DOD ARTICLE ON 'FREEDOM'S FRONTIER' IN SOUTH KOREA

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT 

U.S.-Korean Airpower Team Defends 'Freedom's Frontier'

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

OSAN AIR BASE, South Korea, Oct. 3, 2013 - South Korea historically has been called the "Land of the Morning Calm," but a hill at this combat-ready air base reminds airmen and soldiers here that the calm can shatter at a moment's notice, and they have to be ready to respond.

It was prosaically called Hill 180, but in U.S. Army legend it is now Bayonet Hill. On Feb. 7, 1951, Army Capt. Lewis Millet's Company E of the 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, was attacking a North Korean-Chinese force dug in at the top of Hill 180.

The U.S. attack slowed and one of Millet's platoons was pinned down. The captain ordered fixed bayonets and led a charge up the hill. The U.S. soldiers routed the enemy force.

Millet received the Medal of Honor for his actions that day. It was the last bayonet charge by the U.S. Army.

The monument to this extraordinary act is in the backyard of 51st Fighter Wing commander and Air Force Col. Brook Leonard's on-base home. It is a typical backyard with his kids' bikes stacked neatly outside the back door.

But airmen and soldiers at the base can look to this hill and understand that the same threat that visited death and destruction on what is now an idyllic scene, remains.

Just down from the crest of Bayonet Hill is the headquarters of the 7th Air Force and its Combined Air Operations Center.

The mission of the command is "to deter aggression and maintain the armistice, defend the Republic of Korea, and defeat any attack against the alliance," said Air Force Lt. Gen. Jan-Marc Jouas, 7th Air Force commander. "We mean it when we say we have to be ready to fight tonight, because North Korean airspace is just five minutes away."

His command would fight the air war, should the North Korean regime make the mistake of ordering an attack on South Korea.

Jouas leads a joint team – meaning he commands troops from the other American services and a combined team, meaning service members of the South Korean military are integral to the command.

The North Korean military threat is still substantial. There are more than 1.1 million North Koreans under arms. More than 70 percent of those forces are within 50 miles of the demilitarized zone. The North has more than 13,000 artillery pieces along the border, many of which can be rolled out of an underground bunker, fired and rolled back underground.

The capabilities of the North Korean conventional forces, while still substantial, have deteriorated since the end of the Cold War. Russia ended military aid to North Korea in the early 1990s. China is North Korea's only ally, and the Chinese have cut military aid and are channeling food aid to North Korea. Their tanks, armored personnel carriers, and even trucks, are older and less capable, especially when compared to what American and South Korean militaries have.

In the air, this means North Korea can put up a lot of aircraft, around 1,600, but many are old and tough to maintain. North Korea flies MiG-19s, 17s, 21s and 23s. They have a few MiG-29s. "They even still fly some MiG-15s," Jouas said. The MiG-15 was the Soviet jet fighter of the Korean War. "What they lack in quality they are trying to make up in quantity."

And while quantity does have a capability of its own, it won't last long should North Korea miscalculate. There are more than 650 modern aircraft in the South Korean arsenal including F-15Ks, F-16s, F-4 Phantoms, F-5s and others. In addition to the two American wings based in Korea, U.S. Navy and Marine Corps aircraft would be available. American assets based in Japan would fly sorties. Other Air Force squadrons would also deploy to Korea. "Inside of a few days, we would be flying between 2,000 and 3,000 sorties per day," Jouas said.

There would be a lot of "heavy metal" heading north, added a 7th Air Force staff officer.

The U.S.-South Korean alliance has asymmetric advantages. The air command and control system is a singular advantage, Jouas said. This allows the allies to change targets, have air tankers in place, give pilots situational awareness and integrate intelligence, and information into the rapidly changing battle picture. Flying 3,000 sorties into airspace roughly the size of Indiana requires the type of precision and accuracy that North Korea just can't duplicate.

The allies also have a huge advantage in intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets ranging from unmanned vehicles to satellites to manned platforms, the general said.

American airmen also have 10 years of combat experience.

The North Koreans are pursuing their own asymmetric advantages, Jouas said. While the North still is funneling funds into conventional forces, more is going to develop these capabilities.

The North's nuclear program is an asymmetric advantage. Kim Jong Un continued his father's misguided efforts to develop a nuclear capability. Earlier this year, the North conducted an underground nuclear test. Later, they launched a satellite into orbit. Both provocations are counter to the United Nations Security Council.

The North Koreans also have more than 100,000 service members in their special operations forces and are developing cyber warfare expertise.

As these threats expand, the U.S.-South Korean alliance must change to meet them, Jouas said. The alliance will build on the Korean Air and Missile Defense system to make it more capable and responsive.

At the end of the Security Consultative Talks in Seoul yesterday, American and Korean leaders introduced a "tailored deterrence strategy against North Korean nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction threats."

Many people call the Demilitarized Zone separating North and South Korea "Freedom's Frontier." Others say the peninsula is the last vestige of the Cold War.

Jouas said U.S. airmen and soldiers know the threat when they arrive in South Korea, "but still 85 percent of our people are volunteers. They are committed."

And if they need a reminder, all they need to do is look up at the Hill.

SECRETARY HAGEL SAYS U.S.-SOUTH KOREA WANT PEACE

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
U.S., South Korea Committed to Peace, Hagel Says

By Claudette Roulo
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, March 28, 2013 - The long-standing relationship with South Korea is particularly important to the United States, especially in light of the recent actions by North Korea, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said today.

At a joint Pentagon press conference with Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Hagel stressed that the United States and its allies are prepared to address any threat to the Asia-Pacific.

"We -- the United States, South Koreans, all of the nations ... in that region of the world -- are committed to a pathway to peace. And the North Koreans seem to be headed in a different direction here," Hagel said.

Joint exercises held earlier this month were intended to assure regional allies "that they can count on us to be prepared and to help them deter conflict," Dempsey said.

On Monday, North Korean media announced that long-range artillery and strategic rocket units were ordered to prepare to deploy to areas near the South Korean border.

"I think their very provocative actions and belligerent tone, it has ratcheted up the danger, and we have to understand that reality," Hagel said.

South Korean Army Gen. Jeong Sung-jo, the chairman of South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, and U.S. Army Gen. James D. Thurman, the commander of U.S.-Republic of Korea Combined Forces Command, announced March 24 that they had signed a combined plan to counter threats from North Korea.

The chairman noted that, as a commander of a United Nations command, Thurman is responsible for maintaining the armistice between the two Koreas.

"So he has to have not only visibility and transparency, but he has to have influence in the process of managing the potential for conflict on the peninsula," Dempsey said. A result of two years of discussions, the combined counter-provocation plan establishes a framework for how that influence will be handled, he added.

Uncertainty surrounding the intentions of the North Korean government and its president Kim Jong Un is not the primary issue for the region, Hagel said. But, he added, "We have to take seriously every provocative, bellicose word and action that this new, young leader has taken so far since he's come to power."

North Korea's leaders have a history of ratcheting up tensions in the region to create more favorable conditions for the country, Hagel said. Whether or not that is currently the case, he added, the United States still has to be prepared to respond to contingencies in the region.

"But the fact is that this is the wrong way to go," Hagel said. "The action that he's taken and the actions they've taken and the words he's used, it is not going to project a more responsible, accountable relationship."

U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE PANETTA ON ASIA-PACIFIC SHIFT

FROM:  AMERICAN FORCES PRESS SERVICES

Panetta Describes U.S. Shift in Asia-Pacific

By Jim Garamone

SINGAPORE, June 1, 2012 - The United States is a Pacific power and will remain engaged in the region, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said during a speech delivered at the 11th Annual Shangri-La Dialogue here.

Panetta explained what America's enduring shift toward the Asia-Pacific means to the region. The speech took place June 2 here. Singapore time is 12 hours ahead of the U.S. East Coast.

The shift has long been forecast. After the fall of the Soviet Union, there were those in the U.S. government who urged a re-focusing of U.S. strategy toward the Pacific. China and India are two of the fastest-growing economies on Earth and the nations of Southeast Asia also grew behind the shield of U.S. presence in the region.

The United States also has deep, lasting alliances with nations in the region including Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Thailand, Australia and New Zealand.

This progress and shift, however, were interrupted by the attacks of 9-11 and American attention shifted to combating the terrorist menace.

But now the war in Iraq is over and U.S. troop levels are drawing down in Afghanistan. Last year, President Barack Obama approved a strategy shifting toward Asia. The United States has thousands of miles of Pacific coastline and is an integral part of the region.

"We take on this role not as a distant power, but as part of the Pacific family of nations, Panetta said at the conference. "Our goal is to work closely with all the nations of this region to confront common challenges and promote peace, prosperity and security."

Defense policy in the region calls for the U.S. military to expand military-to-military relationships well beyond the traditional treaty allies.

China is, of course, the major player in the region. China has grown to the second-largest economy in the world and is investing in modernizing its military. Panetta wants good relations with China and will travel there later this year to expand those contacts.

The secretary stressed that the U.S. shift toward the region in no way is aimed at China. "Our effort to renew and intensify our involvement in Asia is fully compatible with the development and growth of China," Panetta said. "Indeed, increased U.S. involvement in this region will benefit China as it advances our shared security and prosperity."

The United States is working with many nations in the region to promote regional security. There are threats in the area. Terrorism, piracy, narco-trafficking, human trafficking are just a few of the problems. There are disputes over territory and the United States would like to see all these problems addressed peacefully by all nations.

Panetta praised the Association of Southeast Asian Nations for its "rules-based" regional security architecture. The secretary also said he looks forward to working with defense ministers from around the region.

Discussions and dialogue can help calm the waters in the South China Sea, where several countries in the region have claims in the area. "The U.S. position is clear and consistent. We call for restraint and diplomatic resolution; we oppose provocation, coercion or the use of force," Panetta said. The United States does not take sides on the disputes, the secretary said, and America has made this position clear to all in the region.

The U.S. military will shift its stance as the global situation shifts, the secretary said. Marine ground and aviation units have begun rotational deployments to Australia. The United States and the Philippines are looking at a similar arrangement.

American littoral combat ships will be berthing in Singapore and the number of Navy assets deployed will shift, too. "By 2020, the Navy will reposture its forces from today's roughly 50/50 split between the Atlantic and Pacific to about a 60/40 split between those oceans -- including six aircraft carriers, a majority of our cruisers, destroyers, littoral combat ships and submarines," Panetta said.

The United States will also shift resources to combat new threats of cyberwar and anti-access technologies.

The shift will continue, Panetta said, as leaders from both parties recognize the importance of the region.

"The United States has long been deeply involved in the Asia-Pacific," Panetta said. "Through times of war and peace, under Democratic and Republican leaders, through rancor and comity in Washington, through surplus and debt. We were here then, we are here now and we will be here for the future."

PRESIDENT OBAMA AND THE KOREAN DEMILITARIZED ZONE

The following excerpt is from the Department of Defense American Forces Press Service:

Obama Praises U.S. Troops' Legacy in South Korea

By Army Sgt. 1st Class Tyrone C. Marshall Jr.
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, March 25, 2012 - Visiting with U.S. troops stationed in South Korea near the demilitarized zone yesterday, President Barack Obama lauded their historic security role that assisted South Korea as it transformed itself into a democratic and prosperous nation in the years following the Korean War.

"When you think about the transformation that has taken place in South Korea during my lifetime, it is directly attributable to this long line of soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines [and] coast guardsmen who were willing to create the space and the opportunity for freedom and prosperity," said Obama, who's in South Korea to attend a Nuclear Security Summit in the capital city of Seoul.

At Camp Bonifas, located near the demilitarized zone that has divided North and South Korea since the Korean War armistice was signed in 1953, Obama told the troops they're serving on "freedom's frontier." About 28,000 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea today.

"And the contrast between South Korea and North Korea could not be clearer, could not be starker, both in terms of freedom, but also in terms of prosperity," Obama said.

The president attributed South Korea's success to the "incredible" resilience, talents and hard work of their people.

"But it also has to do with you guys," Obama told troops. "And so my main message is the same, obviously, to every base that I go to ... all around the world, which is, I could not be prouder of what you're doing. Everybody back home could not be prouder of what you guys do each and every day -- the dedication, the professionalism that you show.

"But there's something about this spot in particular," he continued, "where there's such a clear line and there's such an obvious impact that you have for the good each and every day that should make all of you proud."

The president shared an anecdote of a conversation he'd had with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak.

"Last time I was here, I was having lunch with the president of South Korea, President Lee," Obama said. "And he talked about how he was a small child when the Korean War was taking place, and its aftermath, and the brutal poverty, the fact that they had nothing.

"And he went on to be an auto executive, and ultimately, the president of his country, and watch it grow," Obama continued. "And he specifically said to me -- and this was a private moment; he didn't say this in front of the press, ... he said, 'The only reason that was able to happen -- and I still think back to all those American soldiers and the sacrifices that they made.'"

Obama expressed his pride in the job U.S. troops have done in South Korea and said he is grateful for the legacy they are carrying on.

"We're proud of you," Obama told the U.S. service members, "and I hope that all your family back home knows how proud your commander-in-chief is of you."