US Army sends more Soldiers, gear, armour, to South Korea (January 2014)

[CougarKing]

To think there was a drawdown in the number of troops from the US 2nd ID a few years ago to provide more troops for OEF and OIF:

Defense News blog

US Army Sends More Soldiers, Gear to South Korea

Paul McLeary

In February, the US Army will deploy 800 soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment out of Fort Hood, Tx. to South Korea on a nine-month deployment as part of a broader plan to rotate forces in and out of critical areas across the globe, the service announced on Jan. 7.

As it stands now, the 19,000 soldiers (part of about 28,000 US troops in South Korea) rotate into the Army’s 2nd Infantry Division on an individual basis, making train up times for new arrivals an ongoing process that the service says erodes overall readiness.

The idea here, now that the majority of the Army’s brigades are no longer tied up in Iraq and Afghanistan—or preparing to go or resetting after coming back—is to ensure that the units in Korea are trained and equipped to operate as a group.

And it’s also a way to save a little bit of money.

The 1/12, just like the 4th Squadron, 6th Cavalry Regiment which deployed to South Korea in October, will deploy with all of their equipment but leave it behind when they rotate home for the next unit to fall in on. This will cut down on the costs of future rotations, while also increasing the permanent hardware that the Army has available on the peninsula at any given time

The 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, which deployed to Kuwait last year, is following a similar script in the CENTOM area of operations.

Sending in the new unit to Korea will add two companies of M1A2 Abrams tanks and two companies of M2A3 Bradley fighting vehicles to the peninsula, or about 40 tank and 40 up armored infantry carriers overall.

(...)

 

[tomahawk6]

A whole battalion ? Kim is quaking in his sandals.

 

[Journeyman]

A whole battalion ? Kim is quaking in his sandals.

A battalion and Dennis Rodman.  :nod:

 

[little jim]

Seem to make sense.  We know that the US Army is increasing to three manouvre battalions in it's brigade and this in essence provides that now for the single brigade in Korea.  Rotating units for nine months as formations would also have some QOL as a lot of the individuals posted there are on one year unaccompanied.  It will be curious to see how the army views this for now; initial take might mean it is a good thing - if your battalion is going to Korea for a nine-month deployment that means you have a real mission which would mean you get money to train and also an CTC rotation.  Downside would be the equipment becoming TPE.

Nine months in Korea might be better than nine months in Hood....

 

[Journeyman]

Nine months in Korea might be better than nine months in Hood....

Ask the Killeen divorce lawyers in nine months. 

 

[vonGarvin]

A battalion and Dennis Rodman.  :nod:

He was on a mission....

 

[a_majoor]

This is part of the "Pivot" (to use Administration terminology) or "Rebalancing" (to use DoD terminology) of US forces and interests world-wide. Perhaps more to the point, it is a bit of housekeeping to bring things back to where they were before OIF and Afghanistan pulled large numbers of US combat troops into the fray.

And while the number may not sound impressive, a US Battalion is a pretty potent fighting force compared to similar sized units from almost any other military (especially once linked up to their enablers).