long time.

In Mar 2004, upholding a lower court decision, South Korea's highest court ruled that the state must compensate residents near a U.S. military firing range for damages resulting from shooting and bombing exercises. The Supreme Court on 15 Mar 2004 ordered the state to pay 14 plaintiffs in Maehyang-ri, Gyeonggi Province, between 9.75 million won and 11.05 million won (US$9,348) each. At first the ROK attempted to get the USFK to pay, but later stated it would pay the damages by the 15 Mar deadline. However immediately following the payment to the residents, the ROK government started a row over the payments. The USFK flatly refused claiming that Article 3 exempted them from payment, while the ROK claimed Article 21 applies for personal claims for injury where the USFK pays 75 percent. The USFK again stated that the ROK was in error in its interpretation.

The following is from the 18 Mar Stars and Stripes:

Court: Residents near S. Korea training range must be compensated

By Jeremy Kirk and Choe Song-won, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Thursday, March 18, 2004

SEOUL — South Korea's Supreme Court ruled Friday that its government must pay damages to 14 residents living near a U.S. fighter training range.

The ruling upheld a Seoul District Court decision in 2001 to pay the residents near Koon-ni range. The South Korean government has appealed compensation rulings twice.

The government can't appeal again. Each resident will get between $8,500 to $9,600, said Moon Tae-jung, court public affairs officer.

The earlier decisions marked the first time the courts have ruled that residents should be compensated for suffering training-range noise levels. Still outstanding is another suit 2,222 residents near the range filed in 2001. Koon-ni range — a small, uninhabited island accessible by land only when tides are low — is on South Korea's west coast. It was established in the 1950s when only a few farmers inhabited Maehyang-ri, a nearby collection of five sub-villages.

Locals have protested the U.S. military's use of the range in the past for practice bombing runs. In 2000, an Osan-based A-10 pilot dropped six live 500-pound bombs on the target island about a mile from the village after his plane developed engine trouble. Villagers claimed damage.

The South Korean Defense Ministry, U.S. Forces Korea and a private firm contracted by the villagers determined that there was no pilot error and no damage or injuries from the detonations. But villagers, supported by a number of groups opposing U.S. policies, staged a number of major demonstrations at the range, some of which became violent.

Strafing exercises — known for their noisy low-flying planes — were halted permanently in August 2000.

Echos of Maehyang-ri's Cold War

Millions of tons of U.S. ordnance have devastated one small fishing village

From morning to night, ear-splitting explosions, the rattle of machine gun fire and the whine of military aircraft blast the village of Maehyang-ri with such intensity that some say the Korean War never ended for them. (SITE NOTE: But the U.S. has not used explosives there since 1978.)

But after 50 years of nonstop bombardment, a coalition of the village's 2,356 residents has succeeded in getting Korea's highest court to hear their case for the closure of the U.S. Goonri bombing range, located in Gyeonggi Province.

In early March, the Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling recognizing the merits of a lawsuit filed by 14 Maehyang-ri residents claiming damages for noise levels that resulted in hearing loss, stress and insomnia. The Court said the repercussions of the U.S. war games were more than residents could be expected to endure.

"The grandmothers of our village suffered terrible hardships at the hands of the Japanese military and the (Chinese) People's Army, and yet they were never deprived of a livelihood on the land and sea," said Jeon Man Gyu, chairman of the committee to close the bombing range. "But the American military, which came here to protect peace and freedom on the peninsula, has continually threatened their lives and livelihoods."

Accidental shootings and misdirected bombs have killed 12 of Maehyang-ri's citizens since 1952. Hundreds of pieces of ordnance have been dropped daily by A-10, OV-10 and F-16 fighter planes on nearby Nong Island that it is actually being whittled away. (SITE NOTE: The USFK states that there has only been one casualty, a woman walking on the beach sometime before 1978, when live explosives were still being used.)

In one mishap on May 8, 2000, an A-10 fighter dropped six 500-pound live bombs on Maehyang-ri beach. The United States Air Force said engine trouble had prompted the pilot to drop his payload to reduce weight and keep his craft airborne. After a joint investigation, it was ruled that damage to homes in the vicinity was slight so no compensation was paid. (SITE NOTE: In fact, the bombs were dropped out at sea on the seaward side on Nong Island, which is the island used for bombing practice.)

It is not just the noise and fear of a stray bomb that keep residents awake at night. Reports of high levels of arsenic, cadmium, copper and lead in soil samples have sparked an outcry from concerned residents. Rates of learning disabilities among the village's children are higher than the national average and as many as one-in-five pregnancies ends in a miscarriage. (SITE NOTE: The environmentalists claim to have verified tests to document these claims. These were submitted to the courts in the petition for damages. We are not certain what weight they were given in the judgements.)

With this latest ruling, the Korean government and United States Forces Korea (USFK) will pay damages according to a special civil section of the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA). Each resident will receive up to 11 million won each. Further claims are expected and USFK exercises will be relocated to other ranges on the peninsula, including Jinju, which is in South Gyeongsang Province. The Ministry of Defense will assume responsibility for the range by August 2005. (SITE NOTE: The USFK stated it would NOT pay damages.)

"The process of healing in our community begins with getting peace, not money," explained Jeon, in an interview with OhmyNews earlier this week. "It was the solidarity of the villagers, from all walks of life, that lead to this victory and will make a mark on history."

"I feel guilty that the American military has used Maehyang-ri to prepare for the killing of people in Iraq and Afghanistan. I hope for the day when people unite like us all over the world, to claim their right to live in peace and dignity," said Jeon. (SITE NOTE: Huh???? A Korean range used to prepare for Iraq???)

The ruling will have fallout extending far beyond this small fishing community. There will be added pressure on the government to address what the Korean people say are inequalities in the SOFA document that governs the legal status of American soldiers stationed in Korea.

This is not the first time that U.S. military exercises around the world have resulted in controversy. Puerto Rico and Panama have well documented legacies of similar lower standards of living and environmental degradation as the Maehyang-ri case.

Saemangeum Project Stopped by Courts, but Continued by Government The Saemangeum Project is a massive undertaking that will enclose Kunsan AB on the seaward side in the future. The base signed off on the project about five years ago. The impacts to the base are nil at this time in this power struggle between the environmentalists and government. However, base residents get to view the progress if they take jogs around the perimeter and look at the mud flats. In the distant future, the base must make provisions for receiving ROK permission for extending the overruns as the sea will soon become land. As far as we know, these actions are already underway.

This project was proposed 17 years ago and started 13 years ago initially with the Kunchang Project (Kunsan-Changhang Industrial area) and expanding into the Saemangeum Project after its completion. The Daewoo auto manufacturing plant stands on the reclaimed ground of the first phase. The Saemanguem project envisions reclaiming all the land from Kunsan to Puan by enclosing it in the longest man-made levee in the world.

This project also means a lot for the ROKAF of the 38th TFG as there is new Kunsan International Airport that is to be constructed as part of the project. This is where they will supposedly be relocated and hopefully receive the new F-15Ks. Of course, it is all skuttlebutt and wishful thinking at this point.

Saemangeum Construction of Dike (2003)

In July 2003, the Seoul High Court overturned a provisional disposition on the construction of a sea wall at Saemangeum issued by the Seoul High Court. This ruling came after a much publicized march from Pusan to Seoul in which volunteers who took part in a "three steps, one bow" march. (See Saemangeum Protest for photos.) The provincial governor shaved his head, civil servants working for North Cholla Province threatened to bring down the national government, and the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry resigned over the failure of the government policy on the Saemangeum. The court stated that the construction must stop because of the "compelling" evidence that there will be irreparable environmental damage to the migratory bird population and the tidal flat ecology.

So what is the action of the government? It is continuing construction levee portion of the project leaving only a portion incomplete open to the sea. In essence, the work continues unabated. The courts ordered an environmental impact study, but thus far the government is dragging its feet. The Millennium Democratic Party created the "Special Committee on Saemangeum" last June, but it disappeared without a trace when the party broke in two in the wake of political infighting.

According to the Korea Herald editorial on 29 Jan, "The government is pursuing a policy that reduces farmland by among other things easing restrictions on farmland ownership by city dwellers. On January 13, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Hun Sang-man said there would be "no problem with the rice supply even if there's a 30 percent reduction of the country's 1.14 hectares of ride fields." This makes it clear the initial justification for turning 860 billion pyeong of land at Saemangeum into farmland doesn't work anymore. President Roh Moo-hyun, for his part, has already stated in June 2003 that he believes development of the area into mostly farmland is something that should be reconsidered. Obviously it's time to come up with an alternative for what to do with reclaimed land 140 times the size of Seoul's Yeouido. Still, no one in the government is coming forward."

If there's no need to develop more farmland, then the court fight over the original plan is a needless waste of money. Besides the question of farmland, there are serious questions raised over how much contamination there will be made of the fresh-water lake constructed as part of the project if the place were turned into farmland. Only an environmental impact study will settle the issue -- but the government has not taken any action to initiate such a study and continues with construction.

Impacts to Kunsan AB will be nil at this point unless demonstrations occur in the local area. Most protests have been centered in Puan because the project will destroy its fishing industry.

Emergency Lines to Reduce Language Barrier Problems According to the Stars and Stripes on 27 Feb, there will be a service that will aid foreigners -- including servicemen -- with off-post emergencies. The same service was in place temporarily during the 2002 World Cup. According to the article, "Beginning 1 March, local emergency phone banks will be backed up by translators from South Korea's National Tourism Organization (NTO), hopefully reducing language-barrier delays. Officials have installed a hotline between the local "119" emergency operations center and the tourism organization's "1330" tourist translation hotline, linking the two phone banks 24 hours a day."

"In an emergency, people can call 119 and be connected with an emergency operator. If there are translation problems, that operator will call the tourism hotline, then create a three-way conference call. English, Japanese and Chinese speaking translators will be available, officials said."

Earth Day (April 22) Military commands throughout South Korea plan to do their part to “make every day Earth Day.” Beginning this week, units throughout the region will host a variety of environmentally-themed activities. One of the most ambitious will be at Osan Air Base, where 51st Fighter Wing officials are asking all personnel to leave their vehicles at home this week. Instead, they should walk, ride a bus or bike — whatever gets them out of their individual cars.

In Kunsan City, various organizations are doing their share to make people aware of the environment. On 18 April, the Rotary Club was out at Lake Eunpa putting up banners saying that "Nature is for our children's children" and cleaning up the area of litter.

Military Issues Affecting Kunsan AB:

Identification cards not wearing well

By Jeremy Kirk, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Sunday, February 22, 2004

YONGSAN GARRISON, South Korea — Nearly 25 percent of the U.S. military’s new, high-tech identification cards, which cost $8 each, malfunctioned within a year of being issued, Pentagon officials told Stars and Stripes.

Problems included bar code and other information wearing off the back of the cards and a gold-colored computer chip that can contain information such as a person’s name, gender, benefits, blood type and medical records popping off the front of the cards.

Since the companies issuing the new Common Access Cards began laminating the cards’ backs, the failure rate has dropped to about 11 percent, Pentagon officials said. Additional details on the problem with the chips were not available.

Pacific-based companies declined to provide numbers on how many cards they’ve reissued or laminated and referred all queries to the Pentagon. Worldwide statistics on the number of card failures — and cost to the Defense Department — were unavailable by deadline.

The IDs are used for everything from base and e-mail account access to storing pay, medical and benefits information.

When they were first issued in 2001, 23 percent failed, according to the Pentagon. Users reported that information printed on the backs of the plastic cards began to wear off as quickly as two weeks after issue.

South Korea and a few bases in Germany were the first places to issue the CAC, which is designed as a transition to paperless offices in which personnel records are linked by the card.

The cards have a magnetic strip used to gain access to controlled areas. Two bar codes and a 32-kilobyte computer chip store identification, demographics, salary, medical and benefits information. The coded chip lets users access computers and e-mail accounts.

Even with all the high-tech possibilities, many base functions still gather Social Security numbers by reading them off the back of the cards. Video store clerks and commissary cashiers frequently have to ask people for information that has worn off.

The area over the chip on the card’s front was not laminated, and users and issuers in Okinawa said the chips were popping off.

“There’s nothing actually holding the chips on,” said Staff Sgt. Jeremy Lenker, an installation entry controller leader with Osan Air Base’s 51st Security Forces Squadron. “And you’re talking cards that are just two weeks old. I confiscated one last week … only two weeks old.”

Officials around the Pacific downplayed the problem, saying complaints were minimal. But largely, they declined to provide statistics.

Pfc. Kemi Warhop and her husband, James, put their cards in the clear plastic wrappings used to safeguard long-distance phone cards. “There’s no other way to protect it,” said Warhop, of the 201st Signal Company at Yongsan Garrison.

Warhop was getting a new ID card Wednesday because of a name change after her recent marriage. A defective card is a no-go for base access. The cards are confiscated and personnel are required to get new cards.

“If we can’t read it, we have to confiscate it,” said Airman Bradley Settle, an installation entry controller with Osan’s 51st Security Forces Squadron.

Bases around the Pacific reported starting the two-sided lamination at different times. In South Korea, Osan began about six months ago; Kunsan Air Base, in February 2003, according to officials. At Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, both-side lamination started around November. At Kadena Air Base on Okinawa, about 6,700 personnel have the CAC. The base began issuing them in March 2002 and laminating the backs in February 2003.

Kunsan Air Base — home to about 2,600 airmen — has about five faulty cards crop up each day, said Capt. Krista Carlos, 8th Fighter Wing public affairs chief. “It is somewhat of a problem,” Carlos said.

Patriot Service to Cease in 2006 In February 2004, The Defense Department citing cost, flexibility and empty seats planned to eliminate almost all Patriot Express routes starting in fiscal 2006. Patriot Express is the military's chartered commercial air service. According to an AMC spokesmand, in South Korea and Japan, Patriot Express will be phased out over a two-year period. The service will cease at Osan and Kunsan air bases, South Korea, and at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, in fiscal 2006. The Patriot Express gateway at Los Angeles International Airport also will close that year, as will the passenger reservation center at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii.

The change will require servicemembers on permanent change of station orders and their families to take commercial flights to and from overseas locations, Air Mobility Command officials said in a news release last week. Fewer Patriot Express flights also mean fewer space-available seats for servicemembers, civilians, families and retirees on leisure travel.

Unit Compliance Inspection (UCI) Yonhap News carried the following article on 16 Feb. Supposedly there were between 90-140 PACAF inspectors that descended on Korea to inspect Osan first and then Kunsan. The inspection at Kunsan was slated for Feb 17-20. The Wolfpack was taking it seriously as the commissary was cleaned out of food (no meat, milk, etc.) -- like prior to an exercise. Later it was announced that Osan received an overall "excellent" and the results for Kunsan was expected to be the same.

However, there was some questions from observers as the UCI was supposed to be over on the 20th, but on 24 Feb, the IG Inspector parking slots were still reserved at the Mission Support facility as well as the BX. This meant that some of the inspectors were still in town. The Inspectors outbriefed the unit on Tuesday, the 24th of Feb which seemed odd as outbriefs are usually on the last day of the inspection. After receiving the results, the Wing Commander gave the unit a day off to celebrate their passing.

The unit received a "high satisfactory" for its efforts. To most who have observed Kunsan's inspections over the years, they have come to expect "excellent" ratings, but this would be just a small step down. Whatever the inspectors found must have been significant...but that's technical stuff that this site is not interested in.

Day off follows positive rating for Wolf Pack

By Franklin Fisher, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Saturday, February 28, 2004

OSAN AIR BASE, South Korea — Airmen broke into loud cheering at Kunsan Air Base on Wednesday night after their commanding officer announced a surprise day off for doing well in a recent Pacific Air Forces inspection, officials said Thursday.

Just one day before, the base's 8th Fighter Wing received an overall rating of high-satisfactory after a team of PACAF inspectors put it through an intensive, four-day, unit compliance inspection, or UCI.

The inspection ran Feb. 17-21. Inspectors briefed the wing on the results Tuesday.

NEO Plan Adequacy Questioned According to the Stars and Stripes on 1 Mar 2004, military officials said the February noncombatant evacuation operation (NEO) exercise showed marked improvements in both participation and speed of processing. Last year there were questions as to the realistic evaluation. (See NEO Plan Adequacy Questioned) The exercise gauges the ability to perform emergency evacuations of noncombatants from the Korean peninsula. NEO organizers said more than 99 percent of area residents required to participate did so. And they experienced much shorter processing times than during the last exercise, with first-time “evacuees” taking 30 minutes and those who had participated before taking just 15 minutes. However, spot checks of many NEO packets found that unit NEO wardens had not reviewed the information. The next NEO is in October 2004.

AF Needs to Cut Manning by 16,600 The AF will be cutting manning. Normally these type of cuts affect the "backline units" first, but such a massive cut will certainly affect Kunsan AB adversely in the future. How these cuts will translate into mission changes will be only conjecture. Currently the USAF elements of the USFK has some 8,300 personnel, operating a total of about 100 aircraft of all types. These elements are considered "front line" forces and normally left untouched. However, replacement manning will be a definite problem. The first phase ends on March 12 and there were not enough who applied for early outs. Only about 1000 officers and airmen applied and about 2/3 were denied for "spot-manning" (undermanned or year group shortage) problems. After the dismal showing in the first phase, the second phase should start in June with other inducements.

The Stars and Stripes stated on 7 Mar 2004:

AF trying to avoid involuntary RIFs while cutting 16,600 airmen by 2005

By Lisa Burgess, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Saturday, March 6, 2004

ARLINGTON, Va. — With a March 12 deadline fast approaching, only some 1,250 airmen have asked the Air Force for an early out under the first phase of a “force shaping” project to eliminate 16,600 airmen from the force over the next 18 months.

And more than half of those who have had offered to leave early have had their applications disapproved, according to statistics provided by Air Force officials.

The Air Force must cut thousands from its personnel roster because soaring retention rates and stop-loss orders have boosted the service’s manning levels beyond the Congressionally authorized end strength of 359,000 airmen.

Those airmen must be gone by Sept. 30, 2005, the end of the government’s fiscal 2005, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. John Jumper said in a Jan. 29 message to the force.

Hoping to avoid involuntary layoffs, which are known in the government as “reductions in force,” or RIFs, Air Force officials have devised a multistage plan to entice airmen to leave of their own accord.

The first stage, which opened Feb. 4, gives airmen until March 12 to submit applications for a number of special programs, including waivers for early outs and moves into the Reserve components, and gives the Air Force a better sense of what steps will need to be taken before September 2005.

But as of Feb. 27, only 1,247 airmen had submitted applications to leave early, including 51 officers and 1,191 enlisted airmen, Air Force spokeswoman Jennifer Stephens said Thursday.

“The early-out program is off to a slower start than we had hoped,” Stephens said Friday. “However, leaving the active-duty force is a big decision, so people may be taking time to research their options to make the right decision for themselves and their families.”

Applications from 18 officers and 651 enlisted were disapproved, while seven officers and 282 enlisted airmen had been approved, Stephens said.

Applications from 26 officers and 258 enlisted were still pending, Stephens said.

The applications are approved and reviewed on a case-by-case basis, and approval largely turns on whether a particular job field is under- or over-manned, Stephens said.

The “majority” of unsuccessful applicants were mostly airmen who perform jobs that have spot shortages in some ranks — and the applicant happened to be of that rank, Stephens said.

After the March 12 deadline arrives, Air Force officials plan to take a couple of months to analyze where the first phase succeeded and where it failed, Maj. Dawn Keasley, the Air Force’s chief of retirement and separation policy, told Stripes on Feb. 4.

Once the service has a handle on how many airmen they’ll need to cut in the second phase, officials will announce a new round of initiatives that will probably begin in June, Keasley said.

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Renter Beware The problems with hefty "key money" (deposits) have now been compounded by a new ploy to charge for hidden utility bills at the end of the contract. The ploy is not new -- just the twist in the scheme. The game has always been to await the departure of a GI and when he is within a few weeks of leaving just before he clears the residence, slap him with some sort of charges for "damage" The "charges" are usually the amount would be the "key money" deposit so they don't have to return it. The GI fearing being placed on administrative hold over a dispute, relinquishes his "key money." Dealing with reputable landlords is definitely a problem.

We have seen this problem in older shanties where the landlord "taps" into the electrical line AFTER the meter. Electricity is relatively expensive in Korea and it is a favorite trick of landlords. In newer high-rise apartments this would be harder to affect. We've also seen unauthorized splitters for cable TV service on roofs where there are GI apartments. For any GI who brings his family to Kunsan for a few months in violation of Kunsan's standing "visitor" policy, they are stuck as they have no where to complain. For those who are "ghosts" -- single GIs renting apartments/rooms near A-town without approval -- they are out of luck as refusal to pay immediately results in a blackmail threat to notify the base. "Ghosts" who rent tiny rooms by the month are not normally affected by this ploy. A Stars and Stripes story on 7 Mar 2004 illustrates the problem in the Seoul area.

S. Korean landlords’ demands for lease-end payments confound families

By Jeremy Kirk, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Sunday, March 7, 2004

YONGSAN GARRISON, South Korea — When Karen Herd and her husband received a $2,500 bill for utilities while moving out of their off-base apartment last month, she reacted like any reasonable person.

She cried.

“I was never informed that there was an issue,” said Herd, a day before she flew back to the United States with her husband, three kids and a dog. “I just felt like it is a total shakedown.”

Similar miscommunications have left some servicemembers haggling over utility bills with angry landlords days before leaving South Korea. It’s resulted in forfeited deposits and bitter feelings, with some noting it contradicts South Korea as being an assignment of choice.

“We could really use that money,” said Herd’s husband, Capt. Bradley Herd, a military policeman.

And housing office officials said they also have noticed clear oddities in servicemembers’ apartments, such as power meters spinning when nothing is running. The housing department has dispatched South Korean utility officials to apartments for inspections and asked landlords to replace suspect meters, said Fred Moore, Yongsan’s deputy chief of housing.

Many servicemembers negotiate leases that set a cap on utilities, such as 400,000 won ($340) per month. If more than 400,000 won a month on utilities is used, the tenant must reimburse the landlord for the difference. Renters also may opt to pay their utilities separately from their rent but the housing department generally recommends utilities be incorporated into a lease, Moore said.

The housing office advises renters to get copies of utility bills monthly to ensure they know the charges.

Landlords are supposed to provide bills, but often they don’t. Residents also have complained of discrepancies between what they were told by real estate agents and by landlords.

Judie Black lived with her husband and three children in an apartment near the Hyatt Hotel from September to November last year. When she moved out, her landlord said they owed about $900 for excess utilities. Her utilities cap, included in the lease, was around $450 per month. Black said she never used the heat and only sparingly used the air conditioner. She obtained the electric bill and compared it to bills for the previous tenant and noticed hundreds of dollars in difference.

Black said she knew something was wrong, but couldn’t prove it: “They were ripping us off,” she said. “There’s no way our utilities were that high.”

Then the landlord said a $140 monthly security fee was included in the utilities. When they signed a lease, Black said, their real estate agent told her and her husband the fee would be “minimal.”

After some frustrating contact with the housing department and a desire to end the conflict, the Blacks just let the landlord keep their deposit. They lost about $1,400 of their own money since they had to pay the Army back.

“I think housing needs to crack down,” Black said.

If there’s a conflict over utilities, Moore said, a meeting can be called between the real estate agent, landlord and tenant. Moore said complaints number about one or two a month.

“The housing office is no more than a mediator when you start talking about trying to resolve issues between the residents and the landlords,” Moore said. “We’ve had some success and we’ve lost some battles based upon Realtors or landlords that were really hard to deal with.”

Soldiers who are going to find an off-post apartment should attend a briefing before they go house-hunting, Moore said. Servicemembers should know only utilities — gas, water, electricity, etc. — are allowed in the utilities portion, said John Burtch, chief of the Korea Region Office housing branch.

All other fees — which may be called management or security fees — should be included in the cost of the lease, Burtch said. All leases must be approved by the housing department, and Moore advises getting help early on to ensure there is no confusion.

Tenants, however, feel landlords and real estate agents frequently muddle issues to throw in a final bill. Herd said she and her husband were told they were under their utility allotment the first year.

They didn’t change their use habit and were stunned the next year when told how much they owed.

Because of the confusion, the Herds settled by splitting the bill in thirds between themselves, their landlord and real estate agent. But they were still out about $800, a significant amount for a family on the move with three children, the couple said.

“I have to say I feel like a lot of people view us \[Americans\] as deep pockets,” Herd said.

“I think most people are honest,” Burtch said. “I think our host nation leasers are really quality people, and I don’t think hardly any of them would ever attempt to shortchange an American soldier.”

If people have a problem with their utilities, they should call their housing office. If they don’t get a satisfactory answer, they may call Bradford Smith, KORO housing specialist, at DSN 768-8725.

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Anthrax and Smallpox Vaccinations Expanded Reuters ("PENTAGON EXPANDS ANTHRAX, SMALLPOX VACCINATIONS", 2004-06-30) reported that the Pentagon plans to expand the number of troops receiving anthrax and smallpox vaccinations to forces based in the ROK. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, in a memo released on 30 Jun 2004, called the Pentagon's vaccination programs to protect troops against exposure to these germ warfare agents "a success." "Building on that success and the continued threat of biological attack, it is prudent to expand our immunization programs now," Wolfowitz said in the memo. The memo said the expansion affected uniformed personnel going to the Korean Peninsula for 15 days or more and added to the numbers of troops deployed in the Middle East getting the shots.

However, intelligence on suspected capabilities and motives of some adversaries make the Pacific and Central Command areas more of a threat than other regions in the world, prompting the department to vaccinate those troops and personnel, Rodriguez said.

Previously the vaccinations were curtailed because of insufficient quantities required to support the Iraq War troops. The manufacturer had to temporarily stop production after it changed how the vaccine was made and awaited approval from the Food and Drug Administration. It appears that now the threat in Iraq has been reduced, the ROK is again on the hot seat. The expanded program is a result of an increase in the supply of the vaccines and not a change in threat conditions against troops, civilian workers and their families, said William Winkenwerder Jr., assistant secretary of defense for Health Affairs. The vaccination program is highly controversial with some members choosing court martial rather than receiving the Anthrax vaccinations. This will be the first time forces on the Korean Peninsula will be inoculated since the Pentagon resumed the program in June 2002, Winkenwerder said.

However, what was "funny" was how the ROK FINALLY reacted in 2004 as though the constant reminders that the North possessed anthrax and smallpox since the early 1990s. According to Yonhap News, "Korean Military Defenseless Against Anthrax" (4 July 2004), "It has been revealed, however, that the Korean military has failed to secure anthrax vaccines at all, leaving itself in a defenseless state against anthrax attack. An official from the Defense Ministry said Sunday, "We have tried to purchase anthrax vaccines from the U.S. for the last two to three years, but to no avail. So, at present, we do not have any anthrax vaccines." Anthrax is caught through the respiratory organs and accompanies symptoms of high fever, cough, and mental disorder after the incubation period of 20 to 60 days. Eighty percent of those infected die within days. Right after the Sept.11 attack, anthrax terror attacks took place across the U.S., causing several deaths. In particular, North Korea, as the world's third most powerful nation with biological and chemical weapons, is known to have 13 kinds of biological weapons including anthrax, small pox, and pests. The South Korean military, however, only managed to secure some anthrax antibiotics and small pox vaccines. A military official said, "The government is trying hard to develop vaccines. We may be able to produce small pox vaccines by the end of this year, but as for anthrax vaccines, we are still in the process of development." The U.S. Department of Defense announced on July 30 that in preparation for the North's biological attack, it would make it mandatory for all U.S. soldiers in Korea and the Pacific Commands to be vaccinated against anthrax."

The message above is a false shock to blame the U.S. for not "sharing" their vaccines. It is a low-attempt at anti-Americanism. In addition, the ROK fails to mention that they do not believe the North will use biological warfare on the confined space of the peninsula. The problem is that the disease could easily backfire and wipe out the civilian populations of both Koreas. Though the US has vaccines, it also takes the same viewpoint of North Korea but it must maintain a worldwide mobility stance where not only the North has the anthrax and smallpox threat, but other third world countries have it also.

In Sep 2004, the Wolf Pack Warrior had an article on the Anthrax and Smallpox shots that are on the way for all USFK members. In Oct 2004, the shots were being administered USFK wide. There were photo ops of the commanders of each unit and the senior enlisted -- from the top generals and command sergeant majors to the bases/camp commanders and CMS/CSM-- getting their shots. The AFN TV broadcasts stressed that the shots were "FDA Approved" and "COMPLETELY SAFE" -- to try to dispel the previous bad press from certain officers and enlisted who refused the shots and took court martials instead. The USFK stated that after all military have received their shots, the shots would be available to "selected dependents" -- meaning those above the age of 18 -- indicating their is an ample supply on hand.

In Oct 2004, the Stars and Stripes stated that the 200,000 personnel who had started the shots MUST complete the 6-shot series. It had been terminated except for only deploying personnel because of a shortage of the vaccines, but now there is an ample supply. This seemed a bit unusual at the time as the original stop decree by the courts had not been resolved.

On 28 Oct, the Stars and Stripes stated that "U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan said the Food and Drug Administration violated its own procedures when it gave final approval to the vaccine last year because it failed to give the public an adequate opportunity to comment."

Sullivan first ordered a halt to the mandatory vaccinations on Dec. 22, saying that vaccine was being used for an unapproved purpose. Eight days later, the FDA issued an order intended to give the vaccine final approval for use to prevent inhaled anthrax.

Sullivan later lifted the ban, except for the six plaintiffs. The federal government contends the vaccine is safe and is not experimental. The soldiers had asked Sullivan to reinstate the prohibition. He agreed, rejecting the government’s claim that the FDA had considered arguments against the vaccine. “While some individuals may have submitted comments as part of a citizen petition, it is clear to this court that if the status of the anthrax vaccine were open for public comment today, the agency would receive a deluge of comments and analysis that might inform an open-minded agency,” he said.

Without the FDA’s final approval, the vaccine is considered investigational. Congress has prohibited the military from giving investigational drugs to soldiers without their consent unless there is a presidential waiver. More than 900,000 servicemen and women have received the shots, among the millions of doses of various vaccines administered to troops. Hundreds of service members have been punished or discharged for refusing them, according to the Pentagon.

What was strange was that the peninsula wide CERE at the end of October was deemed a good time to innoculate everyone with the anthrax and smallpox shots. The AFKN ran a TV spot on how the medics were proud that it went off without a hitch. Maybe I missed something that there was a federal injunction to stop the innoculations -- but the USFK decided to go ahead anyway? I must be missing something.

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F-16 Mishap According to F-16.net on 21 Jun 2004 aircraft 86-0282 of the 80th FS, F-16C Block 30D, incurred a mishap. The aircraft was being towed from the Foxtrot taxiway (next to the alternative runway) coming from the washing area called a "birdbath" when the right wing hit some of the "birdbath" structure. The TSgt who was driving for some reason swerved the aircraft towards the birdbath instead of keeping it in the center of the taxiway. The structure of the birdbath stuck on the right wing pulling it off the taxiway. Most of the damage was the result of the nose gear collapsing in contact with the soft ground

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New Air Force Uniform According to Military.com, "Right now, nearly 600 personnel at nine Air Force bases are modeling the tiger-striped utility uniforms of blue, gray and green. The fatigues not only look and feel good, according to Air Force brass, but they're made of a more durable wash-and-wear material. This saves time -- and potentially saves the wearer $180 to $240 each year on dry cleaning. The new design also would give the Air Force a distinctive look. Airmen now wear the same woodland-pattern fatigues the Army uses -- too much of a reminder, it seems, that the air service was once part of the ground service."

Unfortunately, "Although far from scientific or official, an informal Internet poll of more than 600 Air Force officer candidates found close to 30 percent "love" or "like" the new fatigues; a whopping 50 percent said they "hate" the new tiger stripes or would wear them only if they must. The final 20 percent weren't sure." The Air Force will establish a Web site soon so airmen can offer opinions.

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Change of Command from Col. Rand to Col. Uhle According to the Stars and Stripes, Col. Robin Rand relinquished command to Col. William W. Uhle Jr. in a 9 a.m. ceremony at Kunsan’s Hangar 3 on 27 May.

Uhle moves to Kunsan from Shaw Air Force Base, S.C., where he was vice commander of the 20th Fighter Wing. He becomes the 43rd "Wolf" in a tradition dating back to 1966. Uhle is a command pilot with more than 2,450 flight hours, including 145 combat hours, according to the Air Force. Commissioned in 1981 through the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps, he has held various flying and staff assignments in Japan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the United States. He has served as a NATO staff officer, chief of the Weapons Requirements Division at Air Force headquarters, director of combat operations with the Joint Task Force — Southwest Asia and has commanded an operational test and evaluation squadron composed of F-16C, F-15C and F-15E aircraft.

Rand is slated for promotion to brigadier general. His next assignment is as commander of the 56th Fighter Wing at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz. He became commander of the 8th Fighter Wing in May 2003. The wing commander’s position is a one-year tour. Before his assignment to Kunsan, Rand was U.S. Air Force Weapons School commandant at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev. A command pilot with more than 4,200 flying hours, he also has been assigned to the Joint Staff at the Pentagon and has served as a deputy operations group commander. Rand was commissioned in 1979 from the Air Force Academy.

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F-117 Nighthawks Come To Kunsan A squadron-size unit of stealth jets with about 300 personnel was deployed in Kunsan in June 2004. The USFK said, “They will take part in a drill aimed at getting themselves familiar with geographic peculiarities. They will stay here for three or four months.” The F-117s came over for Foal Eagle and stayed to overshadow the pullout of the 2d Bde 2d ID to Iraq and keep North Korea from getting strange ideas. It remained for "orientation training" and will probably remain through Ulchi Focus Lens.

F-117 makes a soft landing at Kunsan (Aug 2004) (USAF Photo)

Airmen training at Kunsan

By Master Sgt. Val Gempis, Air Force Print News
Aug 21, 2004, 10:43 pm

KUNSAN AIR BASE, South Korea — Wearing chemical warfare gear is nothing new for F-117 Nighthawk maintainers from the 49th Fighter Wing at Holloman Air Force Base, N.M. Wing Airmen have been to almost every “hot spot” in the world supporting Air Force global missions.

About 300 Airmen and their stealth aircraft from Holloman are currently deployed here as part of an air and space expeditionary force rotation to the Pacific region.

The deployment is giving the Airmen a firsthand look at where they someday may have to fight. Master Sgt. Lyle Gillogly, an aircraft section chief, is paying attention to his surroundings as he surveys the flightline through his gas mask. “This is a rare opportunity for us to participate in wartime training in a place where we might have to come back and fight a real war,” he said. “We can’t duplicate this training back home.”

“We’re learning how to operate overseas,” said Staff Sgt. Alex Brown, a crew chief. “It’s better to find out the problems now than during a real-world deployment.”

After two weeks of orientation and familiarization, the Airmen participated in a weeklong exercise to practice defending South Korea against an attack.

“We’re learning how to fit in the big structure of Kunsan. This gives us a chance to work in a completely different environment instead of just the desert of New Mexico,” said Chief Master Sgt. David Creech, a maintenance superintendent.

One of their biggest adjustments is the weather, the Airmen said. Adjusting from a hot, dry summer to a moderate temperature with extreme humidity takes time. Although working outdoors can be unbearable, it has not stopped the maintainers from doing their jobs.

The F-117 stealth aircraft take off daily to conduct training over the South China Sea, leaving behind maintenance crews to hone their skills in their temporary home.

Airmen conduct daily inspections, functional checks, troubleshooting and repairs on general, propulsion and pneudraulics systems of the F-117 to ensure the planes fly safely and on time. They also launch, recover and generate aircraft to meet exercise or war-readiness taskings.

Working away from home has allowed the Airmen to build relations with the base F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft maintainers. Because F-16 maintainers are also qualified to work on F-117s, a number of Airmen who used to be in New Mexico are stationed here.

“I started calling this place ’Little Holloman,’” said Master Sgt. Gerald Bies, Holloman’s lead production superintendent. He said knowing people here has made their job a little bit better.

“I just call my friends at the maintenance group if I need help fixing my planes,” Bies said.

The runway was closed at Kunsan in Sept so the Nighthawks and F-16s were redeployed. On the heels of this, a squadron of F-15E Strike Eagles from Elmendorf were to arrive in September for several months of deployment after taking part in Ulchi Focus Lens (Aug. 23 - Sept. 3). On 3 Nov 2004, the AFKN did a TV spot on the 3rd Aircraft Expeditionary Group at Kwangju setting up and running their operations from Kwangju.

According to the Korea Times on 16 Aug 2004, the two-seat fighters will come to South Korea to engage in military training aimed at familiarizing personnel with the geographical features of the Korean peninsula, adding that the U.S. jets will stay on the peninsula for two to four months. These jets normally stage out of Kwangju as they have for every year starting in 1998 -- so it is reasonable to assume that the F-117s will be deployed there as well as force protection will be increased. After the announcement in the Korean news, ther deployment has been The Kunsan's two squadrons of F-16s would operate out of Osan. On 16 Oct 2004, Yonhap News stated, "Two separate squadrons of U.S. F-15E fighter jets and F-117A stealth bombers have been deployed in South Korea for several months to familiarize themselves with the geographical features of the Korean Peninsula."

During the absence of the wing, the Apache helicopters can still use the base for refuels. The Apache is armed with a 30mm chain gun, 2.75-inch Hydra rockets and Hellfire missiles. The missiles aren’t fired during the training on the Rodriguez Range near Uijongbu because their five-mile range makes using them dangerous on the 2.5 mile-long Rodriguez Range. Missile practice is done at Chickdo Island near Kunsan Air Base.

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Kunsan Runway Closed in Oct 2004 The Kunsan runway was closed for repairs in October. The F-16s deployed to to Osan. However, the F-117s location was classified and they may go to Kwangju. As of 1 Oct, there were no reports besides the runway repair would entail a lot of concrete usage. The runway closure will extend through November.

During this time-frame, the new Patriot batteries arrived at Osan and at Kwangju to take up their duties. According to the USFK Website in October, "a 425-member battalion of U.S. Soldiers is scheduled to deploy to Gwangju and a 125-member brigade headquarters unit is scheduled to deploy to Osan as part of a Combined Forces Command plan to increase the defensive Patriot missile forces on the peninsula." A 40-member advance party of U.S. Army Soldiers from 2-1 Air Defense Artillery arrived in Gwangju on Oct. 9. The remainder of the 425-member unit will complete their deployment to Gwangju in early winter. Several members of the brigade headquarters element destined for Osan have arrived there, and the remainder of the unit will complete their deployment to Osan by this Fall.

Kunsan Runway Reopens (Nov 2004) The following is from the 23 Nov Stars and Stripes.

'Wolf Pack' packs, heads back to its lair at Kunsan

By Franklin Fisher, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Tuesday, November 23, 2004

OSAN AIR BASE, South Korea — With the Kunsan Air Base runway to reopen Wednesday, about 500 Kunsan airmen have begun re-packing their tools and other equipment and making their way back from Osan. When repairs began last month, the airmen and dozens of F-16 jets moved north to Osan, about 63 miles from their permanent base at Kunsan.

Kunsan Air Base, on Korea’s western seacoast, is home to the 8th Fighter Wing, known as the “Wolf Pack.” Except for the flying operations that shifted temporarily to Osan, Kunsan has continued regular day-to-day operations.

“They’re all going to come back — people, cargo, aircraft. They’re essentially finished with their mission and they’re going to be re-deploying back home to Kunsan,” 1st Lt. Michelle Estep, a Wolf Pack spokeswoman, said Thursday.

The Wolf Pack’s F-16s will fly back to Kunsan. Its support troops will head back by buses or in military vehicles, Estep said.

“Actually, it’s just like coming back in waves.”

Base officials plan to mark the runway’s reopening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and a jet flyover formation led by “The Wolf,” 8th Fighter Wing commander Col. William W. Uhle Jr.

“Col. Uhle … will be the first one to land on our new runway,” Estep said.

Construction crews began work about Oct. 1; “the goal was to have everyone back by Thanksgiving,” Estep said. “The goal is going to be met.”

The $7 million runway project called for workers to replace concrete slabs, remove streaks of rubber formed when aircraft tires touch down, repaint runway markings and repair “spalling” — loose concrete fragments that create pitting or potholes.

Workers also were to replace “threshold lights” at each end of the runway, extend approach lights and install or repair airfield signs.

Thursday afternoon at a “tent city” where the Wolf Pack airmen have been living while deployed here, Senior Airman Sharod Allen was busy packing sleeping bags and cots for shipment back to Kunsan. Allen, 24, of Fayetteville, N.C., is an information manager with Kunsan’s 8th Maintenance Squadron and works with computers.

For Allen, the temporary deployment brought an opportunity to hold broader job responsibilities than at Kunsan.

“With the computers, I’m the only one here in charge of the network,” said Allen. “So if something goes wrong, I’m in charge of getting it fixed.”

At Kunsan, “I can fix it but if I can’t, I can always call ‘comm,’” Kunsan’s communications troops,” he said. “But here, I am ‘comm.’ I have to fix it. It’s fun though. I like it.”

For Airman 1st Class Elisa Nikolic, 20, of New York City, one of the big differences about being at Osan was living in a tent the whole time.

“Conditions were a lot different from what I’m used to,” said Nikolic, who works in personnel with Kunsan’s 8th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron.

The temporary deployment also meant very different working hours. “I’m usually day shift at Kunsan but here they had me working three to 11. … It took me a little while to get used to it.”

New Main Gate Security Measures in place, BUT... The new base entry control is now in place at the main gate. The personnel gate now encompasses the rotating gate to enter, but truthfully, it could have been designed better to have the pass function outside and the entry portion left clear. But it is a great improvement nevertheless.

As you enter the old vehicular Main gate, the guards check your IDs and new terrorist protection devices are in place. The old road along the fence up towards the ROKAF Security Police has now been blocked off with permanent buried posts. A barrier separates the two lanes (in/out) of traffic with permanent pole barriers so cars must zig-zag for speed reduction. People need to get used to these barrier posts as we have seen one accident already.

One drives straight ahead to the new gate shack located where the railroad tracks. A new pop-up barrier is installed -- and a tire-shredder for wrong-way entry. The gate shack entry includes the latest in popup barriers and tire-deflation protection. On the right a new electronic billboard has replaced the old magnetic letter version. It broadcasts the date, Defend the base "Hooah", Accept the followons, and Take the Fight North messages.

The first impression is that there is no way a terrorist could storm the gates. That is of course, UNLESS it were one of those crazy suicide bombers seen in the Philippines, Indonesia, Bali, India, Pakistan, Palestine, Afghanistan, Iraq, etc. Anything is possible with fanatics. Contingency plans are based upon reasonable actions by an adversary. Terrorists are not predictable...and fanaticism is not rational.

We are we talking about preventing entry to the base of a terrorist with a suicide car bomb. We are talking about the terrorist nutcases that our forces are facing in Iraq and the rest of the world. They do NOT work rationally. They are NOT after military targets -- they are after sensational human tragedies. If they get on base, they want the barracks or the Loring Club packed with personnel. Look at the past targets for the terrorists in Germany, Bali, and Saudi Arabia. Terrorists want the "soft" sensational targets to get into the news...and place fear into the heart of people. A military target gets page 3 news and is forgotten tomorrow. A bunch of deaths in a barracks will become military folklore for years to come.

The possibilities for paranoia are limitless, but if you want to worry about terrorists, you have to look everywhere. If not, you say screw it and let life go on. The biggest danger for Kunsan is that it will pay lip service to the terrorist threat, but do nothing of substance. In our opinion, until an actual terrorist attack occurs in Korea, there will be very little substantive action.

Korea is actually a low-threat terrorist area. Islamic terrorists and Al Quaida will be operating outside of their element. Though it has been shown that Al Quaida operatives have been in Korea -- with one being in Korea for three months -- no one takes the threat seriously. The major problems for a terrorist will be the smuggling of explosives into the country to create the bomb -- as the ROK keeps a VERY tight control on munitions and firearms. And then having to find a place to assemble the bomb without being reported as Arabic-looking individuals stand out in homogeneous Korean society. An Arabic looking terrorist group will have a hard time concealing themselves in Korea -- even as illegal migrant workers from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia or such. Koreans do NOT trust these people.

(SITE NOTE: Though smuggling in large amounts of explosives from CHINA might be risky, we suggest that it could be possible. Boats filled with contraband from China are regularly seized by the Maritime Police. However, a lot of these boats do make it through. The cargo is normally oriental medicine products or products with high resale value like viagra, but some seizures have included weapons (shotguns, pistols and ammunition). In addition, it is also a possibility to buy the explosives in country with the right contacts. There are large amounts of war-readiness munitions stockpiled here. The ROK recently took over their separate accounting and there might be weak points -- people that can be bribed. A few years back a ROKAF MSgt was found to have automatic weapons in his home -- which he was selling -- made from parts smuggled out piece-meal from the Armory where he worked. Thus anything is possible.)

North Fence Line -- Main Gate to POL (Not good for forced entry): On the north side, there are concrete roads through the rice fields that run directly up to the drainage ditch that separates the base from off-base. A metal plank to cross the ditch and wire cutters might make this a feasible entry to the base with a vehicle. However, we know that there are now Security Police sentries and detection devices attached to the fence that do NOT make this a very good option for entry as response times would be immediate. The ROKAF Security Police headquarters is located along the fence. There is the potential of entering the fenceline along Gunsmoke hill near the houses at the base but this entails backpack explosives which we stated wasn't what the terrorist was looking for.

North Gate - Airport (Not good for forced entry): Though it would give it a straight shot to the BOQ area and down Avenue C to the barracks area, the North Gate area would NOT be a reasonable option. The areas around the gate are not very good for a forced entry with a vehicle because of the pond to the right and ROKAF housing to the left. The north gate area has no real "drive in" entry points except for the Kunsan Airport gate but to enter that area would be too risky with airport security and then the locked gate to the taxiway. The North Gate is closed except on Wednesdays. It is a regular chain link gate with a steel barricade when closed. This would be a good target for a clandestine break in...but the ROKAF protect it at night. To attempt a break-in would take too long for entry and an alarm would be spread immediately -- and with the choke points, there is not much chance of breaching the base.

Seawall (Not good for forced entry): The use of the seawall side is possible, but the terrorist would be limited to a backpack explosive which we feel is not what he would be interested in. In addition, there have been sensors attached to the fenceline that may also detect human entry (i.e., ammonia sensor). To cross across the runway would be risky without being seen. NOT a likely entry point choice. It is not worth the effort. A terrorist would then have to transit the entire route around the perimeter without being seen by ROKAF and USAF sentinels carrying explosives only for self-demolition. As we stated before, if a terrorist were to opt for a "backpack" explosive, they would attack A-town or a downtown nightclub like "Cowboys" -- and NOT the base. Thus we feel the seawall side would not meet their goals.

Haje (Bomb Dump) -- Coyote Hill (Not good for forced entry): The area down near Haje has been a favorite entry point for slickey boys from years past when the area was wide open. However, the outside area on Coyote hill has ROK Army sentries at the top of the hill -- as well as guarding the small inlet entrance. This is not a good route.

The back of the bomb dump has chain link fences with concertina wire, but there are houses that are almost up to the fence line. To use this route, a terrorist would have to break INTO a highly secured area and then break OUT. This is NOT a likely route. In addition, the terrorist would be limited to back-pack explosives which he is NOT interested in.

Drainage Ditches and Rice fields (Haje side) (Not good forced entry): However, the other areas may provide entry. There are various drainage ditches that might be used in this area, but these lead into the Arch area which is not where a terrorist wants to head. Again he'd be breaking into a secured area and then he must then break OUT of the secured area to get to the barracks. The terrorist would be carrying "backpack" size demolitions which are not what he wants. The drainage ditch entry is NOT a good choice.

Some concrete roads lead up to the fence area, but a explosive filled vehicle will breaking INTO a secure area and then trying to break OUT of it to get to the barracks. It would not be a wise plan.

East end (Arch area) (Not good for forced entry): At the east end of base there is the chain link fence that is now been topped with concertina wire. However, the gate still remains right next to the road. This is the end of the old 1951 runway that later became the taxiway into the Arch area. No guards are this area and though monitored from sentries within the Arch area, it might be a tempting target for a madman with a Korando junker. But for a terrorist, he runs into the same problem of breaking INTO a secure area and then trying to break OUT of it to get to the barracks. In addition, his break-in would give ample time for the Security Forces to respond to thwart his actions. This is NOT a good option.

LAST NOTE ON SECURITY: We hold the opinion that Kunsan is VERY vulnerable to an OFF-BASE attack. However, we have never believed that any North Korean attack will happen -- or else we wouldn't have continued to live in Korea during all the tensions. We leave these parting comments just as food for thought. They are based on our non-professional opinion and observations over the years --- and we pass them on as we leave the area for good.

DPRK Infiltrators NOT a Threat in Peacetime We believe the DPRK SOF (Special Operations Forces) if they wanted to would penetrate the base, could do so with impunity -- even today. They have proved themselves repeatedly in their ability to elude mass manhunts of 20,000 ROK soldiers in 1998. We personally remember one instance where two evaded the Army and all the recalled reserves in the Sochon area -- 22km north of Kunsan -- in the early 1990s. Instead of being captured, the infiltrator chose suicide. They are that mentally tough. So what do you think their chances of penetrating the base are against a lone two-striper Security Forces sentry? We don't think the base security forces are even in their league -- though a K-9 and dog handler makes detection equal.

Currently the North Koreans want espionage information -- NOT sabotage damage. In Korea in 2004, it was reported by the ROK National Intelligence Service that over 800,000 messages were sent to the suporters or agents in South Korea by the North annually -- but the South only captures two spies a year. The North will use their supporters to gather their information...and they are NOT interested in terrorist actions at this time.

They especially don't want to create a situation that will cut off their humanitarian aid to feed their populace. They receiving tangible monetary benefits from the opening of the Kaesong Industrial area and with food and fertilizer aid from the South. The terrorists will NOT be North Koreans -- it will be from the nutballs of the various fanatic groups that have popped up since 9/11.

If the DPRK felt the need to personally corroborate some detail, we feel that the DPRK infiltrators will NOT attempt to break in during PEACETIME when they can simply WALK IN -- as they have done at Osan in the past with forged IDs in the past.

DPRK SOF and Moles: But if there was an outbreak, we believe the DPRK SOF (North Korean Special Operations Forces) won't launch a frontal attack on the base because of their limited numbers -- being dropped behind the lines with a huge task to disrupt the infrastructure. We have long believed that the DPRK has inserted moles to do their work for them on base. The majority of the SOFs will be heading to the major special cities and ports to do their havoc. However, it has been stated that the SOF will rely on their moles to supplement their activities -- reference the confessions of infiltrators. We believe the DPRK planted moles starting in 1959; and as these people retired, they trained their replacements who they recommended to take their places. The AFOSI believes there are 30,000 "sleepers" in South Korea -- while we believe that number is a conservative estimate. These "sleepers" will be the biggest worry for everyone -- and no one knows who they are. In 2004, it was reported that 800,000 internet messages are sent to North Korean spies and supporters in the South annually -- while only two spies are caught each year. That means there are a whole group still left out there. (SEE Spies, Espionage and Infiltration for details.)

Chemical WMD: The on-base perimeter defense is for the AIRBORNE detection of chemical threats -- and possibly other threats -- to give the force a chance to don their gear in time. However, we have a silly question to anyone at work on the flightline -- "Where's your chem warfare gear?" The answer most likely is in the AMU or barracks ... too far away for immediate response. What happens if it is a peacetime operation and suddenly one hears, "ALARM YELLOW" with a steady 15 second siren? You're supposed to take immediate shelter -- but your chem gear is in the barracks. What do you do? People at Kunsan practice for CERE and ORIs by prepositioning their chem gear -- but what happens if it is a surprise attack? JUST A SILLY QUESTION...but don't worry. If there is a chemical attack, all the civilians in Kunsan City will be out for the count as well. We have NEVER seen a civilian family with chemical gas masks ANYWHERE IN KOREA -- simply because no Korean can believe that the North will gas its "brothers" in the South. Who is right about the chemical threat -- the ROK or the US? Remember that the chem warfare hysteria was from the Russians who played for real in chem warfare gear -- and it has persisted till today, even though the Russians are long gone as adversaries.

Biological WMD: The DPRK has biological weapons (anthrax and smallpox) -- but has been reluctant to consider using them because the disease could spread back to the North. For example, anthrax used against South Korea could easily infect the North troops -- and decimate the occupying force. In turn, it could be carried back to North Korea and wipe out the entire population. Thus biological weapons have never been seriously considered as a weapon of choice for use in South Korea -- though it is a distinct possibility for Japan. The ROK has just recently worried of the biological threat but not from the North, but from terrorists. In the end, the ROK blamed the US for hogging all the supplies of anthrax/smallpox vaccines so it couldn't innoculate its troops. Sound silly? It is, but it's true.

Sabotage the Communications: Communications have now been integrally linked with the Korea Telecom lines to Osan. Osan controls the CFC air defense system in its underground bunker -- but what happens when the computer lines go down. The microwave links were disassembled years ago after the switch over. One of the prime targets will be to cut the comm links in Korea -- especially computer controlled operations...but it will not be only aimed at Kunsan, but at the computer controlled operations for the entire Korean infrastructure. As to the base, they come into the base on an underground trunk line at the main gate that has been identified long ago -- along with all the remote switches -- by any "sleeper" or terrorist.

Sabotage the Electrical Systems: Electrical systems are still in the same tie in point that it was in 1953 up by the north POL. Electrical lines run along poles following the fenceline. Don't you think the grid -- and every Auxiliary Power Unit on base -- has been plotted out long ago? For example, the terrorists/attackers can't get into the WOCC without great effort, but the APU outside is fair game. Without power, how long will batteries last?

Poison the Water Supply: But what protection do you have for the water supply? There is a terrifying possibility of poisoning the water supply from OUTSIDE the base. This is a major worry for terrorist attacks on US cities -- and it also applies to Kunsan. By the time you detect it, it's too late. Also even if detected, we now have a crisis of water availability as the pipes would all be contaminated. There are also concerns about the on-base wells safety. We've talked about this potential weakness on this site for the past five years. Though the portions of the water purification report in 2003 dealing with this issue was classified, it doesn't hide the fact that the off-base pump stations have been in the same place since 1952. Everyone off-base in Okku knows where the water line runs from the frequent breaks over the years and can tell you the exact location and how deep the water main is. But we also caution that this same action can be done if access to the settling tanks on base by terrorists/moles is possible. Activated charcoal filters may not be able to filter out the toxins...especially if they are virulent biological agents. This same information would be in the hands of dedicated terrorists as well. Think about it.

Blow the Okku Levee: The base has made all these great contingency plans, but what would happen if the levee near the village at the Okku Reservoir were breached? Yep, you heard me right. Blow the levee which is an earthen work that is faced with stone. Ask an expert about a blast at the middle will crumble the top -- and the rushing water will do the rest. Think about it. What would happen if the levee was blown? It's hard to take off with your taxiway under three feet of water. The EIS map below shows the low lying areas on base ... and they just happen to be the taxiway and runway areas. Imagine the levee being breached and the damage that it would create. Imagine the base being inundated by 50 inches of rain in one hour.

The digital terrain model (DTM) depicts elevations in five-meter intervals around the airfield. It was manipulated to identify areas on the base that are at or below sea level—areas most susceptible to flooding. The elevation information derived from the DTM has been used to help emergency teams on the base prepare for typhoon season. (ESRI Map Book)

The front gate area has always had a problem with flooding dating back to the 1950s. Look at the houses on the side of the road at the main gate and notice how they are below the road level. This is the original ground level of the land. They flood everytime there is a major rain. In 1959, graders had to be used to cut drainage channels to the Yellow Sea to remove the three-feet of standing water at the main gate. Remember that in 1932, the land where taxiway Charlie is was tidal flats and filled in by the Japanese. It is a low-lying area. Look at how the drainage canals on base back up to overflowing during major rainstorms and the level of the water at times floods the road. Major rains turn low-lying areas into lakes -- like the sump area and old antenna farm. Look at the level of the taxiways and base roads and how the areas to the sides were flooded after the last major rainstorm two years ago. These all surround the arch area and taxiways.

Now draw a line from the village of Okku next to the Okku Reservoir and the arches and you see there are NO OBSTRUCTIONS. Notice how "Big Coyote" hill would "trap" the water around taxiways/runway. Drainage canals will back up and overflow blocking roads and taxiways. The base would be isolated by flooding all main roads into the base immediately -- with the front gate, north gate, taxiways, and supply area impassable. The water will eventually drain away -- perhaps after a day or two, but by then the North Koreans would already have breached the DMZ. The aircraft would have been unable to respond. You get the idea. Think about it. (NOTE: When was the last time anyone thought of using explosive sniffer dogs on the levee BASE near the water pump station -- where the fishermen cluster in summer? Also the side that faces the base.)

Mortars: My favorite scenario involves the use of mortar like the good old Vietnam War days. DPRK SOF teams are highly proficient at this task -- and in the past, infiltrators have buried mortars in hidden caches in the hills. Going back on the USFK histories, remember that in 1970 they broke up two North Korean espionage rings in Kunsan. Now most of the espionage rings are up near Sochon (22km from Kunsan). These folks have been around for years. Though most recent arms discovered from killed North Korean infiltrators have been AK-47s or Russian pistols with silencers, the captured spy boats also carried heavy weapons. How long will it take to react to a mortar attack from the base or ROK off-base if they started walking mortars down the base, runway, taxiway or other places? Has anyone ever practiced this possible scenario?

Before on scoffs at the possibility of mortar attacks and its effectiveness, refer to what is happening in Iraq and Afghanistan as we speak. Mortar attacks are effective and deadly. In October 2004, the first US diplomat to Iraq was killed by a collateral round from the common-place mortar fire on Camp Victory at the Baghdad airport. They are a REAL threat -- not imaginary. It is not some theoretical class C explosive -- but the "poor man's artillery" of the third world nations. Infiltrator equipment captured in the mid-1990s included mortars and rounds. Given that infiltrators have been able to enter the South with impunity -- even till today -- these types of armaments are very likely pre-positioned already or hidden nearby.

SITE NOTE: We are NOT talking of the mobile 120mm mortar with "smart" munitions. We are talking about the "poor man's artillery" such as lightweight portable mortars. The mortar system consists of the cannon (tube), a mortar bipod mount and baseplate and a sight unit. Most likely a "lightweight" mortar -- equivalent to the M224 60mm LWCMS -- would be used. The mortar would probably be drop-fired (conventional mode) with a weight around 50-80 pounds. The lightweight mortar would have an effective range of about 2 miles (between 70-3500 meters). As the hills surrounding the base are close in to the base and well within the 3-mile exclusionary zone, this mortar would be ideal. (If the range of the DPRK/Chinese/Soviet model is not adequate, they may use a medium 80mm mortar instead.) As Kunsan from the surrounding hills is a flat target, the majority of the targets on-base are easily "sighted" from off-base. It would be able to fire around 30 rounds per minute for four minutes -- more than adequate for a strike-and-run operation. High-explosive munitions could vary, but it is assumed that the rounds would have been buried or hidden in preparation for such an attack. (NOTE: If I were a planner, I would find the the DPRK/Chinese/Soviet lightweight/medium mortars and their ranges. I would draw a circle using the range data around Kunsan -- and then request the ROK Army to conduct a search of the hill tops with their sniffer dogs for buried munitions.)

Under FOAL EAGLE, the 8th and 51st FW Security Forces alternately practice infiltrating the others bases. We say why? It does give people practice in defending the base, but why? As we said before, the DPRK SOFs will be engaged in attempting to cripple the ROK infrastructure. But their numbers are limited and they will rely on "sleeper" moles to assist in the job. (SEE Spies, Espionage and Infiltration for details.)

So with the small number of SOFs involved, how do you inflict maximum damage? The first is sabotage by any moles on base. The second would be with a small SOF mortar crew on a hill off-base. The base is surrounded by a few small hills near the quarry areas that could be used. As the area is in the three-mile exclusionary zone, there are few to pay attention to people dressed as farmers. If there were an attack, it will be about twenty minutes (if not longer) before anyone can figure out what would be happening, plot the mortar hits back to the approximate location, and then dispatch teams -- including the ROK elements. Mortar attacks is not something people practice in Korea. In Vietnam, the mortar crews were so proficient that they would fire and be gone (with their equipment) before anyone could react. (NOTE: Go back up to my scenario of blowing the Okku Reservoir levee and try to imagine the combining of this option WITH the levee breech. The hills we speak of are on the outer rim of the low-lying areas and in the confusion, the chances for the escape of the attackers would be greatly increased.)

We don't believe the DPRK SOF mortars will be aiming to crater the runway because current rapid repair techniques make this almost a waste of effort. The runway would be back in operation very quickly. Cratering the runway will only buy a short delay -- but by then SCUDs with incapacitating agents are on the way. Likewise the arches for the F-16 are hardened shelters and not really worth the effort as chances of inflicting any damage would be minimal.

Mortar of Patriots: The first choice will be the Patriot batteries that are clustered during "peacetime" operations and sitting ducks in a surprise attack. "Walking" mortars through the area would be ideal. However, most likely the Defcon would have been increased for the USFK over a possible North Korean strike before this happened and the Patriot missiles would have been dispersed by then. It would NOT be a good target once dispersed.

Mortar of POL: Most assuredly there will be an attack on the POL storage areas on base either by sabouteurs or a mortar attack. Because of the locations of the north (above ground tanks) and south (bladders) POL areas are close to the fence, they are highly susceptible to straight-shot mortar attacks. POL would be a prime target as JP-4 is essential for sustained aircraft operations which will be used for stopping the DPRK onslaught. But at the same time the DPRK SOF would attempt to blow up the outer port (Waehang) POL facilities as well as these provide the POL pipeline for the base -- as well as gasoline products for Kunsan. The aim is to temporarily cripple the infrastructure not only of the base -- but the whole Kunsan area as a port facility.

Mortar of MAGNUM and Bomb Dump: But we also have to say that one MAJOR aim for any mortar attack would be to attack the MAGNUM site just outside the North Gate. This is one of the largest ammo warehouses in Korea of war-readiness munitions for the ROK. It is totally under the ROK control. It is a PRIME target. If you want to know this area, just get a camera and go north up the dirt road directly across from the North Gate road. Go past the ROK anti-aircraft battery that is on the hill hidden on the hilltop to your left. As soon as you see a gate about a half-mile up with ROK Army sentries who have their rifles pointed at you, you have reached the site. The secondary munitions target would be the Kunsan bomb dump because the JDAMS munitions stored there but the new bunker constructions make this a tough target.

Mortar of Barracks: Another choice target would be to attack the barracks on base to create massive confusion and divert much needed manpower away from war-fighting capabilities. In Vietnam, the hootches were one or two-story affairs so really were not good targets as you'd only take out a few folks. However, in recent years you'll notice that the terrorist military targets worldwide have all been multi-story dormitory buildings (Lebanon, Riyad, etc.) with GIs ASLEEP. In Kunsan, you have new four-story buildings that make nice big targets as they are "clustered" to make chances of a hit better. Unlike Osan that has hills that make a mortar attack difficult, Kunsan's barracks are in a flat exposed area making the clustered barracks easy targets to "walk" the mortars.

In addition, the buildings are built to "KOREAN standard." What is Korean standard? Think about the airconditioner falling through the roof at the O'Malley Dining Hall a few years back -- and that is "Korean standard." Not exactly shoddy construction, but a combination of shortcuts and poor construction materials. Ask yourself if the buildings are earthquake proof? The answer for Korea is -- WHY? Korea has few earthquakes. But think about it from a mortar attack perspective. The construction is not designed to withstand a mortar attack. Like the Sompong Department Store about ten years back during Kim Young-sam's administration, poor construction materials created a situation where the top floor collapsed and everything else imploded killing hundreds of people. Also look at the way the 9/11 Twin Towers collapsed killing thousands. The top floor gets mortar damage and collapses bringing the whole structure down. Think about it.

But it is easier to be a doomsayer than to work to prevent things. We sit here at the computer and think up science-fiction scenarios that may never come true. We just pose questions that others may think about. We are leaving Kunsan at the end of October and we will no longer be doomsayers. We will only wish everyone the best of luck and hope that no one ever has to face the reality of an attack by the DPRK SOF or terrorists.

Quality of Life Issues

Kunsan Fitness Center

The new Fitness Center/HAWC ($10M-$25M) was started in 2003, though the current facilities were upgraded. By December 2003, the new Gym was starting to take on a recognizable shape with the roof and sides starting to go up. The massive framework of the new gym was completed in June behind the old gym/fitness center. Under current plans, the second floor would be a indoor track, while the bottom floor would house the basketball courts. Upon completion, the old gym, dating back to the 1970s, would be torn down. As the Gym area was affected due to the new Gym construction, the Fitness Annex moved to the Seabreeze Annex where the Maytag Passenger Terminal used to be temporarily housed in 2003. Hours for the Temporary Fitness Annex remains from 05:00 to 22:00.

After the new gym opened its doors in October 2004, the demolition of the old gym started. The new gym is a state-of-the-art affair. The climbing wall at the newly opened base fitness center is a new innovation. The new gym is more than twice as big as the old one and has a running track, sauna, juice bar and many pieces of state-of-the-art exercise equipment. The Stars and Stripes had an article on 16 Oct 2004:

New Kunsan gym has 'room for everyone'

By Franklin Fisher, Stars and Stripes Pacific edition, Saturday, October 16, 2004

PYONGTAEK, South Korea — Airmen at Kunsan Air Base in South Korea now can work out, play sports and track their fitness in a brand new, state-of-the-art gym that’s more than twice the size of the old one. They also can relax in the sauna or refresh themselves at a juice bar in the new, $11.8 million fitness center that officially opened Thursday.

The old gym, built in 1963, was torn down Sunday.

The new facility “rivals any civilian health club that I’ve ever been in,” said 1st Lt. Michelle Estep, a base spokeswoman. “It’s extremely nice. … Even the locker rooms are nice. They have sauna, steam rooms, private showers, brand new lockers. We’re very fortunate to have a facility like this, especially on a base this size.” Kunsan, on South Korea’s western seacoast, is home to some 3,000 airmen of the 8th Fighter Wing, known as the Wolf Pack.

“Kunsan Air Base is considered the ‘tip of the spear’ and we always need to be ready,” said Estep. “We need to be fit to fight, and a facility like this allows us the opportunity to do that.

“There’s room for everyone because it’s so much bigger,” she said. “The old fitness center was 30,000 square feet and this one is 70,000, so it’s a significant size difference.”

Construction began in September 2002. Workers from the Central Company Ltd., under contract with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, completed the gym last month; it opened to airmen earlier this month. The new center is set up with an indoor running track, two full-sized basketball courts, four racquetball courts, two cardio-fitness rooms, a weight room, a rock-climbing wall and rooms set aside for various classes, including step aerobics, kick boxing and indoor cycling.

Exercise gear in the new facility includes 51 pieces of cardio equipment — among them treadmills, upright bikes, and recumbent bikes; 49 Cybex weight-lifting machines; 11 Hammerstrength weight-lifting machines; and 11 weight-lifting stands.

Each cardio station is fitted with its own audio theater system: a flat screen television that can access channels including AFN, CNN, Fox News and the base’s commander’s access channel, Estep said. “So it’s very personalized.”

The cardio stations also are connected to FitLinxx, an electronic system that logs the amount and type of exercise an airman has done and records how many calories were burned, the airman’s heart rate and other key fitness data.

Senior Wolf Pack leaders can log onto the system to check an individual airman’s exercise schedule, Estep said.

The base Health And Wellness Center has been moved into the new gym as a convenience to airmen. The new gym sits well with Staff Sgt. Angela Smith, 28, who works in the protocol office of 8th Fighter Wing headquarters.

“It has more space between equipment so now when you work out you’re not standing on top of the next person,” she said. “At the other gym you sometimes had to wait for someone to get off a treadmill or a trainer.”

But now, she said, “We have plenty. There’s way many.

“It looks fantastic. It’s new, it’s modern, like a health club, like maybe going to Bally. Lots of light, spacious, high ceilings, plenty of space to work out. I like it.”

Construction of the new dorms behind the new hobby shop progressing with completion due in 2004. However, more changes are on the way in the future. For example, the new above ground water tank and base water purification system has been approved.

In 2004, the Visiting Quarters, Kunsan Air Base, Korea won the Pacific Air Forces Design and Environmental Award, Concept Design Category .


Kunsan Bowling Entertainment Center -- includes slot machine room for non-club members

Kunsan Recreation Center due to change motif in 2004

The following is from the 12 Feb 2004 Stars & Stripes about the 2005 budget that proposes $37.1 for the construction of two 144-room dormitories at Kunsan.

Budget request includes over $94M for Japan, Korea base construction

By Jeremy Kirk, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Thursday, February 12, 2004

YONGSAN GARRISON, South Korea — Several U.S. bases in Japan and South Korea are pegged for construction projects under the White House’s fiscal 2005 budget request sent to Congress last week.

Projects planned in South Korea include a $12 million sanitary sewer system at Camp Humphreys, where thousands of U.S. troops currently stationed in Seoul are set to move under a relocation plan; $37.1 million for two 144-room dormitories at Kunsan Air Base, and $18.6 million for a 156-room dormitory at Osan Air Base, also cited as a base for expansion.

The money the Army has allotted for fiscal 2005 is significantly lower than the $65 million appropriated for fiscal 2004, all at Camp Humphreys. Those projects included three barracks and seven other military operations buildings. The Air Force allocated $68.5 million for military construction and housing in fiscal 2004.

In Japan, Misawa Air Base would get two projects under the fiscal 2005 proposal: $6.7 million to expand a strategic airlift ramp and $19.9 million for a hydrant-fuel system.

The projects are only proposals at this point and must go through several reviews in Senate and House committees, votes in both houses of Congress and finally President Bush for his signature before going into law. Even then, the military has some leverage in how the money could be redirected in light of its restructuring, military budget officials have said.

In South Korea, many construction projects have been postponed or halted while talks with the South Korean government on relocating U.S. troops are ongoing. The two governments have agreed to move all U.S. troops now at Yongsan Garrison by 2007 and consolidate the 2nd Infantry Division onto two camps south of the Demilitarized Zone, eventually shifting them farther south.

The White House would like to spend $9.5 billion on worldwide military construction and family housing in fiscal 2005, according to a news release.

“This request continues progress toward providing the right quality of facilities and assets to support the nation’s military personnel and their families,” it states.

In sum, the request includes 318 major construction projects at more than 175 different locations worldwide, many of which are called “classified.” The Defense Department’s goal is to eliminate inadequate military family housing units by 2009, officials have said.

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New Commissary Completion The new commissary was built in the location of the old "Stop and Shop" and Laundromat. For the old-timers, it is the spot where the old NCO existed from the 1950s through the 1970s when the Seabreeze NCO club was erected.

New Commissary (Oct 2004)

The old commissary used to be a messhall -- and then was expanded with an extension back in the 1970s. The commissary had its limitations and had been the center of a lot of controversy over the years. The largest complaint has always been the selection of foods was minimal. Also there have been many complaints that the foods were "second-hand" food meaning what didn't sell at Osan was shipped to Kunsan. Many of the foods were nearing their expiration of shelf-life date. In fact, the veternarian staff would routinely extend the shelf life of many products in the past. Another complaint dealt with spoiled meats. In 2004, some of the meats were spoiled during the summer months and instead of it going away, it continued. Sometimes the meats in the freezers were thawed -- something that caused concern since the butcher is in Osan -- and as everyone knows, once meat is frozen, it shouldn't be thawed and refrozen. The meats were either thawed in transshipment or the freezers broke down and the manager didn't care to admit that this was strange.

Old Commissary: R: Aisles L: Checkout registers (1999) (John Jones)

Over the years, the complaint system, in our opinion, has NOT worked to correct any commissary deficiency. In fact, a few years ago, the wing commander simply stated that Kunsan AB was NOT authorized a commissary and that any complaints would jeapordize whatever things they had. In other words, shut up or you may lose your commissary altogether. But I guess times change and somehow now Kunsan is authorized a commissary...at least I hope so for a remote tour location without dependents.

There are high expectations for the new facility. The following article is from the 17 Apr Stars and Stripes:

Kunsan commissary to expand size, inventory

By Franklin Fisher, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Saturday, April 17, 2004

OSAN AIR BASE, South Korea — Airmen at Kunsan Air Base in South Korea soon will be able to pick up their Hot Pockets and sandwich meat at a new commissary with twice the space of the one they use now — and 1,000 new items.

Construction is expected to end early next month; an opening is scheduled for June 15, officials said. "It'll be a tremendous change from old store to new store," said Song Woo-chan, the commissary's store director.

The existing commissary has just three registers; the new one will bump up to five, with a sixth that can be wheeled out for outdoor transactions, Song said.

More space will mean more merchandise, with the store adding about 1,000 new items to the 6,000 offered now, Song said.

"We're going to have a lot more of your perishable items like meat and dairy — and especially produce," said Staff Sgt. Frank Manning of Kunsan's 8th Civil Engineer Squadron.

And there'll be more brand varieties of certain popular items too, Song said, including, for example, Hot Pockets.

"Right now we only carry five to seven different kinds," said Song. "We can carry more varieties … that applies to different sandwich stuff, too."

At the existing commissary, aisles lack signs indicating their number and contents, Song said. But the new commissary will have them, "so it will be a lot easier for the customer to find their item."

And the new commissary's location — near the base exchange, library, and community center — is more convenient, Manning said.

"The current Kunsan commissary is kind of out of the way. … It's a bit of a walk," Manning said.

The new one, though, is "a lot more centrally located. You can take care of everything at once."

The Shinsaegye Construction Company Ltd. began construction in October 2002 under contract with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The project will cost $4.56 million, Manning said.

Master Sgt. Paula Miller, 8th Fighter Wing, said she thinks a new commissary is good news for the base. Last Sunday morning, she stopped in for chicken, baked beans, water, turkey bacon, frozen fruit, cottage cheese, and an onion.

"I definitely go at least twice a week," Miller said. "For me it would be great, just a better variety of foods."

The article above stated "Kunsan commissary to expand size, inventory" but on 23 Apr 2004, the Wolf Pack Warrior stated, "Officials warn against breaking ration control." According to Col Douglas Tucker, Mission Support Group commander, "Recent black marketing an abuse of the established limit quantities at the Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA) and Army Air Force Exchange Services (AAFES) facilities hurts everyone at Kunsan and in the Republic of Korea." Black marketing is always a concern, but in recent years anything in the commissary can be purchased downtown at about the same costs. Alcohol purchases remain the prime concern but this is in the BX. The article went on to give the monetary limits and alcohol purchase limits that have not changed. Organizational exceptions are the same as before.

What was interesting was the statement, "In addition, there's an 8th Fighter Wing policy establishing shelf limits on some purchases," Col. Tucker said. This "shelf limit" is what we found new. We at first thought it was aimed at spreading scarce commodities around. For us as a retiree family of three, we usually shop once a month and our bill rarely exceeds $300 as the bulk of our day-to-day purchases are made off-base. We are primarily interested in meats and as we have two freezers, so it is easier to store in bulk. We had hoped the new "shelf limit" policy would end the rows of empty shelves that we face when we go to the commissary prior to an exercise. However, it didn't.

The "shelf limit" continued though the commissary has an "expanded inventory." The "shelf limit" is not for storage space -- but definitely aimed at blackmarketing. The items are the most popular items with Koreans -- chicken, hot dogs, spam, luncheon meats, chocolates, etc. The brands on the shelves seem to be expanded slightly as we saw new choices -- though not necessarily the things we would want to eat.

Overall, our impression is that it is the old commissary stock fit into a larger space -- there really isn't that much of a change in variety. However, the meats seem to be fresher and the shelves have always been stocked when we have gone there.

The size is that of a medium-size supermarket in the U.S. If we had to compare the two, the variety in the US supermarket would be MUCH, MUCH greater. Compared to the Osan commissary, the Kunsan commissary is still on a lower tier in rank. The size of both are about equivalent but there is a definite advantage in Osan of selection and quantity. Selection in the other commissaries are much greater in our opinion...but they also are the bases/camps that have a dependent population. It is expected that they should have the greater variety.

All-in-all, we give a thumbs up to the new commissary -- because anything would have been better than the old one.

However, when compared to the Osan commissary, there is NO comparison. At Osan, there are NO shelf limits and though the commissary is about the same size, there is about twice the selection. The commissary is geared for family consumption. For example the frozen packaged hamburger patties in Kunsan comes in one variety, while Osan has three. The choices of frozen foods are five times greater than Kunsan. The point is that there are more varieties on the shelf to chose from in the same space as at Kunsan. Though we see the great disparity, we heard people at Osan complaining about the lack of choices at the Osan commissary.

EPILOGUE ON BLACKMARKETING: The "shelf limit" in the Kunsan AB commissary for black marketing prevention was a result of an actual case of abuse. As it turns out, the REAL story is that black market goods were appearing in Seoul and other areas. Part of the goods came from Kunsan by tracking the lot numbers -- NOT Osan or other bases.

The investigation centered on Kunsan AB and it was discovered that a civilian contractor and his wife was operating a large scale black market purchasing operation from Kunsan. Living in an upscale apartment near Eunpa, they had large stores of cigarettes, liquors, meats in their apartment. Their ID cards and visas were rescinded and they were deported. It is unknown as to the criminal charges levied. The scuttlebutt from on-base sources is limited, but the off-base grapevine seemed to have all the details.

However, the question is how did such large quantities get off base to the contractor's apartment? The answer is simple -- nobody thoroughly checks the cars at the gate. There is also a high probability that the schedule for spot checks has been compromised as well. The supposed ten percent spot checks are sporadic at best. Though dogs are used, the dogs are searching for explosives -- not hot dogs or hidden alcohol. We have never had anyone search our car under the back seat spaces and spare tire areas. There is also the disguised boxes with the repacked goods inside as we have seen some GIs doing in parking lots -- but we can't say that was blackmarketing related. At Osan last year, the Stars and Stripes ran an article of how an individual would visit the "Stop-and-Shop" convenience stores around the base and purchase the limit and them visit another "Stop-and-Shop" to continue the process. She would make multiple trips to base. Even in Kunsan few years ago, a Security Police CMSgt's wife in Rainbow village did this -- though the CMSgt claimed he did not know his wife had a spare room filled with the blackmarket goods.

The biggest areas for concern for the commissary in Kunsan will be the meat and tobacco sales. Secondary will be chocolate and western-style "luxury" foods. This is the primary blackmarket area in food items.

For the BX, the primary area will be alcohol sales and high-end electronics goods. A suggestion for the BX would be what they did in the Korean civilian community. About a year ago, E-mart placed hidden surveillance cameras on their cashiers in another town after a mysterious loss in sales and discovered that a cashier was ringing up transactions for relatives, palming the credit card transactions, and then voiding the sale. How many surveillance cameras are on the cash registers in the BX -- not simply the general area of the registers?

The Wing Commander needs to hold the OSI accountable in setting down some rules for surveillance in the BX. In the stop and shop at the Food Court, you'll see Koreans picking up snacks and other AAFES items and paying in won, but this is small potatoes. We're talking about the BX operations. The last "security" man for the BX we knew of was a retiree who left for the PI over three years ago after his wife died. The cameras are in place but we think they are pointed in the wrong direction. If you're monitoring shop-lifiting, yes, the cameras are fine. If you're monitoring the BX personnel, they are pointed in the wrong locations. Will there be heart burn and protests form the employees on keeping the honest people honest? Yes...but it comes with their accepting a position that handles cash. All it takes is one rotten apple in a barrel to give the other hard-working and honest BX folks a bad name.

We ask silly questions -- and we don't know the answers to any of our stupid questions. We are not questioning the small-time incidents where an employee asks a GI to buy him a little medicine or something small for him. We are concerned that high-value ripoffs MIGHT be occurring at Kunsan AB as we speak.

In alcohol sales, how many receipts for alcohol sales are "palmed"? ("Palming" involves taking the ration control slip and placing the slip under the counter -- but not in the slot or register. The money is likewise palmed...and the transaction is never registered. We've heard of this in the past.) Has the "breakage" rate of the alcohol bottles been audited lately -- especially around Chusok and Sol Nal with respect to the high-end alcohol? (GIs who understand Korean have overheard employees bragging about the liquor they got for Chusok in the Food Court. This situation has existed for over 15 years that we know of.)

We have also heard tales of women who had been divorced from their GI husbands -- but they continued shopping for non-ration card items in the BX by flashing the expired ID card. A few were caught, but only after years of abuse. But by the same token, we have seen Mormon missionaries shopping in the BX on letters of authorization -- a questionable practice. In the past, we have seen teachers in downtown English academies ordering childrens' English grammar books through the BX -- which should have flagged a response since Kunsan is a remote non-command sponsored location. Don't get me wrong...I benefitted from these books as well for my daughter, but the point is that it wasn't supposed to be there. The same American teaching books were sold in the downtown books stores for double the price.

Why is it that the news of the sale items are known on the gravevine before announced to the GIs? (It is a known fact that the employees know of the bargains and spread the news through the grapevine well in advance.) Why are the displays for high-value SALE items located within a few feet of the exit? Is there a surveillance camera at the EXITS of the BX -- including the warehouse area? When the unexpected "power outages" in the BX occur (surveillance cameras are shut down), how many unauthorized people walk out with "high cost" items? We don't have the answers to our silly questions because we don't work in the BX. We only hope that those in charge are asking these questions. Over the years, we have seen and heard a lot -- but as third-class retiree citizens, we know better than to make waves in a community we have to live in. Our privileges were at the mercy of the base -- and we know a lot of people who work on the base. We weren't about to make waves.

A black market ring was shut down in Namdaemun in the earlier part of 2004 with an estimated street value of $2 million worth of goods. The Namdaemun operation dealt with high volume, high-end products from operations like the one in 2003 at Yongsan where a Post Exchange employee actually had a tunnel leading off-base to smuggle stolen liquor out without being seen. The Kunsan incident dealt with this type of operation. In October, the small time black market stalls in Songtan were still in operation in the Korean market place next to the Shopping Mall. However, it was definitely small-time operations -- dealing with hot dogs and Spam varieties. However, there is a network in place and that is what needs to be recognized -- the small time stuff is out front, but the high-value stuff is in the rear.

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New Food Court Opens in November 2004, but Old Foodcourt (Jet Stream) a historic building The new food court will open in November and will attach the food court to the BX and Commissary into one complex. AAFES approved a Mini Mall/Food Court project for the Kunsan Exchange. The Scope of the project will incorporate the Mini Malls; which house all of the concession and service activities and Food Court; which houses the Burger King, Taco Bell, and Special T's into one location adjoining the Base Exchange. The intent is to make the Kunsan Exchange a "One Stop Shopping Experience" according to AAFES. The following is from the Pacific Stars and Stripes on 4 Nov 2004:

Kunsan opens doors to expanded base exchange

By Joseph Giordono, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Thursday, November 4, 2004

Residents of the relatively isolated U.S. air base in Kunsan, South Korea, celebrated the greatly expanded base exchange’s grand opening Tuesday with a mix of Korean and American traditions.

As dancers in colorful Korean garb entertained the crowd, hundreds lined up for a bit of shopping and a taste of fried chicken. The new Army and Air Force Exchange Service facility at Kunsan Air Base offers more than double the space of the old one, thanks mainly to an addition housing facilities including expanded food services. “As soon as we cut the ribbon, we had about 200 to 300 people flood into the shopping mall,” Lee Holloway, AAFES Central Exchange general manager, said in a telephone interview as he watched the scene.

The biggest line, he said, was at the newly opened Popeye’s Chicken franchise: Some 100 airmen were waiting to get a meal. “It was something Kunsan had not had, so the Wolfpack warriors are certainly enjoying that,” Holloway said, referring to the 8th Fighter Wing’s nickname.

The grand opening celebration kicked off around 10 a.m., officials said, with the ribbon cutting and presentations by AAFES and fighter wing leadership. AAFES brought in Korean folk dancers and a live band and two lucky airmen won 65-inch televisions in a prize drawing.

“We have feverishly anticipated the opening of this facility since the groundbreaking on October 17th, 2003. This is a $4 million expansion to the existing facility and is truly a part of Kunsan’s vision for the future,” said Col. William R. Becker, 8th Fighter Wing vice commander, according to Kunsan public affairs officials.

Up next for AAFES is a 170,000-square-foot Osan Air Base shopping complex to incorporate a base exchange, post office and 26 other services. It’s to open Nov. 20.

Earlier this year, Kunsan also opened an expanded commissary, with twice the space of the old store and 1,000 more line items for sale. The new commissary is near the exchange, base library and community center, centrally locating more of the base services, officials said.

The new food court is spacious and seems almost too large after becoming used to the cramped surroundngs of the old Foodcourt (Jet Stream). The old food court will be demolished.

The interior of this area is spacious and gives the area a feel of a shopping mall. The military clothing sales moved into this area allowing the BX to expand the audio section into the area. Suddenly the BX started to look more spacious and open as well. However, it cannot hide the fact that the goods that it stocks is rather limited compared with Osan and Yongsan -- simply because it is a remote location without command-sponsored dependents.

EPILOGUE (NOVEMBER 2004): ON 20 Nov the new $26 million mall housing the BX at Osan AB was opened. This will definitely be a stop for the Kunsan weekend shoppers. It's the biggest shopping center in South Korea that brings nearly all the base’s retail services under one roof and features a food court about the size of an aircraft hangar -- but as of now there are only a few fast food concessions and simply lots of tables. The new food court is in the center with the BX on one side and 24 separate additional businesses on the other. Also in the mall, is a Community Bank, and the base post office is scheduled to relocate to the site sometime next spring. The mall measures 700,000 square feet; the BX occupies 56,000 square feet, about three times the size of the 17,000-square-foot former BX.

Parking is limited, but 140 parking spaces will be made when they tear down the mini-mall in December. AAFES has hired an additional 125 employees to staff the new base exchange and food court. The new food court features several concessions that the former food court lacked: Captain D’s Seafood, Pizza Hut, Subway and Charley’s Steakery. Indeed, the new mall will be the premier AAFES location in South Korea, AAFES central exchange manager Holloway said, partly because of its size, but also because of its key location: in coming years, the U.S. military will move most of its troops into the Osan Air Base-Camp Humphreys region of central Korea.

Before the mall opened, Osan’s base exchange enjoyed a reputation among U.S. troops in Korea for having a wide selection of goods, a rival to the AAFES exchange on Yongsan Garrison in Seoul. Airmen at Kunsan made weekend trips to Osan Air Base, partly to seek bargains in the off-base commercial district, but also to use the BX.

After growing accustomed to Kunsan for many years, the new Osan BX was a shock. Even the old Osan BX selection was great compared to the Kunsan BX but this place is so much larger -- with plenty of room to expand. Can't wait until the troops start moving down from near the DMZ and the selection should approach that of stateside. What was amazing was the old Four Seasons being incorporated into the BX. The over-stuffed sofa and love-seat were something that made my mouth drool...as in Kunsan you're stuck off-base furniture stores with overpriced and ugly Korean nagauhyde-covered sofas that are about 20 years out of fashion. Furniture off-base is over-priced -- and the better quality furniture, we just can't afford on a retiree's paycheck. It appears the home "decorator items" sections have gone down hill over the years -- perhaps because the off-base stores have filled the niche. There are tons of these shops near the apartment complexes off-base.

The appliance department was so-so, but better than Kunsan for selection. The added pluses were in the "extra" items that one needs to operate a home that are available. Overall, this section is a big plus compared to off-base shopping. Unfortunately we live in a moderate size apartment that is wired for only 220v. Our old apartment in Kunsan had both 110/220v so we have a lot of small appliances that were 110v and needed to be converted with transformers. Not a big deal as we found the electric shops conveniently located along the road to Osan AB. Of course all our major appliances are 220v Korean so they weren't the problem -- it was the small convection oven, microwave and small kitchen gadgets. We also learned in the first week here where the "used" furniture/appliance places were in Songtan.

The stereo department was so-so and the computer software was also mediocre. However, there are on sale items that one would probably never see at Kunsan. Lots of bargains (compared to off-base prices) and worth the trip from Kunsan. Cannot complain as sometimes good deals pop up at Osan -- like the $199 27" Daewoo TV we bought a week before the new store opened. The Power-zone DVD selection is much larger than Kunsan -- but we haven't located the DVD rip-off locations like they have in Kunsan's A-town yet.

The clothing departments of course were a big plus -- as Kunsan does not have a real women's & misses clothing section. However, given the proximity to the off-base shopping mall, I'm not so sure if this is a big saver ... though my daughter was interested in browsing through the section which she normally doesn't do. However, her mother will buy in the mall off-base. The children's section to me appeared limited -- but again there is the off-base shopping mall to compete with.

The toy section was nice, but after years of buying the Kunsan variety toys (CHEAP PLASTIC MADE-IN-CHINA), it was refreshing. The selection of board games were the same as the years past that can be picked up at Kunsan -- very boring variety. The toy varieties seemed rather limited. It was no Toys 'R Us at Xmas time but adequate for year-round shopping. In my opinion, the E-mart in Pyongtaek is the place to go for toy shopping ... just like it is in Kunsan.

The book section is mediocre -- but then I got spoiled from the real old-time Pacific Stars and Stripes stores that closed years ago and definitely not like the large stateside book stores. The section was equivalent to Kunsan -- it is apparent that the books selections are controlled by the contractor -- not AAFES customers. (NOTE: However, having had to make two trips to Pyongtaek searching for book stores, its good to have one nearby -- though the one on the shopping mall is slanted to foreign customers.)

The new food court features several concessions that the former food court lacked: Captain D’s Seafood, Pizza Hut, Subway and Charley’s Steakery. The old Burger King and the Popeye's chicken place are still across from the high school (next to the Commissary). Ordered a small one-person pizza for about $5 at Pizza hut -- but I still like Anthony's Pizza in Kunsan better. Though my daughter commented that the one person pizza was "cute," I don't eat "cute."

The other concessions on the mall were fairly standard, so I can't really say good or bad. Artists, furniture, military clothing sales, barber shop and beauty shop. The little carts on the center of the mall were in my opinion all over-priced. My daughter bought a $7 baseball cap (North Carolina basketball) which sells outside on the mall for a little less. The others were pretty, but definitely for impulse shoppers...too expensive.

New Food Court from Commissary side (Oct 2004)

Old Food Court was FIRST Base Exchange for K-8: Has anyone ever wondered why the old Foodcourt (Bldg 1004) was below street level? People may not have noticed how one had to step DOWN into the building from street-level sidewalk on the south side. This was because over the years, the base had been built UP around it. This is why the Food Court always floods when there is any major rain. The streets were leveled with the surrounding areas as new prefab barracks were built. As a result the street-levels became higher than the Korean War vintage buildings. Though the exteriors and interior areas were upgraded over the years, if one looked closely at the eaves, one would see the 1950s construction.

When the 3rd Bomb Wing was at Kunsan during the Korean War, the first BX was a sorry building that stocked very few usable items. Finally in 1952, a permanent BX was built -- this building became Bldg 1004, the present Food Court. It was located behind the 3rd Wing Headquarters where the POW Park is now located. This was the Food Court building that we see today -- though it has been greatly modified over the years. The main entry was through the door facing the post office on the Burger King end. The hours of operation were not like nowadays but only open for about four hours a day.

Glass cases were along the walls with display cases along the front like the old-fashioned department stores. All the items were stocked in glass cases and had to be requested to be seen. Even after the Korean War was over, there was a hard time to get items like radios, record players or cameras as these items were sold by lottery at K-8. One usually had to go to Japan on R&R to pick these items up. At night the PX was guarded by a Korean sentry because of the "slickey boy" problem -- thieves who would cart off anything that wasn't nailed down.

Hans Petermann, formerly of the 3d Bomb Wing (L-NI) in 1952 remembered how in the Korean War just about everything was in short supply, but there was an over-abundance of Kotex for the USO women staffers. Commodities in short supply like radios were sold by lottery. Ellie Price, formerly of the 808th Engineering Aviation Battalion in 1953 remembers going in shares to buy a radio in the lottery. There was also problems with getting any items to Kunsan without it being stolen off the trains from Pusan. Pilferage on these trains were legendary so that guards were sent along on these trains to protect the cargo. These train guards were standard well into the late 1960s.

K-8 Post Exchange (From the 1953 3rd BW Welcome Brochure)

Bldg 1004 was the main exchange, but other services such as the tailor shop, watch & shoe repair, and barbershop were in other buildings. Remember at this time, that though off-base was no longer off-limits after the war, there was simply nothing to buy outside the base. Off-base establishments such as barbershops and restaurants were off-limits because of sanitation issues. On base, a haircut was twenty cents. The 1953 3rd Bomb Wing Welcome Brochure stated:

"Base Exchange: Since we almost no trading with the Koreans, we are just about totally dependent upon the Base Exchange for all the retail items we buy here in Korea. The Base Exchange is located behind the Wing Headquarters. You are able to buy things here ranging from Korean souveniers, cameras, radios and record players. There is also a large section devoted to food and candy for those odd-hour snacks. Nearby, there is a tobacco counter where you may get your ration of one or two cartons of cigarettes, or any choice of cigars or pipe tobacco you might enjoy. A magazine counter is also set up which sells pocketbooks and magazines running from "Wierd Comics" to "Harpers'." The Base Exchange is open everyday, except Monday, and once again the hours of operation vary with the season. In general, the hours are from 1130 to 1630 giving you time after duty hours to make your purchases."

(Go to Airman Quarters & Base Exchange to see full page writeup. See How It Was to learn more of the 1953 base.)

Next to the Food Court there were other Korean War buildings that were demolished in 2002 -- the Barber Shop (Bldg 1009) and the Beauty Shop (Bldg 1008) -- though best known as the "massage steam bath" for many years. In the 1952 photo below, Avenue C is to the right running top to bottom from the BOQ area. Along the street at the bottom running left to right is the Post Office (Bldg 1010) at the intersection; the barbershop (Bldg 1009); the PX (Bldg 1004) is the next building over. Note that the Bldg 1008 was not built yet. The first NCO Club (Bldg 1000) is just off the picture in the center.

K-8 Main base (about 1952) (From the 13th Bomb Squadron Website)

After the war, the BX remained in the same location under various wings and air base squadrons. It was nothing more than a rundown building by the time the Pueblo Incident occurred in 1968. The base has was about 500 personnel as caretakers -- and it was a miserable excuse for a base. People simply survived at Kunsan. The BX was at the end of the chain for goods -- with all the good items stocked in Japan and then flowing to Osan and finally what nobody wanted would reach Kunsan. This system was not only for BX goods but for anything in the supply chain.

Suddenly in 1968 the Pueblo Incident brought in a mass of bodies on Kunsan. The BX had very limited goods to provide for the comfort of the troops -- though most of the troops were simply trying to survive in the harsh winter conditions of Korea. Living in tent cities that were hastily constructed and those transplanted from Vietnam were thrown Korean War vintage parkas to keep warm. Immediate changes were undertaken to increase supplies of essential items -- like cigarette rations. Overall, the structure on Bld 1014 remained the same. After the crisis passed and the 4th TFW returned to Seymour Johnson, the base was turned over to the 354th TFW for a short time. The BX remained in the same location.

Then in 1971 the decision was made to bring the 3rd TFW in a paperwork move -- with the 35th, 36th and 80th Tactical Fighter Squadrons. That was a lot of people. Later the 36th TFS would move to Osan. The base again swelled with personnel. In 1971, prefab structures for barracks and supply buildings were installed throughout the base and the new Seabreeze NCO Club was placed into operation.

The old NCO Club (Bldg 1000: demolished in 2002) used to double as the Open Mess for the small enlisted population, but suddenly the appearance of the 3rd TFW meant that another fast food place was needed to feed the troops. The building was divided into two portions under a contract by the Samil company. The Base Exchange remained on the left side and the cafeteria was opened on the right. The two functions were divided by a partition until the current BX structure could be constructed.

Food Court (2001)

Burger King in Camo (1999) (John Jones)

The BX moved into its current location in the mid-1970s. The old BX area in Bldg 1004 became a shopping arcade area containing the artist, tailor shop, furniture store, watch and shoe repair, etc. The bicycle shop was up near Data Automation. In 1987, we remember ordering a "party suit" (Leisure Suit Larry jump suit) from the tailor shop in this arcade area. This arcade remained in this location until the late 1980s when a prefab structure was constructed for it (where the current food court is located).

Boram O'Sullivan in front of step-down entrance to Food Court (2000) (Courtesy Kalani O'Sullivan)

After the shopping arcade moved out, the area was converted into contract food services for fast food operations. First there was Burger King. We remember when the Burger King first opened up...it was fantastic. We weren't living in some backwater hell hole!!! It was the first sign of civilization.

Then came Anthony's Pizza...what a blessing!!! Try to remember that in the early 1990s, places downtown like "Lemon Date" (a college age coffeeshop-restaurant) were serving pizza made of catsup and sliced hot dogs. It looked like a pizza, but the taste was...YUCH!!! Then came the Korean frozen pizzas which are hard to describe how horrible they were. Anthony's Pizza was a miracle. Soon the Food Court was packed with Koreans buying the pizzas in multiple boxes. I remember grumbling about how there were more Koreans in the place than GIs at times.

Much later, Taco Bell and Robin Hood sandwiches appeared. For a short time, an Video Game room was down near the east end entrance, but there was not much usage as the Rec Center and Seabreeze NCO club also had these machines.

Food Court (2002) (Christopher Shroyer)

Though it will be razed upon the transfer of the food operations to the new Food Court area, we hope people remember that the old building has served the folks of Kunsan continuously from 1952 to 2004. A lot of people have traveled through Bldg 1004 as a BX, arcade and food court. It has served Kunsan's populace well.

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The following photos are from Christopher Shroyer's tour at Kunsan in 2002. His photos provide an excellent tour of the base and its facilities.

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More Airmen May Live Off Base -- Huh??? In the January 9 issue of the Wolf Pack Warrior, there was a note that read: "More airmen may live off base .. A change in how the Air Force figures unaccompanied housing requirements will call for fewer dormitory rooms -- meaning more airmen could move off base in the future. Under the new policy the Air Force must provide dormitory housing for unaccompanied E-1s through E-3s and E-4s with less than three years of service. Previously, the Air Force maintained dorm spaces for all unaccompanied airmen below E-5."

This is a strange announcement as the base policy is to move ALL airmen on base. The base "force protection" policy can supercede this Air Force policy. In 2003, the Department of Defense policy required enlisted service members without dependents in pay grades E-6 and below to live in barracks, but allowed the services to change the policy and require only members in pay grades E-5 and below to live in barracks. Kunsan AB opted to have ALL unaccompanied members -- enlisted and officer -- reside on base.

In 2002, the SSgts were doubling up and the lower ranks at the time had as many as three to a room with only small walk spaces between the bunks when the three lockers were added. The new 1X1 dormitories opened in 2003 eliminated much of the crowding, but the fact remains that the SSgts were forced to remain on base instead of being given the option of finding their own lodgings downtown.

In July 2003, it was again reported that the practice of doubling up has been reinitiated due to the dormitory renovations that are going on. According to the Wolf Pack Warrior, "Recent dorm renovations have decreased available rooms by 96, and current requirements outstrip availablitlity. In order to meet current "space-required" housing requirements, in 2001 the 8th Fighter Wing obtained a waiver to AFI 32-6005 space standards. This waiver permits the doubling up of staff sergeants. ... The estimated completion date of the dorm renovation at Kunsan is scheduled for Sept 2005, and a construction of 17 new dorms at a rate of two per year is slated to begin shortly."

In 2003, the assignment policies for unaccompanied housing varied among the services. However, at Kunsan the DoD policy was superceded by "force protection" considerations. Everyone lived on base -- except for married members -- REGARDLESS OF RANK. According to DoD policy in 2003, single, enlisted members, E-7 and above, were able to live off base and draw the full housing allowance. That option extended to E-6s when the only available quarters were substandard. Barracks were classified as substandard if the E-6 did not have a private room with at least 135 square feet of space and shared a bathroom with more than one other person. Air Force policy allowed E-5s and above to live off base. Single commissioned and warrant officers can live off or on base, although the Air Force relies on the local community to house its officer corps. Availability of bachelor officer quarters for single officers and married officers not accompanied by their families, referred to as geographic bachelors, differs by service.

The impact of this latest AF policy in 2004 is obvious. The construction of the new dorms on base that were "slated to begin shortly" may be curtailed. In other words, current construction with contracts already let will proceed, but future construction will be left unfunded -- and in effect, killed.

The subject of "ghosts" remains. These individuals maintain a room in the barracks, but also maintain a room off-base -- mainly near A-town because of the bus service. These "ghosts" are subject to disciplinary action if caught as the Wing Commander policy is for all forces to reside on base.

Airmen Billets (2002)
Click on image to enlarge

In 1997 the AF policy was to have ALL single enlisted personnel in the far east to have a single room (no roommate) by 2005. However, within the past year there has been a new reality injected into the stationing of forces abroad. The concept fostered by Secretary of Defense Rumsfield calls for the forces to be highly mobile with the bulk of the U.S. forces stationed in the U.S. In addition, the reality of Iraq and Afghanistan calls for more rotations of troops into the areas to stabilize the operations. All of these changes impact manning and in the bottom line, there will be fewer forces projected in the future for these overseas bases. Thus it would be realistic to halt all new construction until the manning figures are sorted out. The following is the statement for the "1+1" plan.

Kunsan Air Base; Osan Air Base; Kadena Air Base, Japan; and Eileson AFB, Alaska have 1+1 dorms. "The "20/20" plan, now known as the "One Plus One" Plan was approved by the Secretary of Defense for all of the services in 1997. ... The current plan calls for all of the services to offer a single room (no roommate) to all single enlisted personnel (with the exception of boot camp, ships, deployment locations, and schools), by the year 2005. The plan will then move to the next phase, which will include giving all single enlisted personnel a shared living area, plus a shared or private kitchenette." Each pair of rooms shares a bathroom and kitchen, which vary in design because there are four different floor plans. A 17-cubic-foot refrigerator, microwave, apartment-size stove, cabinets, eating counter and barstools are standard in each kitchen. Bathrooms have both a shower and a tub. Each floor is equipped with four washers and dryers, and each has a day room.

Snow at Dorms (25 Jan 04)

Most military members live on base in dormitories. With the bulk of the airmen living in the dormitories, the age-old problem of control of the military members was resolved. A decade ago, a large percentage of enlisted troops were allowed to find quarters off-base because there was inadequate facilities on base. Enlisted members were forced to double-up in one tiny room -- and at times triple-up. The complaint then was that under U.S. standards, a pig was guaranteed more space than an airmen. As a result, there was a bustling "real estate market" in A-town of one-room shanties. Now these buildings have been all razed and the commanders have now more direct control of their people.

Only about 200 have approval to live off base in the local community. In these times of growing anti-Americanism and terrorist tensions, this is the best solution. As the older Korean apartments have had chronic vacancies, more and more landlords are turning to military occupants as renters. These units are mostly small two-three bedroom apartments in Sanbook-dong or Naun-dong about a fifteen minute drive from base. Others live in older homes outside of A-Town in Mimiyon.

In July 2003, the requirements for living off-base was tightened up. In the past, living off-base was approved by unit commanders, but now it is only by Wing Commander approval. Off-base residents are being "grandfathered" until they depart, but new requests will be scrutinized. As part of the base "force protection" policy, new requests were rejected. There seems to be a trend in the USFK to draw the forces into the base where "force protection" measures can be maintained. The latest todo over Yongsan Garrison deals with drawing all the dependents into the Yongsan confines to ensure force protection, but the ROK refusal to grant the lands necessary for this to happen. The U.S. simply stated that it would move ALL forces south to Pyongtaek if its demands were not met. This is how seriously the idea of "force protection" is viewed -- especially in Korea where soldiers have been kidnapped by radical students on subways (Oct 2002); assaulted on the streets throughout the country (2002) and knifed going home (Nov 2002).

Airmen Barracks (2004)
Click on image to enlarge

As Kunsan is an unaccompanied tour, the support of non-command sponsored individuals strains the resources of the base. In the past, it was quite common to have a non-command sponsored spouse arrive in Korea on a tourist visa; find a English academy job if they had a college-degree; fly to Yokota AB on space available travel and obtain their E-2 visa in Tokyo (in less than 3 days) and return to work in the area. It appears that those days are over.

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"Community Standards": There appears to be no major changes to the "standards" except that the emphasis will be increased in focusing on the physical fitness of Wolf Pack members. The new fitness instruction took effect on 1 Jan and made obsolete the old finess and weight-management instructions.

Physical fitness has now become a mandatory requirement for a military member. The big change is that fitness has become a commander's responsibility -- versus a medical community health issue. It has become an "operational" requirement. The change is that the fitness of the individual must be assured in the rapid deployment environment of the "new" Air Force. Fitness will ensure the airmen are going to be able to tolerate the austere environments, the fatigue and the temperature changes.

Smoking has become a "no-no" requiring inclusion in the "Community Standards" regulations. There is no smoking allowed while walking or riding a bicycle in uniform. Smoking is prohibited in all public facilities -- except for inside ones dorm room. The Loring Club and all service facilities are now non-smoking areas. The entrances have also been designated as a non-smoking areas. It is not a problem UNTIL IT RAINS. Then the smokers have no where to go to smoke and stay dry. (NOTE: A 1997 Department of Defense executive order, “Protecting Federal Employees and the Public From Exposure to Tobacco Smoke in the Federal Workplace,” set the ban in motion. But it gave MWR facilities a phase-in period. The worldwide no-smoking rule for all MWR facilities was implemented in Dec 2002. In the initial plan, the MWR stated that special smoking rooms would be built to prevent inconvenience to customers.)

The no smoking rule reached its logical conclusion in July when the Wing Commander made it a "no-no" to smoke in the dormitory rooms. If a smoker is caught smoking in the dorms, they could face possible non-judicial punishment under article 92, violtating a general order of the UCMJ. Smokers are authorized to smoke under the picnic shelters or bike racks outside the dormitories -- and in the winter, it was sad to see a lone smoker huddled under the picnic table area.

Tighter controls have also been established for "overnight visitors" -- i.e., visiting family members -- staying in the dorms. In the past, there was a very liberal policy of having spouses staying in the dorms for periods up to three months (the length of stay for a tourist visa). In the past, one only needed the approval of one's unit commander along with notification of the barracks manager. With the tighter security from the terrorist threats and the uneasy situation with the anti-American elements, the policy has been modified. We have been told that now it is for 30 days within any four month period.

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Curfews: At present, only DoD ID cardholders are allowed on base after curfew hours. This policy was to ensure that the "quality of life" of the dorm residents was protected. There is a prominent notice at the main gate check point. Presence of all foreign "entertainers" (E-6 visa) on base after curfew is prohibited. The reasons are obvious as "sleepovers" by prostitutes on base is a frowned-on occurrence. All "entertainers" must be off-base by curfew.

The instances of entertainer abuses may decrease after March 2004 when many of the E-6 entertainer visas expire. The ROK will no longer issue E-6 visas, but did extend them for those entertainers who wished extensions in 2003. Most of those who extended were the Filipinas who have a closer relationship with the bar owners than the Russians. (NOTE: But just because the E-6 visa "entertainers" are gone, the E-2 visa "tourists" are still around. Basically, the happy hooker catches the ferry to Japan and get an E-2 visa and returns for three months. Expats have used this ploy for decades to live in Korea, but now the prostitutes have started using this system. Their travel costs are covered by the bars and employment guaranteed upon return. This system already in use by some Russians working the Pyongtaek bars.)

A-Town and Kunsan City are "off-limits" during an exercise. A-town and Kunsan City would be back on-limits 24-hours after the end of the exercise (ENDEX). In the "old days" as soon as the "fat lady sang" the troops would head to A-town to blow off steam after an exercise. Though the bar owners loved it, the Town Patrol would have a lot of incidents of drunken and disorderly behavior. Under the current system, the troops have a chance to "mellow out" and rest up before heading downtown. Of course, the club owners were not overly enthusiastic over this policy started in 2003. During normal duty days after curfew, airmen are not allowed to be in any establishment serving alcohol off-base -- including restaurants.

In August 2003, in the Wing Commander's efforts to combat Prostitution in Korea -- an absurd proposal in a country identified internationally as a major human trafficker -- the curfew policy was expanded to include all "housing areas" OUTSIDE the gates of A-town as well. (NOTE: Actually the Wing Commander put A-town off-limits for an incident in July 2003. (See A-town Off-Limits for details of the incident.) The local residents of Mimiyon (mostly farmers and blue-collar families) may not take it lightly if they knew the policy assumed that they were supporters of prostitutes.)

This USFK curfew policy seemed to work so well that the Marine Commander at Iwakuni Air Station in Japan copied it to combat an outbreak of crimes and attempted rapes occurring in the off-base community in Jan 2004. Luckily, the Kunsan area has not been subjected to these types of negative incidents.

In Sep 2004 the curfew was changed to 9pm to 5am USFK-wide. The reason was the increased terrorist threat because of the ROK deployment of troops to Iraq. In Oct 2004, the curfew reverted to 12 midnight to 5am USFK-wide, seven days a week -- but the holiday and weekend curfew time of 1am went bye-bye. Increased force protection measures at bases throughout South Korea would remain in effect. USFK Command Sergeant Major Welch cited terror warnings from the U.S. Embassy in Seoul as the command’s justification for the curfew, also putting to rest speculation the curfew was influenced by the South Korean government’s recent crackdown on prostitution. Previously, soldiers had a 1 a.m. weekend and holiday curfew and a midnight weekday curfew.

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Curfew Imposed because of Terrorist Threat (Oct 2004) An audio tape calling for a worldwide resistance against ''crusader America'' and its allies, including Britain and Korea, presumed to have been recorded by Al-Qaida's number two Ayman al-Zawahiri, was broadcast by al-Jazeera television on 1 Oct 2004. ''We should not wait until U.S., British, French, Jewish, South Korean, Australian or Polish forces enter Egypt, the Arabian Peninsula, Yemen and Algeria before we resist,'' said the tape. The tape called for indiscriminate attacks against the U.S. and its allies, saying "Let us start resisting now. The interests of America, Britain, Australia, France, Poland, Norway, South Korea and Japan are spread everywhere"

Li Won-soo, Korea Times (Oct 2004), Terrorist Threat to ROK Iraq troops

USFK, which went to force protection condition "Bravo Plus" (slightly higher than usual), and invoked a 9:00 p.m. - 5:00 a.m. curfew for soldiers and their families, military civilians, and some military contractors for security reasons. The reason was the increased terrorist threat because of the ROK deployment of troops to Iraq. USFK Command Sergeant Major Welch cited terror warnings from the U.S. Embassy in Seoul as the command's justification for the curfew, also putting to rest speculation the curfew was influenced by the South Korean government's recent crackdown on prostitution.

It has also deployed obstructions and armored vehicles along roads near U.S. military facilities. Meanwhile, in a 1 Oct dispatch from Seoul, the LA Times reported that from Sept. 24, a 9:00 p.m. curfew had been put in place for all 33,000 USFK personnel, their families, military civilians, and certain military contractors, and USFK's counter-terrorism posture was at its highest level since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The paper also said the U.S. Embassy in Seoul had announced an exceptionally strong warning to Americans living in Korea that threats of suicide attacks, bombings and kidnappings were on the rise. At Kunsan, the mandatory wing-man when going off-base was initiated.

The impacts to drinking in A-town became obvious. A-town hours opened at 5:30 pm and closed on weekdays at 8:30 pm -- only three hours of operation. It wasn't worth going to A-town on weekdays. On the weekends, the A-town bars were open from 5:30-10:00, a little better, but still not enough time for the bars to break even. With the runway closure in October dropping the base population to half its size as the aircraft deployed to other bases, business was terrible.

On 8 Oct 2004, the curfew reverted to 12 midnight to 5am USFK-wide, seven days a week. Increased force protection measures at bases throughout South Korea would remain in effect. Previously, soldiers had a 1 a.m. weekend and holiday curfew and a midnight weekday curfew. The hard times for A-town are still ahead.

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Recycling in the Dorms In Nov 2003, Kunsan city officials approved the military’s new recycling program at Kunsan. According to the Stars and Stripes in Nov 2003, Kunsan’s recycling program was kicked off in June with a new $196,384 contract with a local garbage contractor. Throughout South Korea, recycling is mandatory for businesses and residents. The recycling program requires separation of trash to comply with local rules. Under the recycling program, each airman now has a small blue container for recyclables in their dorm rooms. And airman are required to take it to a larger bin in dorm common areas and separate recyclables by category: plastic, paper, glass and metal. Recyclables are then bagged and put in larger outside bins, for the contractor to haul away and ensure they are properly separated. Offices also have receptacles for plastics and metals, as there is not much glass disposed. Special paper bins have been ordered for copy machine areas with paper waste.

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35th FS to Move to New Facilities Times are changing fast. The 35th Fighter Squadron is finally going to be moving into their facilities which provide chemical warfare protection. The 80th Fighter Squadron moved into their facilities a while back and the 8th MX Squadron staff took over the old 8th FS building dating back to the 1970s. The old headhunter sign is now at their new building.

(SITE NOTE: It seems like only a few years ago back in the late 1980s when the base was sinking piling after piling into a multi-million dollar sink hole in the arch area to build the "new" AMUs. They finally gave up that idea. It's amazing that if they had looked at some historical maps dating to 1932, they would have seen that they were building over a portion that was NOT part of the island that Kunsan AB was based on -- but the old tidal flat area. The unstable ground was the same problem that they found when trying to build the first runway -- now Taxiway Charlie. Landing on it was like landing on jello. Such is life -- live and hopefully learn from history. Glad they're going to move to much needed new quarters started in 2001.)

35th Fighter Squadron anxious to get into new facility

By Franklin Fisher, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Wednesday, April 7, 2004

OSAN AIR BASE, South Korea — As 35th Fighter Squadron executive officer, 1st Lt. Erin Hancock has to work closely with the people at the squadron operations desk who operate from the same rundown building she does at Kunsan Air Base in South Korea.

But what a job getting over to talk to them.

“They’re pretty much at opposite ends of the building,” said Hancock. “We have to go down a hallway, turn right, go down another hallway, turn left, and then around that corner is where the operations desk is. So it’s almost like a maze just to get down there. … It’s a lot more difficult to coordinate matters.” But the inconvenient layout, plus chronic problems with faulty heating and air conditioning, plus holes in the wall and other effects of age, are about to change.

The squadron hopes to move later this month into a new, state-of-the-art, semi-hardened structure tailor-made to operate efficiently and to survive modern warfare, including chemical attack.

“It’s a quantum leap in combat capability for the squadron,” said Lt. Col. Rob Givens, commander of the squadron, which flies the F-16 fighter. “The building we’re in now, we adapted to. The building we’re moving into was designed for us.”

The one-story, $9 million structure is about 200 yards north of the old one. Kum Sang Construction Co. Ltd began construction in October 2001 under contract with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The new building sits on about a 1.5-acre parcel on the eastern half of the base, home to the 8th Fighter Wing, known as the Wolf Pack.

The new structure is surrounded by earthen berms about 15 feet high to help shield it from blast damage. Its three-foot-thick concrete walls are “splinter-proof” — built to minimize debris that could fall were the building hit by an explosion.

It’s also designed to seal out chemical agents, letting squadron pilots and staff carry on indoors even if chemical weapons have hit outside.

“On the quality-of-life side,” said Givens, “it offers a lot better work space … better heating and air conditioning … better ventilation, nicer facilities, everything is newer. We have excellent shower facilities in case we have to spend long-term residence in the building in time of war. We have a great lounge where we would actually serve meals if we needed to. We’ve got a great briefing room. … All the computer lines are built into the building … not just tacked to the wall.”

The new building also will allow the commander’s support staff, which Hancock heads, to work from offices just seconds down a hall from the operations desk, making needed face-to-face communications much easier. “It considerably cuts down on the transit,” said Givens.

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Eagle Eyes Program Terrorist threats to the ROK embassies in Asia did heighten the ROK tensions, but there were no increased alerts. However, in April the 40 kidnappings of the foreigners in Iraq by the militants did bring home how vulnerable everyone was. (See Protests: April: Iraq Troop Deployment for details.)

Even at the end of 2003 when the U.S. notified the ROK that some Al-Quida terrorists might be headed towards Kunsan harbor aboard a ship, the ROK did not react with special precautions to the populace. The Kunsan AB airman simply treated the news as business as usual. However, after the April wakeup call, the base started to worry. Throughout the base there was push to increase terrorist threat awareness by the AFOSI, Det 613; Security Forces; Postal authorities and unit commanders. The "Eagle Eyes Program" stresses to be on the look out for people or situations that are abnormal and have people report them to authorities. The intent was to be on a lookout for "indicators of possible terrorism or people from a certain collection of countries who may be preying on Kunsan airmen." In the post office, there is a poster on watching out for terrorism.

AFOSI Det 613 commander, LtCol Jack Kiesler stated, "There are situations almost bi-monthly with people from countries of interest who find their way to A-town." We wonder who these "countries of interest" are? We are guessing that illegal Chinese (ethnic Koreans) are appearing in A-town at least twice a month. However, it could be that they saw the Russian mother with child we saw one day in A-town, but by July 2004 all the Russians had left A-town due to Immigration moving in. As for the Pakistani and Bangladesh illegal alien populace we have seen a few on the streets of Kunsan, but we believe they are off of the ships that periodically enter the port. Most of the Bangladesh and Pakistani illegal aliens center in Seoul and the Kyongi areas because of their work.

The bottomline is to use some commonsense downtown.

EPILOGUE: On 12 Oct, the Associated Press ("South Korea on Guard after Internet Terror Threat", 2004-10-12) reported that the ROK remained vigilant after an Islamic Web site warned that al-Qaida members would attack the country unless it withdrew its troops from Iraq in two weeks. The statement signed by "al-Qaida's network in South and East Asia" said the terror network's members have already infiltrated the ROK's capital. "We will also target you inside your land, for it is not far for us at all and we have already stationed ourselves inside Seoul itself, thank God, and are awaiting the zero hour," the message said.

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Wolf Pack Warrior "Crime Watch" Censored to Worthlessness After the latest fiasco of sexual abuses following the Off-Limits sanctions of A-town in July 2003, the Wolf Pack Warrior "Crime Watch" was been edited to worthless fluff. Whether it was for Operational Security concerns of the OSI in its on-going investigations or other reasons, we don't know. It coincided with the elimination of the on-line Wolf Pack Warrior edition in Jan 2004 as Kunsan withdrew behind its firewall to protect itself from outside watchers.

We surfaced this issue under Word of Caution: History May Repeat Itself! dealing with the parallels between off-limits sanctions against A-town and resultant increases in sexual assaults. We finally gave up and announced that we could no longer follow the thread as a form of censorship was taking place in the Wolf Pack Warrior's "Crime Watch" making tracking impossible. With the latest high-profile attention to sexual assaults in the military, any mention of sexual assault will result in all types of unwanted attention being drawn to the base. This would seem the most logical reason for the sudden censorship and subsequent "neutering" of the "Crime Watch" portion of the paper.

To illustrate our point, the following is the Crime Watch in Nov 2003. In the Nov 28, 2003 issue of the Wolf Pack Warrior (p5), it read:

"Wolf Pack Warrior .. Crime Watch

Nov. 17: .. Lost property -- A senior airman entered the security forces control center and said he'd lost his identification card. .. Escort Violation -- A town patrol an saw an airman on base escorting a Russian entertainer outside building 1027. The town patrolman called security forces operations about the possible violation of U.S. Forces Korea Regulation 190-7. Patrolmen briefed and dispatched. (SITE NOTE: This brings into question how a Russian could enter the base security check point without being identified. Third-country nationals -- i.e. Russians or PRC Chinese -- are NOT allowed on base.)

Nov. 18: .. Vehicle Accident -- A staff sergeant radioed the SFCC and said there had been a minor accident in front of the Oriental House. Patrolmen were briefed and dispatched. A Korean national said wihile backing out of his parking spot he ran into the back of vehicle two. There was no damage to vehicle two. Vehicle one had a broken right rear tail lens. No citations were issued and both operatiors agreed to a private settlement.

Nov. 19: .. Vehicle accident -- A senior airman called the SFCC and said there had been a minor accident in the parking lot of building 611. Patrolmen were briefed and dispatched. The senior airman said he'd backed over a large rock when leaving his parking space.

Nov. 20: .. Damage to private property -- Two senior airman entered the SFCC and siad the cordless phone, computer monitor and keyboad of one the senior airmen had been damaged. The property's owner said he discovered the damage that evening. .. Loud noise complaint -- A senior airman called the SFCC and said there was loud noise coming from dormitory 1303. A patrolman was briefed and dispatched. The patrolman made contact with a senior airman and briefed him on the 24-hour noise discipline.

Nov. 21: .. Damage to private property -- A Korean national called the SFCC and said a car parked at the mini mall had been struck by an unknown object. A patrolman was briefed and dispatched. The vehicle was an Avis rental car, and the damage was noticen went he Korean walked out to inspect the car with a customer. The damate consisted of a broken passenger side window being broken. (SITE NOTE: Over the years, this type of damage has always been caused by errant golf balls from the Golf Course. Parking at those slots have always been at your risk, but the base has thus far never posted any signs warning of the golf-ball hazards.) .. Vehicle accident -- A seniro airman called the SFCC and reported a traffic accident at Wolf Pack Park. Patrolmen were briefed and dispatched. The passenger side window of vehicle one was shattered but still in place. .. Fire response -- An airman first class called the SFCC about a fire alarm going off in dormitory 1512. A patrolman was briefed and dispatched. A walk through of the dormitory revealed lit candles inside on of the rooms set off the alarm. (SITE NOTE: If candles set off alarms, so should any heat source which is not likely. This is why Firemen should be sent to investigate fire alarms -- and NOT Security Forces. In 2003, the fire department responded to 425 fire calls and extinguished five fires that resulted in $844 in damages. We are not disparaging the brave fire fighters in any way. We are simply saying that the base should relook at fire reporting procedures.).. Article 92, Failure to obey an order or regulation -- Fire dispatched called the SFCC about the fire alarm going off at building 1512. A patrolman was briefed and dispatched. During a walk through of the dormitory, lit candles were found in one of the rooms. Contact was made with two airmen who were taken to building 590. .. Fire response -- An anonymous caller telephoned the SFCC and said there was an alarm going off in dormitory 611. A patrolman was briefed and dispatched. An investigation revealed that an unknown person had pulled the second floor fire alarm. (SITE NOTE: The airmen were cited because of the candles -- not the fire alarm. Later in a Wolf Hotline response it was admitted that there were problems with false alarms in the older barracks that was difficult to identify.) .. Article 92, Failure to obey an order or regulation; Article 95, Resistance, flight, breach of arrest, and escape; Article 105, Misconduct of a prisoner; Article 117, Provoking speeches or gestures; Article 128, Assault; and Article 134, Disorderly conduct, drunkenness, and communicating a threat -- An Army private and specialist were apprehended at the bus stop in America Town when they tried to board the bus back to base without paying. Town patrolmen attempted to have them pay the fair or get off the bus. Both soldiers allegedly made several comments to the town patrolmen and the private allegedly pushed one of the town patrolmen. A third town patrolman called the SFCC and said they had the two soldiers in custody and need someone to take them to building 590. A patrolman was briefed and dispatched. .. Loud noise complaint -- An anonymous caller telephoned the SFCC and said there was loud noise coming from dormitory 616. A patrolman was briefed and dispatched. The patrolman made contact with an airman first class and briefed him on the 24-hour noise discipline. .. Loud noise complaint -- An anonymous caller telephoned the SFCC and said there was loud noise coming from dormitory 1406. A patrolman was briefed and dispatched. The patrolman made contact with technical sergeant and briefed him on 24-hour discipline.

Nov. 22: Fire response -- A person called the SFCC and said there was a fire alarm going off in dormitory 1512. A patrolman was briefed and dispatched. An investigation revealed a malfunction. (SITE NOTE: Later in a Wolf Hotline response it was admitted hat there were problems with false alarms in the older barracks that was difficult to identify.) .. Loud noise complaint -- An anonymous caller telephoned the SFCC and said there was loud noise coming from dormitory 1512. Patrolmen were briefed and dispatched. Patrolmen made contact with senior airman and briefed him on the 24-hour discipline. .. Loud noise complaint -- An anonymous caller telephoned the SFCC and said there was loud noise coming from dormitory 1511. Patrolmen were briefed and dispatched. Patrolmen made contact with an airman and briefed him on the 24-hour discipline. ..

Nov. 23: Patrol response -- An airman first class called the SFCC about possible escort violation. Patrolmen were briefed and dispatched. An investigation found that no escort violation had taken place. .. Loud noise complaint -- An technical sergeant called the SFCC and said there was loud noise coming from dormitory 1401. Patrolmen were briefed and dispatched. Patrolmen made contact with an Army sergeant and briefed him on the 24-hour discipline. .. Fire response -- An airman first class called the SFCC and said there was smoke coming out of hardened aircraft shelter 24. Patrolmen were briefed and dispatched. A patrolman relayed a strong unknown odor was coming from within the HAS. The fire department was notified and responded. (SITE NOTE: Just a comment from an old aircraft maintainer. The fire department should have been called by MOC ALONG WITH the SFCC. Fire response should have been immediate. Something is strange when Security Forces are dispatched to fire alarms instead of firemen -- whether in a barracks or Arch.)

The 9 Jan 2004 Wolf Pack Warrior contained an article by SrA Cat Trombly, 8th FW Public Affairs. The article ("WPW changes with New Year") stated, "Another section you read a lot is the blotter. A few of you made comments that you are sick of seeing all the noise complaints and just want to see the "juicy" material. .. We publish the blotters as a deterrent. It is our hope that when you see a complaint in the blotter, whether it is an assault or noise complaint, you will think twice if you are ever in that position. It is our policy to print the majority of the blotters, and Col. Robin Rand, 8th Fighter Wing commander, has rarely asked us to pull one from the paper. We will continue with this policy. .. One person asked if we could put more info in the blotters, such as squadron. The answer is no. Often times, blotter entries are still under investigation when we publish them so we leave names and squadrons out. If the person receives an article 15, we include rank and unit; if the person is court-martialed, name and unit will be there. Again, we do all of this as a deterrent."

But now the new and improved "edited" version of the Wolf Pack Warrior Crime Watch is so much easier to read. (Sarcasm showing) It shows how the base has NO problems at all with "nothing to report." As it is currently, the Crime Watch serves no purpose -- except to give people a false sense of security. The following is from the 5 Mar 2004 Wolf Pack Warrior.

Feb 23: Nothing to report

Feb 24: Nothing to report

Feb 25: Nothing to report

Feb 26: Nothing to report

Feb 27: Nothing to report

Feb 28: Theft of private property -- An airman walked in the security forces control center relaying he woke up at 9 a.m. and notice his computer was missing. The airman said his roommate was packing when he went to bed. The airman said when he woke up he noticed his laptop computer and roommate were both gone. The roommate had left at 4 a.m. for Seoul to catch his plane for his PCS to Kadena AB, Japan.

Feb 29: Nothing to report

Isn't it wonderful to know how safe and boring Kunsan AB is with "Nothing to Report"? (Sarcasm showing.) By April, they at least had taken the 4" X 10" of "Nothing to Report" and scrunched it into a 4" x 2" space. "Nothing to Report" is a waste of space. (Sarcasm still showing.)

In his visit to Kunsan AB on March 1-2, Lt. Gen. Garry Trexler, 7th AF Commander said there are things to be aware of in the increase in sexual assaults throughout the military. "Drink responsibly. People need to look after each other, and when it does happen, we need to take care of the victim. ... Both Kunsan and Osan have very active programs inplace and until there are zero, we are not going to be pleased."

Our position remains that the specifics of sexual assaults/rapes need NOT be mentioned, but the events should be posted to warn the airmen of the dangers around them. The hierarchy owes their troops that much. However, the hierarchy may not see it in the same light as we do.

As of March 2004, we recommend that it be removed from the Wolf Pack Warrior newspaper. It has been censored into worthless fluff and it is now nothing but wasted space. Instead of being an information device, it has now evolved into a Commander's tool that would highlight those incidents that the Wing Commander would be keying in on to maintain discipline. There are better ways of doing this -- and already in effect with special articles in the Wolf Pack Warrior on Article 15 punishments. Not reporting ALL the facts gives the people who live on Kunsan AB a false sense of security or a skewed awareness of the dangers that lurk in a mixed barracks community they live in.

There are proposed changes to the UCMJ in the works whereby soliciting of a prostitute -- regardless if it is legal in the country -- may result in one year in prison and a dishonorable discharge. Currently the individuals caught are punished for disobeying a general order (bar-fining) or "trespassing" (curfew violations) because making soliciting charges stick under the current UCMJ provisions are very difficult. If and when this new change to the UCMJ occurs, there will be a lot of sexual tension -- and the sexual predators will start roaming the halls of the barracks. We predict that there will be some dire consequences to pay for this change. We don't want to get into the morality issues, but simply that history of Wing Commander's acts to lock down A-town in 2001 and 2003 resulted in some very ugly sexual incidents on base. When you operate a high-testosterone "macho" environment like Kunsan -- there are some unwanted side-effects that come about.

We feel that the "Crime Watch" can be an effective tool to WARN the women of the dangers of living in a mixed barracks environment -- or the behavior that comes from being a "Kunsan Queen." Historical data indicates that there have been four to five court-martial level sexual incidents per year for the past five years. Korea has the worst record of sexual assaults in the USAF. We assume that the trend continues, but only now no one knows about it.

(SITE NOTE: In the May 28th issue of Wolfpack Warrior, "Crime Watch" showed a group of assault reports between NCO/NCO and Airmen/NCO -- fighting not sexual. At first we thought "Crime Watch" might be returning to normal, but it still appears to remain as a Wing Commander's tool to highlight special interest disciplinary areas. It still has a censorship policy. In April-May, Crime Watch had NO reports of a large "aerosol sniffing" group apprehended -- but article published on the Article 15s received by the group later was the only evidence of the problem. As of Oct 2004, this selective inclusion policy for "Crime Watch" appears to have remained in effect.)

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Kunsan Welcoming Committee On 8 May, the Stars and Stripes published an article on the tradition of the Wolf Pack in greeting its newly arriving personnel. It was the standard Public Affairs "feel good" human interest story basically aimed at only the Kunsan population. However, what was interesting in the article was the mention of a "welcome tradition" supposedly started by Col. Robin Olds at Ubon Ratchatani, Thailand. According to the article, upon arriving at his base in the middle of the night, he was dropped off along with some enlisted men at the end of the runway with no one to greet him. He flagged down a passing jeep for a ride. The driver, not recognizing Colonel Olds, said, "Sure, Buddy, hop in" or something to that effect -- indicating the colonel was in "civvies' (civilian clothes) without rank insignia. The Colonel stated that it probably wasn't a good idea to call him "buddy" as he was his new wing commander. After that the man drove everyone to where they needed to go. Supposedly from that time, on the Wolf Pack has always greeted their new arrivals personally.

The tale has some fatal flaws in logic as far as we're concerned. For example, a C-130 "klong hopper" aircraft commander who didn't know that he was carrying a VIP on his aircraft, would not have been very observant. Even the loadmaster would have told him -- if he had missed it on his flight briefing --as it would be indicated on the flight manifest. Also standard procedure was to contact base ops on landing to give a heads-up of the presence of a "DV" (Distinguished Visitor) inbound while they are lining up their pickup ride to base ops. They may not have known he was the new wing commander, but the O-6 rank would have demanded special DV treatment.

Admittedly the circumstances of Colonel (later Brigadier General) Olds selection for the job -- along with the actions of Gen. "Whip" Wilson in "firing" the old Wing Commander on a "no notice" surprise visit -- is the stuff that legends are made of. However, embellishing that legend with new material might not be wise.

Kalani O'Sullivan stated that as a former member of the Wolf Pack from Ubon Ratchatani (1970-1972) during the Vietnam War years and Kunsan AB (1987-1989) -- and a resident of Kunsan City for over a decade -- this is the first time he had ever had ever heard of this tradition. When he arrived at Ubon RTAFB he just showed up at his shop and they took it from there, pointing him in the right direction -- but no special instructions or anyone to hold his hand. That was the norm and no big deal. Besides, there was too much going on -- frags to fill, combat missions to fly, and things like that -- to worry about a newbie inprocessing. Maybe he missed the bus, but he doesn't remember any such greeting party at Ubon in his two years there...but then he wasn't paying attention to that sort of thing.

However, when he arrived at Kunsan AB in 1987, he was greeted by his sponsor when the bus pulled in and put into billeting for the night. That was the standard expected by anyone at the time -- but he remembers that some enlisted men on the same bus from Osan who were NOT greeted. Without hesitation, others from different squadrons on seeing the stranded enlisted men, voluntarily took them under their wing to atleast get them settled for the night.

What Kalani is saying is that the tradition claimed to be invented by Colonel Olds may be bogus. But there is a tradition that the Wolf Pack of Kunsan has fostered in taking care of their own that has been in place at Kunsan for many years. This is the tradition that should be keyed in on.

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Bronze for Body-builder from 8th FW (Aug 2004)The Stars and Stripes, "Kunsan bodybuilder takes bronze in first competition" (17 Aug 2004) stated that John Wayne Johnson of Kunsan AB trained for two years and shelled out more than $600 out of his own pocket for the privilege of competing in the Marine Corps Community Services Okinawa Far East Bodybuilding Competition. In the end, John Wayne Johnson of Kunsan Air Base walked out of the Butler Theater with a third-place finish in the men’s lightweight division, and a bronze statue emblematic of same. Was it worth it? “Definitely,” Johnson said. The 28-year-old staff sergeant assigned to Kunsan’s 8th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron has spent the better part of the last couple of years making sacrifices, watching his diet and hitting the weight room, but he had not actually entered a competition. He wanted to compete in a bodybuilding event slated in July at Kadena Air Base, near Camp Foster, “but that was canceled because not enough people entered,” Johnson recalled. “So they put me in touch with the MCCS people here,” Johnson said, referring to MCCS Semper Fit Athletics, which has sponsored the Far East event since 1996. He requested and was granted permissive temporary duty from his unit. “They were very supportive of me,” Johnson said. “But I had to take care of the flight and accommodations.” That meant buying round-trip passage between Seoul’s Inchon International Airport and Okinawa’s Naha International Airport, costing around $500. He was able to stay at Kadena’s Shogun Inn, at $24.50 a night, for five days.

Johnson took to the stage with four other men’s lightweight entrants. Some among the packed house of spectators later said it was the “most competitive” of the five men’s weight categories. While not the most muscular of the five, Johnson displayed perhaps the best showmanship, flashing a perpetual smile as he flexed and posed. In the end, Johnson finished behind two Japanese competitors, but he didn’t sound too disappointed with the outcome and said he was ready to keep training for more competitions down the road. “I consider this a steppingstone for the future,” Johnson said. All told, 34 people, mostly Japanese and American troops stationed on Okinawa, entered the competition, with six of the eight weight categories won by Japanese.

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Wedding by Phone (Aug 2004) The following article was in the Stars and Stripes, "Airmen Use Phone Lines to Tie the Knot" (August 9, 2004) stated, "Just before she went to bed that night at Kunsan Air Base, South Korea, Senior Airman Kristi Mundwiller set not one, but four alarm clocks for 5 a.m. It was around 10 p.m. on July 29. “That was one appointment I wasn’t gonna miss for the world,” said the 21-year-old airman. She finally fell asleep around 3 a.m., tossed and turned, woke up several times, but at 5 was up. “I didn’t sleep very well at all. I was too excited. And nervous actually,” she said. It was Friday, July 30, Kristi Mundwiller’s wedding day. She got into jeans and a pajama shirt and made her way not to a church, but to the base’s Family Support Center. Set to meet her there were her commanding officer, an Air Force lawyer and her unit first sergeant. That, so to speak, was the wedding party. At least, the South Korea half. Half a world away, the rest of the wedding party was at that moment in the Lowndes County courthouse in Valdosta, Ga., where it was Thursday afternoon, July 29. Standing by were probate court judge Ruby K. Sirmans and the man Mundwiller was about to marry — by telephone — Airman 1st Class Thomas Gillespie, also 21. They’d met in August 2001 when both were rookie airmen entering tech school at Shepherd Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, Texas. After training they were both assigned in March 2002 to Moody Air Force Base, Ga. She’s from Dowagiac, Mich. He’s from Victorville, Calif. “He is one of the nicest and most polite guys I have ever met. He’s considerate of everybody and anything. He’s a sweetheart to no end,” Mundwiller said. Then last November, she learned she was slated for assignment to the 8th Maintenance Squadron at Kunsan Air Base. She was set to leave Georgia on July 5. The day before, as she sat at the computer, Gillespie came into the room. “He came in and got down on his knees in front of me and turned me around and said ‘Will you marry me?’” “I said ‘Yes’ and started crying.” They didn’t set a wedding date but thought they’d probably marry in a few months. She flew to Kunsan, and soon after he called with some news. He was set to deploy to Iraq in August and they better marry as soon as they could. She readily agreed. “That scared me ’cause I didn’t want to risk losing him and not being able to say at least once that ‘this was my husband and I’m very proud of him,’” she said. But how could there be a wedding with the two so far apart? Gillespie knew of an airman at Moody who, while deployed in the desert, had married by satellite phone. “It took me a few days to decide if I actually wanted to do it, because I wouldn’t be able to see him in person, and touch him and stuff,” she said. Mundwiller next talked to Senior Master Sgt. Joey Williams, her first sergeant. He phoned the base legal office and spoke with Capt. Justin Price, chief of civil and international law. Price did the legal research on what it would take for what’s known as marriage by proxy. “I soon found out that we needed to get the application for the marriage certificate filled out by both of the parties that wanted to get married, and we had to get that back to the county courthouse in Georgia,” Price said. They’d also have to give Georgia a notarized affidavit saying that it had indeed been Mundwiller who’d signed the application. “Then I had to get all the parties together, so I called the clerk of the court and the justice of the peace and the fiancé” and Mundwiller, Price said. “And I also had to get her first sergeant and her commander to gather at the Family Support Center.” Then, on the morning of the wedding, they set up the conference call, using speakerphones. Price saw that Mundwiller was nervous, fidgety. “She was giggly,” said Price. “You could tell that she was very excited and very talkative and just beside herself. “And basically what had to happen was that the justice of the peace read the wedding vows and … both people had to say ‘I do.’ And her commander had to witness her vow and then we had to do an affidavit saying he did indeed witness that, and then we had to fax it back to Georgia,” Price said. The judge read the vows, the couple pledged their lives and the judge pronounced them man and wife. Kristi Mundwiller was now Kristi Gillespie. “The whole thing took about 10 minutes,” said Price. “They are legally married in the state of Georgia." After the unique ceremony, the judge wished the couple the best. “She said what we were doing was really, really special and that she hopes that we will have a very long life together and congratulations a lot,” Kristi Gillespie said. “He’s trying to come over here for Christmas, so I’m hoping he can find a way to get over here. That would be really exciting,” she said. “And he wants to thank my commander and first sergeant and Capt. Price in person, because he thanked them over the phone but he wants to do it in person.” Her fellow-airmen have congratulated her, not only on the marriage, but on the method. “Actually a lot of people are saying ‘That’s cool.’ They never heard of it before but said congratulations and ‘go me’ and ‘go us.’ “They’re all really happy for us.” Though now legally married, the Gillespies still want a traditional wedding. It’s set for July 29, 2005 in Clearwater, Fla. “We’re saving up all our money,” Kristi said. “I even found a wedding dress.”

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Passing of a Kunsan POL Icon: Kwang Tok Pak SMSgt Melvin D. Cooper sent out a notice to all former POL from Kunsan who might have known Mr. Kwang Tok Pak. He stated:

It is my deepest regret to inform you all of the passing of a Wolf Pack POL icon. Mr. Kwang Tok Pak, better known as "Hollywood" to his friends, passed away last night (21 Sep) at 2230hrs Korea Local Time after suffering a heart attack Monday while on duty. He first complained of chest pains Monday afternoon and was taken to Kunsan AB Medical Clinic where he was stabilized before being transported to Kunsan City Medical Center. Upon his wishes he was taken to Jeonju Medical Center to be treated by his physican. On Tuesday he appeared to be in good spirits and doing better but later took a turn for the worst.

Hollywood was Kunsan POL's bulk storage foreman. He was a hard working and dedicated individual who won numerous awards at every level to include Air Force and multiple PACAF, USFK, and Kunsan AB Civilian of the Year honors. He was a humble gentleman who always greeted everyone with a smile. Well known, Mr. Pak was viewed as a friend by Colonels, Chiefs, and airmen alike. He will be greatly missed.

His funeral will take place tomorrow 23 Sep at 1100hrs Korean Local Time in Kunsan City. Memorial services will be Friday 24 Sep in the Kunsan AB theater.

He was survived by his wife, an adult son, and two adult daughters. Keep them in your prayers.

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New Fitness Test The Air Force ain't what it used to be with beer belly MSgts and airmen enjoying the easy life until the annual physical fitness test came around. Some would run the mile-and-a-half with a cigarette and steel tip boots. It was a piece of cake. For some it was a crash program to get in shape. A few days of aching muscles and it was another easy year until the next year's test. Not anymore. The following is from Military.com on 7 Oct 2004:

Airmen brace for new fitness test

by Master Sgt. Chuck Roberts
Air Force News
October 04, 2004

SAN ANTONIO -- The Air Force chief of staff fired a shot across the bow in July 2003 that got the attention of Airmen everywhere.

Gen. John P. Jumper forewarned that a new fit-to-fight program would replace the cycle ergometry test and encouraged everyone to get ready.

Staff Sgt. Kurt Hartmann did not, and he paid the price. After narrowly squeaking by on the bike test in years past at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz., he finally peddled into the penalty zone. Then he left for a remote tour in South Korea. He arrived just in time for a head-on collision with the demanding new fitness test, which includes running, abdominal-circumference measurement, push-ups and sit-ups.

He wiped out with a failing score of 56 that included 14 sit-ups, 25 push-ups and a 15-minute, 20-second time on his one-and-a-half-mile run. And he was not awarded any bonus points for sporting a 37-inch waist.

The total number of points earned on the fitness test places Airmen into one of four categories based on age and gender: Ninety or greater is excellent, 75 to 89.9 is good, 70 to 74.9 is marginal and less than 70 is poor. However, Sergeant Hartmann's poor marks served as a wake-up call for the 25-year-old who had not worked out in earnest since high school.

"I thought it was time to change something, literally, big time," said the maintenance training instructor assigned to the 8th Maintenance Operations Squadron at Kunsan Air Base. He did, and joined thousands of Airmen across the Air Force competing for space at fitness centers and running tracks.

He bought a bike, received mandatory fitness counseling and quit hibernating in his dorm room feeling depressed about being separated from his wife, Staff Sgt. Kimberly Hartmann, back at Luke. He became an enthusiastic participant at the 6 a.m. office workout three days a week, lost 20 pounds and saw his waistline decrease by almost 3 inches.

In July, he retested and is now among 85 percent of Airmen who have marginal or better on the test. His 75.35 score included 28 sit-ups, 37 push-ups and a running time of 11:55. Air Force scores, as of July, were 14-percent excellent, 63-percent good, 8-percent marginal, 5-percent poor and 9-percent other (exempt or because of retest). Points are awarded in different categories based on age. To gauge your score, check out the fitness charts at www.af.mil/news/USAF_Fitness_Charts.pdf.

Sergeant Hartmann not only passed the test, but he also made fitness a part of his life.

"I love the way I feel after I workout," Sergeant Hartmann said.

He took to heart the intent of General Jumper, who said his focus is "not on passing a fitness test once a year. More important, we are changing the culture of the Air Force. This is about our preparedness to deploy and fight. It's about warriors. It is about instilling an expectation that makes fitness a daily standard -- an essential part of your service."

At Bagram AB, Afghanistan, 1st Lt. Bryan McKay is serious about being fit to fight.

"If you're in the profession of arms, you should be in good shape," said the chief of the 455th Expeditionary Communications Flight. "You should show up in good shape because it speaks positively of you and establishes confidence in the team."

Being fit also plays a practical role in his job when it comes to running heavy cable wire in blistering summer heat.

"The better shape that you're in, the better you can do your job," said the 24-year-old.

And if Airmen on his team are not in shape when they arrive, they will soon be. Despite 12-hour shifts, six days a week, the lieutenant and five people from his flight work out as many as six days a week, including two six-mile runs along the base perimeter road in the early morning before the heat gets ugly.

Some people on base, as well as his commander at Scott AFB, Ill., question their sanity, Lieutenant McKay said.

"I think we're a little crazy, too," he said, admitting they are a bit "gung-ho."

Also fighting and staying fit at Bagram is Senior Airman Charles Chandler. He made a pact with five fellow Airmen of the 109th Aerial Port Flight before going to Afghanistan to "motivate and discipline each other to go to the gym every day."

Arriving physically fit, he said, is important because Airmen do not know what to expect when they show up at remote locations. Staying fit also helped the New York Air National Guardsmen remain "team oriented" and to "stick together like a family."

The extent of such resolve was a pleasant surprise to officials at the Air Force Surgeon General's office. They expected only about a 75-percent pass rate during initial startup of the new test, said Maj. Maureen Harback, deputy chief for health promotions operations at the office.

She attributes the early success rates, which represents half of the Air Force, to Airmen taking the six-month heads-up by General Jumper seriously.

"It reflects what Airmen are focused on," the major said.

Also, she said, it seems that many are willing to make the effort to train for the new test because they believe their hard work in the gym will have direct payoff with a good score.

That was not always the case with cycle ergometry, said Col. Philip LaKier, deputy command surgeon for U.S. Air Forces in Europe, who oversees the command's testing. The old test suffered from stories commonly heard at most bases -- the couch potato who easily passed the test while the marathon runner failed. While that scenario could possibly prove true in less than 1 percent of all cases in a base population of 10,000, it still becomes the stuff of urban legends, he said.

That is not the case with the new test, which about 85 percent of command Airmen passed, Colonel LaKier said. He said Airmen seem to view the new test as "effort dependent -- if they try harder they should do better."

And it has a practical application. With the new test, people can make the connection between push-ups and filling sandbags -- a hot and strenuous duty performed by Airmen at Balad AB, Iraq, where they fill bags and stack them around tents for protection from mortar attacks that have claimed the life of one Airman.

The new test also makes sense logistically, he said, explaining that cycle ergometry requires special equipment and training to test people one-on-one. With fit to fight, the test can be given in the field by a physical training leader who can monitor several people at the same time.

"This is a much better test," said Staff Sgt. Joshua James DiTullio, a physical training leader at Soto Cano AB, Honduras. "Before, it wasn't a true test of your physical ability. You were at the mercy of the computer." With the new test, he said he is definitely "more fit to fight."

Getting started into the new way of working out was a bit slow and painful at first, but now Sergeant DiTullio said he enjoys greater "mental clarity" and a more toned body.

"I think it's a move in the right direction," said the quality assurance evaluator for the base's liquid fuels and water systems.

But like Sergeant Hartmann, not everyone was moving in the right direction when testing began. At Pacific Air Forces, about 14 percent scored in the poor or marginal category, said Leyla Kelter, the command's fitness program consultant.

In many cases, she said, the problem had more to do with being unprepared than a lack of effort. Some underestimated how much time they needed to prepare, while others overestimated their running ability. Even factoring waist size to determine points for body composition can be tricky because it is easy to squeeze the tape measure a bit tighter than appropriate, Ms. Kelter said.

"It's just a matter of education and using their time better," Ms. Kelter said from her office at Elmendorf AFB, Alaska.

But for those who fail the test, help is there. Airmen with a marginal score must attend a healthy-living workshop at the local health and wellness center where they receive about two hours of counseling on subjects such as behavior modification, nutrition and fitness improvement. These Airmen must retest within 180 days.

Airmen with a poor rating must attend the healthy-living workshop and participate in a fitness-improvement program with one-on-one fitness counseling. These Airmen have 90 days to retest. In some instances where physical limitations prevent running, cycle ergometry can still be used along with a combination of push-ups and sit-ups.

Airmen in Alaska face challenges not found at most bases. At Eielson AFB, it is a challenge to combine the new fitness test with long Alaskan winters where temperatures dip to minus 30 or lower, said Dana Baugh, an exercise physiologist who oversees the testing.

After a winter of exercising primarily indoors, making the transition from a treadmill to the outdoor track used for testing can be difficult for some, Ms. Baugh said. Other factors for northern-tier Airmen include a tendency for some to gain weight while cooped up during winter, and the mental aspect of coping with prolonged darkness.

These Airmen also face a narrower window of opportunity to take their test, which means juggling test dates around deployments, exercises and summer leave.

Eielson only tests outdoors from about mid-May through September at a local high-school track. However, the extra effort is worth it at northern-tier bases because exercise can help battle the wintertime blahs, Ms. Baugh said. It also improves long-term health that is beneficial to the individual and the Air Force.

It can also provide short-term benefits. At Elmendorf, Airmen beating the commander's test time by a 10-percent margin win a day off. The unit with the best composite score can take $10,000 back to the office to use toward operations and maintenance projects. The second and third place units also receive monetary awards totaling more than $15,000. But Airmen there hardly have to be sold on the new program.

"At Elmendorf, it's been embraced as part of the culture and mission," Ms. Kelter said. And not just by servicemembers. Family members with baby buggies turn out at the local track to join Airmen doing physical training both mornings and afternoons.

Fit to fight also has been embraced by 52nd Comptroller Squadron Airmen at Spangdahlem AB, Germany. These finance troops have won bragging rights for earning the commander's iron flight unit fitness award three consecutive months.

They have also done very well on the test individually. Out of 30 people Tech. Sgt. Cheryl Wiggins has tested, 29 scored good or excellent. It was not by coincidence. The comptrollers are out three days a week doing group physical training -- even in the snow. They take a practice test every Thursday, so when test time rolls around, there are few surprises.

Some grumbled in the beginning when they turned out for group training, but Sergeant Wiggins said a sense of camaraderie has developed over time.

It has also been a good way of getting the workaholics out of the office who would otherwise keep their noses to the grindstone, said Staff Sgt. Mary Anne Reyes, also of the comptroller squadron. But office work does not necessarily end when the workout begins, Major Harback said.

"Sometimes I get more business done on the two-mile run than the whole day," she said.

Physical training is serious business to Sergeant Reyes, who used to feel guilty about taking time out for the gym at lunchtime at her previous base where she was the only one in her office who exercised. She was thrilled to see physical training become part of the workday, especially when her husband deployed for a remote tour to South Korea, leaving her with two children to tend.

"That was my lifesaver," she said. She has added workouts at home as well, where her daughter does push-ups and sit-ups with her. Her husband, Staff Sgt. Rodolfo Reyes, may feel more reluctant to join in. She scored 97.5 on her fitness test and can crank out 64 push-ups compared to his 55.

But he does not mind, she said, because he has learned that when his wife works out, she is happier, and therefore "nicer to him," she said.

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October Absentee Voting (October 2004) We found it interesting that unlike years past, the DoD had come out with an INTENSIVE get-out-and-vote campaign. Though the military cannot take sides, it was becoming obvious that the "leadership" -- in the vaguest and broadest sense of the word -- was concerned that the military vote might become extremely important in determining the election. In the last weeks of October, the race was too close to call according to the pollsters. The military has always supported absentee voting but this year the noise level to get-out-and-vote seemed louder than usual to me as an outside observer.

The Stars and Stripes had an article about the European area on 23 Oct that stated, "With the general election just days away, less than half of the U.S. troops, Defense Department civilians and family members living in Europe have mailed in absentee ballots, according to U.S. military officials. To date, the military postal system has mailed about 68,000 ballots back to the States, which accounts for about 45 percent of the 150,000 voting-age U.S. identification-card holders living in Europe. But the military is making a last-ditch effort to get absentee votes out in hope of preventing problems that left up to one-third of overseas military votes uncounted four years ago. Starting Monday, every absentee ballot will be sent via express mail — at no cost to the customer, said Maj. Brad Hammant, installation voting assistance officer for Ramstein Air Base and all other 435th Air Base Wing facilities."

It went on to say, "In 2000, 30 percent of military voters who requested ballots didn’t get them in time to vote, according to the Pentagon. The handling of military ballots was a major issue in Florida in 2000, when election officials rejected hundreds of military absentee ballots, many because they lacked postmarks or signatures. This year, military postal workers have developed a special system to ensure that voting materials get to voters and completed ballots are returned in a timely manner, with postmarks and signatures, Hammant said. “There were some problems with the military postal system processes four years ago, and it was a significant part of the overall problems” with the election, Hammant said. “They’ve fixed that big time,” he said. “At least as fixed as it can be.” New postal measures include immediate post-marking of all ballots, separating ballots from other mail and specially marking mail trays filled with balloting material. Plus, every unit must have a voting assistance officer and one voting assistance counselor for every 40 military members, Hammant said. “I’ve never seen such a full-court press for people to participate in the process,” he said. However, anecdotal evidence indicates that plenty of troops missed out on casting their ballots this year.

The article went on, "In Europe, complications still exist despite the special mail handling. In several states, court cases — mostly over whether candidate Ralph Nader will appear on ballots — and other glitches in the system have hung up the printing and mailing of absentee ballots. ... And military postal workers and unit voting advisers sometimes struggle to comply with the voting regulations in each of the 50 states, counties and, at times, townships.

It continued, "The overall military absentee balloting process was criticized anew this week when two Democratic House members accused the Pentagon of failing to meet its responsibility of helping overseas voters get their ballots out, according to an Associated Press report. About 2.7 million military members and their dependents overseas worldwide are eligible to vote by absentee ballot. Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., and Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., on Tuesday asked the Government Accountability Office to investigate problems in the absentee voting system. They cited numerous complications, including a short-lived Internet voting project that was abandoned because of security concerns; a reported shortage of absentee ballot request forms; e-mail and fax balloting systems the Democrats said were being handled by a private contractor with questionable experience; and blockage of a federal government Web site that Americans living abroad can use to request absentee ballots, because of hacking concerns, the AP reported. That Web site, has since been restored, and voters who requested a ballot but never received one can use the On-line Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot. That ballot, which includes federal offices only, is available at www.fvap.gov/pubs/onlinefwab.html. In addition, 23 states are prepared to receive ballots by fax."

In the U.S. presidential election of 2000, Democratic hopeful Al Gore lost to Republican George W. Bush in the key state of Florida by just a handful of about 500 votes. Hundreds of the military absentee ballots were rejected by election officials because they lacked postmarks or signatures. Suddenly, the military leadership started to get concerned and set out to "fix" the system. In addition, the military leaders knew that traditionally many of the younger military members do NOT vote by absentee ballots with excuses ranging from "I don't have time" to "It's too much of a hassle." Though the military cannot take sides in politics -- it can make sure the folks get out and vote. Some even remember the election of George Bush SENIOR against Bill Clinton. Everyone in the military was so certain that George Bush would win that many Republicans in the military at Kunsan did NOT vote because a few months before the election, George Bush looked like a shoe-in. They were wrong and the military had to endure eight years of Bill Clinton...with some devastating results to the military.

Off-base, Americans in Korea (Republicans Abroad and Democrats Abroad) believe that individual votes may be just as important this time, so they are strongly encouraging U.S. citizens in Korea to cast their ballots. There were regular "voter registration" drives centered on Starbucks Coffee in Seoul primarily by the Democrats starting in June 2004. Reminded of the loss in Florida the Democratic machine was out in force early. Voter registration drives was occurring nationwide because of the close race last election. There were claims of this voter registrations of fraud with dead folks and felons, as well as fictious voters -- by both Democrats and Republicans -- but the fact remained that the Democrats had been more successful in their voter registration campaign.

But this is a different election. First there was Michael Moore's Farenheit 9/11 that many people -- like me -- bought the pirated copy to see it since it was so long in coming to the theaters on base. Supposedly it showed Bush as the undecisive leader who sat stunned when given the news of the tragedy. I remember what I did when I heard the news of the 9/11 tragedy. I couldn't stop saying, "Goddamn, this means war" -- and I remember saying it over and over as the story unfolded. It was too horrific to imagine -- for a nation never attacked on this scale before in modern history. But the movie was a total flop for me. It was in my opinion unsubstantiated trash -- and I dozed off after a half hour and then walked off to do other things before the end of the movie. However, a lot of others were very impressed by the movie and it reinforced their opinions of George Bush.

Second, the campaigns of both sides were filled with mud slinging over George Bush's ANG record versus Kerry's supposed "distinguished" record. Bush was attacked for his Iraq War involvement and his economic policies. Kerry was attacked for his "flip-flopping" on issues and his voting record in the Congress. Things started getting dirty when Kerry's campaign started highlighting Bush's lack of experience before he became governor, his supposed running on his father's coat tail, being a drunk, and other nasty manuevers. The worst was when Dan Rather was duped into getting some "dirt" on George Bush's ANG attendance record which turned out to be doctored documents by a supposed Kerry supporter. Bush supporters once again came out with attacks on Kerry's voting record AGAINST military funding, his being always gone, accusations that he was a flip-flopper, even accusations that he lied in his campaign statements, and other under-handed tricks. The Swift Boat veterans claimed to be non-partisan, but their major backers were Republican -- and Bush never condemned their nationwide ad campaigns only referring to his stand on being against "soft money" political advertising. John Kerry had a plan for everything and pounded at the point that Bush had done everything wrong and lied to the American people about things being ok with the economy. Kerry hammered at the Bush being a puppet of the rich. The general image was the mud slinging was getting very deep in this campaign.


Kevin Kallaugher, Baltimore Sun, Oct 2004

There was a lot of heartburn from veteran groups that Kerry spent only four months in Vietnam and won three purple hearts, a bronze star and silver star. This would NOT have been a big deal as it was ancient history, except that Kerry made it an integral part of his campaign by saluting and stating he was "reporting for duty" at the Democratic Convention. In response, some hard-core veteran groups (Swift-boat Veterans) felt that he had "betrayed" his comrades by denouncing the Vietnam vets as "baby-killers" before Congress after he got an "early-out." They came out and stated that he is unfit for leadership -- a strong accusation that they made with TV ads nationwide. Their allegations has caused people who supported Kerry's claims of valor to retract or suddenly claim memory lapses when confronted. The Democrats were claiming the group was Republican sponsored -- though the organization's best selling book and donations from vets via the internet seem to be its primary source of funding. The latest batch of anti-Kerry TV ads has Medal of Honor winner, Major (Col) George E. "Bud" Day, giving his opinion. A lot of veterans -- including myself -- remember the hurt of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW) who called all the vets "baby killers." Almost everyone had forgotten how a young radical had met with the Vietnamese and denounced those still in Vietnam and in POW status. The Kerry campaign opened up old unhealed wounds for many Vietnam veterans. Soon a another video appeared --"Stolen Honor -- Wounds the Never Heal" --- that condemned John Kerry for his VVAW actions to prolong the Vietnam War. Col George Day and fellow POWs told of the torture and how Kerry's treasonous acts had besmirched the honor of most Vietnam vets.

Third, the American press has always been decidedly liberal in its views -- but in this campaign, it was much more so. As a whole, the media has been openly against the Iraq War and also anti-Bush when one looks critically at the content. On the Iraq War, no one is broadcasting the good things being done of returning the infrastructure to operation. Instead the media focused on all the bad things occurring -- the Abu Grahb prison scandal and abuse allegations. Perhaps the worst is how the media has taken up a technique used during the Vietnam War days. Then the press kept a running tally of Viet Cong "body counts" -- but now, it kept a daily tally of American "body counts." It is getting depressing -- and may have started to work against Bush -- and may, in my opinion, be starting to undermine the morale of the troops as well. On the home front, the media was shaping the public opinion by giving terrorists wide media coverage. Encouraged by the air time they received, the terrorists have continued with their kidnappings and beheadings. This is NOT an opinion, but something that is commonsense -- and something that experts have warned for years about the media. The terrorists need the media to spread their terror -- and the American media is willing to oblige as long as it makes for good ratings. The prime time news like CNN would be the shaper of attitudes towards the Iraq War ... AND ANTI-IRAQ WAR = ANTI-BUSH. In attacks on Fallujah, the words are about the insurgents attacks with RPGs, but the photos are of the civilian casualties. There is an incongruity in their reporting. The AFN news and Stars and Stripes articles seemed to support views closely related to Bush, but its impact on politics are minimal. But in the end, the press was ambivalent as there was no clear winner -- so instead of giving their opinions, they simply quoted polls.

There were conflicting opinions in the polls that showed the majority think of Bush as a strong leader, but the Kerry would be more effective on domestic issues. It was still too close to call. The polls showed 68 percent -- though some say 73 percent -- of the military support Bush over Kerry. Various national polls gave Bush 47 percent and Kerry 43 percent of the vote -- or thereabouts. In October the race was too close to call according to the polls.

Because the race was to be so close, we hoped that ALL the people of Kunsan had dropped their ballots into mail box to get to their states in time. Whoever would win in November would control the lives and destinies of the people of Kunsan in the future. As to the Koreans, most are hoping that Kerry will win as Bush has been a thorn in Korea's side since his "axis of evil" stance and openly hostile attitudes towards North Korea. Our absentee ballot went into the mail in October -- so we hope it makes a difference. However, we're registered in liberal Hawaii which has voted for a Democratic President for as long as I can remember so its outcome is pretty well settled.

EPILOGUE: Surprise to us was that Hawaii went to Bush instead of the traditional Democratic block. Bush won with the highest popular vote ever -- but there was also a tremendous turnout for both sides showing that the country is divided on some major issues. The race was a cliff-hanger with Ohio being the pivotal state -- which finally went to Bush by over a 100,000 votes. However, the results were that the Republicans took the center of the continental US while the Democrats controlled the coasts. The Koreans were a bit unsettled that Bush won, but the items on a hold suddenly were back to being considered. For example, the ROK is finally coming to grips with the regional role of the USFK in the future -- something they were hoping that Kerry would change if elected.

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Dollar decline Hurts Servicemen in Korea The dollar is devaluing overseas and in November sat at 1084 won to a dollar. It was getting bad, but we still remember the REAL BAD days when the dollar devalued to 780 won to a dollar. A retiree's paycheck was about just barely enough to survive -- and you needed a job to do that!!! The following is a story from the Stars and Stripes on 14 Nov 2004:

Impact of dollar's decline starting to be felt by Americans living in South Korea

By Teri Weaver, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Sunday, November 14, 2004

SEOUL — American Red Cross worker Pat D’Angelo moved to South Korea two months ago, just in time for holiday shopping. But in the past few weeks, she’s found the money she set aside for Christmas presents hasn’t been enough.

Staff Sgt. Edward Gunter, a Camp Humphreys soldier who lives off base, has seen his monthly bills jump by about $100 this fall even though he hasn’t added any new expenses.

Brian and Colleen Burgemaster have noticed the problem, too. When the couple reported to Humphreys this summer, each dollar they spent equaled nearly 1,200 won. But on Friday, after buying two jade vases in Seoul’s Itaewon district, Colleen pulled out a Community Bank ATM receipt to double-check the current exchange rate.

“It’s 1,084,” she said of the won value for every dollar taken from her bank account. “It’s not good.” This week, the dollar reached a five-year low against the won. On Wednesday, the value of the dollar dropped to 1,102.00, according to the U.S. Federal Reserve Board. That means it would take 91 cents to equal a thousand-won note. In November 2000, the exchange rate hovered around 1,200 won for every dollar, meaning it took only 83 cents to buy a thousand-won note.

The sinking exchange rate mirrors much of what’s happening with the weakening dollar around the globe. Here on the peninsula, the news prompted concern from Seoul’s Wall Street about whether the rate signaled a stronger Korean economy or warned of a possible inflationary bubble about to burst.

For servicemembers and their families, the news means they need more money to pay for airline tickets, Christmas presents, utility bills, diesel gas, apartment rent and anything else bought off-base with won.

Air Force Master Sgt. James McGrath, an air traffic controller with the 51st Operations Support Squadron at Osan Air Base, lives off base in Songtan. He’s noticed in the past few weeks he’s spending more on fuel for his car, food, utilities and phone and Internet services.

As a first step to ease the impact, he’s being extra careful not to drive up household utility costs unnecessarily. “I’ve been paying particular attention to that,” said McGrath. “I should have been doing that all along.” He’s also hoping the cost of living allowance will catch up with the weaker dollar.

Servicemembers in South Korea began getting COLA just last year. COLA payments are meant to help people have the same purchasing power as they would at home, despite assignment to a more expensive overseas community.

In South Korea, the COLA last was adjusted Oct. 1. In Seoul, the rate went up slightly, said Sidney Keyes, staff accountant for 175th Finance Command in Seoul. The Korean COLA may be revisited at the beginning of December, he said this week.

Typically, Keyes and his staff survey the prices of 120 goods in different parts of Korea to see whether COLA should change. Occasionally, a substantial change in exchange rates also can prompt a COLA review, he said. “If that trend persists, it’s conceivable there could be an increase,” he said Wednesday of the weakening dollar. “I would anticipate in December there could be another two-point increase.”

That would be a help to people like 2nd Infantry Division Sgt. 1st Class Craig Winbush. He was shopping in Itaewon on Friday for matching Louis Vuitton watches for himself and his wife.

Winbush has three more months in South Korea, and he and his friend, Warrant Officer Anthony Wright, both said in the past few months they’ve done more comparison shopping between the Internet and the streets of Itaewon to see where they can get the better deal.

On Friday, they weren’t too pleased with the Korean prices they saw.

“We were just in a store, and they wanted 109,000 won for a pair of tennis shoes,” said Wright, who’s going home to Indianapolis next week. “It’s still $100.”

The Burgemasters, of Camp Humphreys, had similar feelings about making their dollars stretch in South Korea. Brian, a captain who has lived most of his life in Seattle, was stationed in South Korea 13 years ago. “You could get things a lot cheaper back then,” he said. He said he felt the strengthening won has helped Korean merchants raise their prices.

The weaker dollar posed an unwelcome Christmas season surprise for D’Angelo as well. She was shopping for mink blankets and other gifts Friday just outside the main gate of Osan Air Base in Songtan. Friends who’d served in South Korea told her of bargain prices, but that was when the dollar was strong against the won.

“Obviously, you want to get stuff to send home to your family, and it hasn’t worked out quite as easily as I expected it to,” she said.

Korean business owners also have noticed the change, especially at places like travel agencies that cater to U.S. Forces Korea customers.

Amy Kim, the president of O&J Travel in Itaewon, said she dislikes accepting dollars because of their declining value. But she knows it means her customers are likely to pay more now for airfare or tours than a few months ago.

The “$500 you paid for your air ticket at the beginning of this year now costs up to about $550 due to devaluation of the U.S. dollar,” she said.

Despite that, however, she didn’t think she was losing any business.

“We still have many American customers, as usual,” she added. “I don’t think the weakening dollar prevents them from taking trips abroad in Korea.”

It is, however, making Gunter think about conserving energy at Humphreys. Gunter, a medical sergeant-in-charge with Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 6th Cavalry Brigade at Camp Humphreys, lives with his family in an apartment in the Anjung-ri section of Pyongtaek.

With the dollar down, their latest utility bill shot up by about $100 over the previous month’s bill. Just converting dollars to won was about $50 more than usual, said Gunter.

“The way I live, there’s pretty much nothing I can change,” he said. “I just really have to watch what I do in my apartment.”

There is, however, at least one choice when it comes to spending money for people like the Burgemasters. The Community Exchange rate they got on Friday — 1,084 won for every dollar — is slightly worse than the commercial rates given by the Federal Reserve and published in many daily newspapers.

Those commercial rates typically reflect the rate for exchanging millions of dollars in a single transaction. When the amount exchanged is smaller — say, getting $60 from an ATM — an institution like Community Bank will adjust the rate so it can still make a small profit for the service, Keyes, the military accountant, said.

But there are other choices. On Friday, a money exchange office in Itaewon offered 1,110 won for every dollar.

Still, Brian Burgemaster said he couldn’t complain too much about the costs of living in South Korea. “It’s still cheaper compared to Seattle.”

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US Embassy Cafe USA Bombarded Another interesting development was the Internet Cafe opened up by the US Embassy on its website on 8 Nov. The U.S. Embassy opened "Cafe USA," an online community with Daum Cafe, in order to hold frank discussions with the Internet users of Korea, the nation with the world's highest Internet user ratio -- at least that was its intent. One can access the site either through the U.S. Embassy homepage (http://seoul.usembassy.gov) or directly at: http://cafe.daum.net/usembassy. Ambassador Hill raised five issues he would have liked both sides to keep in mind, namely: the bilateral security alliance; bilateral economic ties, and how to strengthen them; expanding the bilateral strategic dialogue to major global issues; commonly held democratic values; and reinforcing the deep personal bonds between the Korean and American peoples.

According to the Korea Times on 17 Nov, "Cafe USA Hit by Slanderous Messages." According to the article, the U.S. Embassy in Seoul launched the first-ever online community ``Cafe USA'' in South Korea's most popular Internet portal, Daum, on 8 Nov. Since that time, the cafe has become a debate forum too hot to handle for the embassy. As of 16 Nov, tens of thousands of Koreans visited the Web site and about 5,000 have registered as members at the cafe.

U.S. Ambassador Christopher Hill said he welcomed comments on the Cafe USA, but ``among them, I have noticed some anti-Korean government postings.'' He continued, ``It is true that in a democracy, everyone is entitled to express their views about their government, however, we feel that it would be better if people found another Web site that is more appropriate for this purpose.'' To save the well-intended Web site from unwelcome junk messages, the U.S.Ambassador urged South Koreans to make use of the online community in a more decent way.

Many South Korean Internet users critical of Seoul and Washington inundated the U.S. Embassy Web board with blatantly profane postings, some of which were deleted by a Web site manager. A Web manager of Cafe USA also said that in the last few days, inappropriate posts increased on the Web board together with obscene photos slandering the South Korean government. Some Internet users who posted inappropriate articles were blocked from writing anything in Cafe USA.

Did the Embassy really think there would be only complimentary remarks? Remember how they inundated the Olympic website during the Salt Lake City Olympic Games when Apollo Ono "cheated" the ROK out of its gold medal. Profanity reigned -- and Koreans bombed and crashed the system. The Koreans are famous for blogs that condemn anyone or anything that catches their fancy. Especially the young and impressionable are very prone to enter profane remarks. Remember the images of July 2002 when middle school students in their school uniforms carried placards bearing the words of the famous protest song: "Fuck the USA." Some of the "polite" comments on Cafe USA were:

``President Roh Moo-hyun should be removed from the presidency as he is set to ignore the ruling of the Constitutional Court against his plan to move the administrative capital out of Seoul,'' an Internet user said in a message on the online bulletin board.

Another Internet user said, ``Down with the U.S. government'' for its unilateral approach in international affairs.

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