Bell: Extend South Korea tours

U.S. Forces Korea commander Gen. B.B. Bell talks with Daegu American JROTC students on Thursday during a visit to Camp Walker and Camp Henry.


Bell: Extend South Korea tours
By Ashley Rowland, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Sunday, January 20, 2008

DAEGU, South Korea — U.S. Forces Korea commander Gen. B.B. Bell said Thursday that a policy requiring most U.S. troops in South Korea to serve one-year tours without their families is an “outdated relic of the Cold War” that should have been changed years ago.

Instead, troops should serve in South Korea for three years with their families, he said.

“This is not a combat zone over here. This is a modern, first-world country,” Bell said at the end of a daylong visit to Camp Walker and Camp Henry. “It is unacceptable in the U.S. military today to have this kind of policy in place and in any way condone it.”

Approximately 27,600 U.S. servicemembers are stationed in South Korea. The U.S. military is reducing the number of troops stationed on the peninsula, but USFK previously allowed roughly 2,900 of 28,000 servicemembers to bring their families to South Korea. USFK is doubling the number of accompanied billets, while aiming toward an end strength of about 25,000 troops.

Bell said he has formally recommended that the Department of Defense extend tour lengths in South Korea, but he has gotten mixed reactions from the DOD and members of Congress, with some saying it’s time to extend tour lengths and some saying the idea is “dumb.”


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=51760