Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
New York Times
March 11, 2008
Pg. 10
By Thom Shanker
WASHINGTON — The commander of American forces in South Korea is urging the Pentagon to allow thousands of troops stationed there to have spouses and children live with them during tours of duty.
The proposal by the commander, Gen. B. B. Bell, is a recognition that the military must do more to improve the quality of life for troops and their families. It would reverse decades of policy for South Korea, recognizing that an attack from the North has become unlikely given the enduring American presence as a deterrent and the growth in size and sophistication of the South Korean armed forces. In any case, American troops have been shifted away from the front lines.
The proposed change would align policy in South Korea with that in Germany where, even during the cold war, troops were allowed to have spouses and children with them despite the shadow of Warsaw Pact artillery and Soviet nuclear weapons.
“I want to examine, with the leadership, our assignment policies over there,” General Bell said in an interview. “I am arguing for a slow but real movement toward more accompanied tours over there. It would result in a more enhanced quality of life.”
Only about 10 percent of the 28,500 troops deployed to South Korea are authorized to have families with them, and most of those are more senior-level officers. Many soldiers on the 12-month unaccompanied Korea tour of duty have only recently returned from 15-month combat tours in Iraq or Afghanistan, making the Korean deployment that much more difficult for them and their families.
General Bell told of speaking with a young captain, the father of a 2 ½-year-old girl, who arrived alone in South Korea just five months after returning from more than a year in Iraq. The captain had spent less than eight months with his child in her life.
“You know, we can do better than that,” General Bell said he told the captain.
General Bell disclosed that about 2,000 military families had set up independent living, at their own expense, in Seoul and surrounding areas in order to be near the bases where spouses were assigned. American military commanders in South Korea have quietly allowed those children into Defense Department schools and clinics.
In recent years, the American military has been relocating from bases near the demilitarized zone to new posts farther south, leaving South Korean troops to take over a majority of the responsibility along the front.
“As we move into these sanctuary bases — and they are sanctuaries — they are not up under the guns,” General Bell said.
The general acknowledged that the change in policy that he was advocating could be costly, because additional housing, schools and medical facilities would have to be built. But he said some of those expenses might be borne by the South Korean government.
The American military presence in South Korea has dropped by about 9,000 troops over the past five years, as two brigades previously based there have joined the rotation schedule for Iraq and Afghanistan.
March 11, 2008
Pg. 10
By Thom Shanker
WASHINGTON — The commander of American forces in South Korea is urging the Pentagon to allow thousands of troops stationed there to have spouses and children live with them during tours of duty.
The proposal by the commander, Gen. B. B. Bell, is a recognition that the military must do more to improve the quality of life for troops and their families. It would reverse decades of policy for South Korea, recognizing that an attack from the North has become unlikely given the enduring American presence as a deterrent and the growth in size and sophistication of the South Korean armed forces. In any case, American troops have been shifted away from the front lines.
The proposed change would align policy in South Korea with that in Germany where, even during the cold war, troops were allowed to have spouses and children with them despite the shadow of Warsaw Pact artillery and Soviet nuclear weapons.
“I want to examine, with the leadership, our assignment policies over there,” General Bell said in an interview. “I am arguing for a slow but real movement toward more accompanied tours over there. It would result in a more enhanced quality of life.”
Only about 10 percent of the 28,500 troops deployed to South Korea are authorized to have families with them, and most of those are more senior-level officers. Many soldiers on the 12-month unaccompanied Korea tour of duty have only recently returned from 15-month combat tours in Iraq or Afghanistan, making the Korean deployment that much more difficult for them and their families.
General Bell told of speaking with a young captain, the father of a 2 ½-year-old girl, who arrived alone in South Korea just five months after returning from more than a year in Iraq. The captain had spent less than eight months with his child in her life.
“You know, we can do better than that,” General Bell said he told the captain.
General Bell disclosed that about 2,000 military families had set up independent living, at their own expense, in Seoul and surrounding areas in order to be near the bases where spouses were assigned. American military commanders in South Korea have quietly allowed those children into Defense Department schools and clinics.
In recent years, the American military has been relocating from bases near the demilitarized zone to new posts farther south, leaving South Korean troops to take over a majority of the responsibility along the front.
“As we move into these sanctuary bases — and they are sanctuaries — they are not up under the guns,” General Bell said.
The general acknowledged that the change in policy that he was advocating could be costly, because additional housing, schools and medical facilities would have to be built. But he said some of those expenses might be borne by the South Korean government.
The American military presence in South Korea has dropped by about 9,000 troops over the past five years, as two brigades previously based there have joined the rotation schedule for Iraq and Afghanistan.