3000 US Soldiers Currently Stationed in Korea,

[mourningdove92]

soon to ship to Iraq. This will increase many soldiers time overseas from the one year they were promised to two years.

No link, just heard it on CNN

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. Worst we are OUT of troops

we are moving troops from a potencial warzone to an active warzone

[RandomKoolzip]

2. Is it getting drafty in here, or what.....?

n/t

[PragMantisT]

3. I heard 4000 to be shipped to Iraq out of 30000 in SK.

Hell, send 'em all.

[CRK7376]

19. No thank you!

I spent 2002-03 in Afghanistan and now almost a year in Korea...no thanks...I'ld love to spend a year with my family for a change.

Korea is not the assignment of choice for many...Yes the new AIP program is a good incentive for some...extra $300 a month for an extra year in Korea...that means you will not likely go to Iraq/Afghanistan....but that may be changing for those 3000-4000 rotating from here to Iraq....

Back to Assignment of Choice...Military personnel are under a curfew in Korea...Sun-Thur you have to be in your barracks/quarters/work from midnight to 5am...Friday and Sat you are allowed to stay out until 1am....lots of off limits areas, everybody ranked E1-E-6 are not allowed to own a car in Korea with a few exceptions...The majority of us are here without our families...Which is really miserable...So Korea is not my assignment of choice! Not a bad place if you are single or your family is here with you...

Beautiful country, friendly people, plenty to do, but lonely with out family...Korea is a potential hotspot, lots of mean, nasty, hungry people to our North and the possibility for conflict to flare up is present.

So PragMantisT...I take offense to your suggestion that all the troops in Korea be sent to the war zone. Plenty of us here have already been there and most of us don't want a second trip back but for those of us who are professional military people, that possibility is very high...I just want a year at home with my family.....

[PragMantisT]

20. I'm with ya

I think Korea is an important place for us to be. I here it is a beautiful country, and all Koreans I have met have been kind and friendly. The point I was making is that this current administration will forsake everything and everyone to keep from having to back slowly out of Iraq. No madman, no torture, no genocide will ever amount to the pitiful amount of oil available in the hellhole of Iraq. Anyone who thinks that everyone in the military will not be required to sweat bullets in the desert is in for a big surprise. *, et al, will give up everything of everyone else to feel that adrenaline rush of power.

Didn't mean to ruffle your feathers, CRK, but the situation is getting pretty muddy, and there appears to be no end in sight. I hope you get to see your family soon and spend many happy years with them.

Keep the faith.

[CharlesGroce]

4. I have a friend in Korea...

makes a kick ass pizza, and I hope he doesn't get shipped to Iraq because of the political lethargy of people like you. He just wanted a career, to not be a pizza man forever, as being a pizza man kills your feet and ankles. Good luck Charlie.

[NMDemDist2]

5. "people like you" like who CG???

i doubt if many of us here on DU could be accused of "political lethargy"

[AndyTiedye]

6. What Political Lethargy? We Were Robbed

[SlavesandBulldozers]

7. why do you hope he doesnt get shipped to Iraq

I mean, maybe he can help find the WMD and help liberate people? It's a noble cause, Bush said so - and that's like Jesus saying so - if not better.

[BrotherBuzz]

8. Hey, maybe he's one of these guys....

and trusts everything the DOD says. Either way, you'll have to wait for your pizza.

Soldiers get incentive pay for
extending in Korea

SEOUL, Korea (Army News Service, March 15, 2004) -- The Army has a new incentive program to encourage Soldiersto extend their tours of duty in Korea for an additional year.

The program, titled the Assignment Incentive Pay, or AIP program, adds an additional $300 per month to paychecks if Soldiers in or enroute to Korea sign up for an additional 12-month tour there.

The AIP is a one-year program that is being offered to all Soldiers - officer, warrant officer, and enlisted -- to promote stability, predictability and improved readiness in Korea while reducing personnel turbulence Armywide, officials said.

ÒThis is an outstanding, unprecedented opportunity for our Soldiers to extend their tours in this great country so they may continue to strengthen the warfighting abilities of their units, and to further experience the cultural opportunities available to them that they might otherwise miss on a shorter, 12-month tour,Ó said Lt. Gen. Charles Campbell, commander of 8th U.S. Army. ÒYou only have to look at the benefits of this program to see how every Soldier and every unit can benefit.Ó
<more>

http://www4.army.mil/ocpa/read.php?story_id_key=5743

[teryang]

9. Lack of rotation encourages corruption

This is another blow to the integrity of our armed forces. This inability to rotate troops regularly leads to provincialism and causes good order and discipline to deteriorate.

[BrotherBuzz]

11. You're preaching to the choir!

;)

[teryang]

12. Alas, it's a situation

...I find myself in often at DU and never in my personal life.

[BrotherBuzz]

15. LOL...Ain't that the truth...

Although I think I'm making progress on the personal side. Heck, numbnuts Bush* is making my job a lot easier, of late.

[chenGOD]

10. Apparantly...

South Korea is very low on the list of requested assignments. So basically what this means is that the people who are here, are mostly the lower rank soldiers. Not many want to stay and this is the reason for the incentive.

And yes, it's 4000 troops, at least according to the Korea Herald.

http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/html_dir/2004/05/18/20040518002...

[BrotherBuzz]

13. It's not a desirable assignment

because, even fifty years after the cease fire, a lot of soldiers still live in crappy plywood huts without many amenities (remember, these facilities were supposed to be temporary). Imagine camping in the mud for one two years. It ain't no garden spot.

Not many higher ranking soldiers? Maybe it could be a paradise, afterall.

[chenGOD]

14. Well from what I've seen...

Yongsan is not like that at all. And most of the other bases here in South Korea seem to be pretty well developed. Of course I've only ever been on post once in Yongsan, and have only seen the other bases through AFKN TV. I'll ask the guy that I'm working with now (a former soldier, he got out a couple of years ago) if he can shed some light on what base conditions are like nowadays.

I believe it's not a desirbale assignment cause the majority of soldiers still think South Korea is like it was directly after the Korean War (too much M*A*S*H* on the TV), whereas in fact it is nothing like that at all.

[teryang]

18. I've seen Yongsan referred to as

...the best kept secret in the Armed Forces. It is an extremely desirable place to be stationed. I wouldn't mind being stationed in Osan or Suwon either. I also liked Pusan.

Tongduchan and Oijanbu are less appealing. I admit that the living situation for most of the troops is not that good. However living in a barracks anywhere isn't that good.

The culture is so different that most have trouble adapting but if you can make the effort to understand it and travel, it is an extraordinary and wonderful place. Korea has some downsides, dangerous traffic, unsafe water and sewage problem, terrible air pollution in Seoul area, but it is at the same time one of the most beautiful places in the world. Without doubt Seoul is one of the world's greatest cities.

[ConcernedCanuk]

16. A whole extra 10 bucks a day to join the carnage in Iraq . .

.
.
.

I hope those guys do the math . .

10 bucks a day

whoopdeefeckdeedoo!

oh

added bonus

all the depleted uranium they can breathe!

no charge . .

[Momof1]

17. Thanks, I have a friend in AF, that is over there.

I was getting worried. Thank you for the link.