Courtesy Photo | Command Sgt. Maj. Brien Hoo, Colorado Army National Guard and Special Operations...... read more read more
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During the most recent exercise Ulchi Freedom Shield 24—conducted between the Republic of Korea and United States governments from Aug. 19-29, 2024, across the Korean Peninsula in addition to remote stations off the peninsula—a small element from the Colorado Army National Guard played a pivotal role in the combined special operations training around responses to weapons of mass destruction that rounded out broader scenario events.
For the special operations component in Korea, the linkage to weapons of mass destruction aligns with the U.S. Special Operations Command special operations forces activity known as counter-WMD. The combatant command lists the C-WMD skills-based activity as one that supports U.S. Government efforts to curtail the conceptualization, development, possession, proliferation, use, and effects of WMDs, related expertise, materials, technologies, and means of delivery by state and non-state actors.
Simply, the special operations C-WMD mission spans all levels of competition and conflict, to include the various contingency scenarios that exercises like UFS play out.
Ulchi Freedom Shield 24, more than a conventional, large-scale combat operation scenario
Living on the Korean Peninsula, the common-place noise of nuclear and other threats related to weapons of mass destruction may slide into the background of an otherwise normal life. And, while the on again, off again saber rattling from North Korea to follow through with catastrophic scenarios designed to inflict pain and suffering on the millions of civilians in South Korea waxes and wanes, the need to remain militarily ready remains constant.
“The day we let our readiness slip is the day those threats from the North may slide into a scenario that dramatically deteriorates into a shooting war that no one wants,” said Brig. Gen. Derek N. Lipson, Special Operations Command Korea commander. “We want to be clear that we train to maintain a high state of readiness to form a viable integrated deterrence and defensive posture with our joint, interagency, intergovernmental, and multinational partners every chance we get.”
Typifying this priority of relationship building toward combined readiness, members of the COARNG traveled forward to Korea during UFS 24 and the 2024 springtime Freedom Shield exercise, building out a specialized fusion cell focused on C-WMD activities. During the exercise, the cell directly enabled SOCKOR, the Combined Special Operations Component Command, and other components under the Combined Forces Command in better understanding potential crisis scenarios involving WMDs, effectively responding to them, and enabling options that avoid or avert unbridled escalation of any situation.
“This is a complex WMD scenario that takes time, expertise, and the right people to offer our leaders viable options in a time of crisis,” said Lt. Col. Quinton German, COARNG and Special Operations Detachment-Korea commander.
The SOD-K personnel fulfill a vital C-WMD role for both U.S. based contingency, as well as maintaining an alignment with the Korea and Northeast Asia region.
“It’s our job to think through some of the worst scenarios involving some of the deadliest weapons that our adversaries may seek to employ as a way to cause harm by targeting large groups of people and offer options to our senior leaders,” said German. “We need to make sure that in what would be a highly emotional situation, we can think and act with level heads to ensure more lives aren’t lost due to lack of preparation.”
A Colorado Army National Guard relationship and investment years in the making
The history of SOD-K and the COARNG’s relationship with SOCKOR dates to the 2001 establishment of the SOD program and alignment with the USSOCOM theater special operations commands. Since that time, SOD-K personnel have made over two decades worth of investment in recruiting, training, and retaining special operations personnel who meet broader SOF requirements while specializing in the specific WMD environment on the Korean Peninsula.
“We talk a lot about the SOF Truths and how a small, specialized group of people can tip the scales,” said German. “But with that specialization that’s inherent in our unit comes the supporting need to invest time and resources in developing those necessary skillsets for specific scenarios.”
According to German, SOD-K has built out a unit that specializes in C-WMD information gathering, intelligence processing and dissemination, and providing, directing, or enabling response options across a range of competition and crisis situations.
More than just an augmenting staff to SOCKOR or CSOCC during UFS exercises, the investment in SOD-K understanding the region, culture, and mission set have helped focus the unit’s training and readiness for the better.
“While our response and training mission is aligned with SOCKOR, we still activate to serve in other theaters, areas of operations, or in the U.S. to support various requirements,” said German. “The heightened focus on SOCKOR’s mission allows us to mirror that in our readiness when we spin-up for other deployments and missions.”
During UFS 24 two personnel assigned to SOD-K were awarded the Korea Defense Service Medal. Recipients of the medal must meet one of the following requirements, be physically stationed and present in the Korean Area of Operations for 30 consecutive days to include flying operations, 60 nonconsecutive days to include flying operations, engaged in combat or armed engagement regardless of duration, or killed, wounded, or otherwise injured in the line of duty and requiring medical evacuation.
The SOD-K recipients all earned the KDSM due to spending more than 60 nonconsecutive days in Korea, triggering the eligibility requirement.
“This was just one more chance to demonstrate not only our unit’s commitment, but that of the individuals here at SOD-K to the Korea mission set,” said German.
According to German, SOD-K now has five total personnel with the unit who have earned the KDSM, emphasizing the retention of skilled personnel invested in the Korean area of operations.
SOF enabling the multidomain fight in denied and degraded environments
A growing benefit to the continued relationship and involvement in training between SOD-K, SOCKOR, and other elements on the Korean Peninsula is the ability to plan and execute missions across all domains.
During UFS 24, this often occurred through tabletop planning but also took form through cross-component discussions with various U.S. and ROK organizations.
“No matter who’s on the other side, we can’t expect them to go easy on us,” said Lipson. “We always hope the accepted international rules and norms in conflict are adhered to, but based on the rhetoric from North Korea’s leadership, we have to take a pragmatic approach in our readiness and prepare for the potential that they attempt to circumvent those norms through the use of WMDs.”
The SOCKOR commander charged the SOD-K leadership team to continue developing the network and relationships between SOF and conventional forces that could effectively conduct or enable C-WMD operations with this hope for the best, prepare to prevail during the worst mentality.
With this guidance in mind, SOD-K personnel focused on integrating capabilities across domains and components. German emphasized the unit’s ability to tap into to personnel in Colorado providing space-based expertise that helped add a sense of realism in working through the scenario and leveraging their standing relationship with the U.S. Army’s 20th Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosives (CBRNE) Command.
Like other units not permanently assigned to the Korean Peninsula and participate in the UFS and FS exercises, SOD-K continues to develop and maintain a heightened state of readiness that meets various needs.
The UFS and FS exercise programs underscores the enduring military partnership between the ROK and the U.S. and is implemented in the spirit of the Oct. 1, 1953, ROK-U.S. Mutual Defense Treaty and in support of the Armistice Agreement. It reinforces the role of the alliance as a cornerstone for regional peace and security, reaffirming the ironclad commitment between the U.S. and ROK to defend their homelands.
| Date Taken: | 09.12.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 09.11.2024 23:13 |
| Story ID: | 480649 |
| Location: | KR |
| Web Views: | 425 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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