Photo By Pvt. Jacob Frizzell | Lt. Gen. Christopher C. LaNeve, 8th U.S. Army Commander, Col. Jeremiah Willis, U.S....... read more read more
CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea – U.S. Army Garrison Humphreys, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Far East District and the Eighth U.S. Army along with service members and their families cut the ribbon on a new Army Family Housing complex here, Sept. 13.
The ceremony also included dedication of the three new towers to three Medal of Honor recipients from the Korean War.
“As we dedicate these towers today, let us remember that the strength of our Army lies not only in our weapons and technology but in the spirit and resilience of our Soldiers,” said Lt. Gen. Christopher C. LaNeve, Eighth U.S. Army commanding general. “The stories of Kyle, Keeble, and Vera remind us that courage, dedication, and sacrifice are the foundations of our strength.”
The buildings are named after 2nd Lt. Darwin K. Kyle of Jenkins, Kentucky, Master Sgt. Woodrow Wilson Keeble of the Sisseton Wahpeton Sioux Tribe, and Pvt. Miguel Armando Vera-Rodriguez from Puerto Rico.
All three were posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for their heroic actions in the Korean War – Kyle in 1952, while Keeble and Vera-Rodriguez would be awarded later in 2008 and 2014, respectively.
LaNeve said that with the building dedication these Soldiers are now part of the fabric of the community.
The three new towers – containing three-, four-, and five-bedroom family-housing units – provide 72 housing units each and will be home for 216 families who are at stationed at Camp Humphreys.
“These are where our service members will raise their families, create memories, and build a supportive community,” said Col. Ryan K. Workman, USAG Humphreys garrison commander.
The three-tower complex contains multi-age playgrounds, recreational areas for families, an underground parking garage, and are located near the installation’s schools, hospital, Collier Fitness Center, the commissary and the Exchange. Complementing the exterior are pavilions, grills, picnic tables and a basketball court.
To accommodate families with disabilities, the units on the first floor are Americans with Disabilities Act accessible or adaptable.
The three towers were contracted to Yojin Construction and Engineering Co., Ltd., by the USACE Far East District and broke ground in 2019. The total project cost was approximately $141 million.
As a bonus, the towers are environmentally responsible and designed to be energy efficient, achieving a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) gold rating under the U.S. Green Building Council’s rating system, exceeding the DOD standard of silver.
The new towers also complete 15 years of construction of family housing on Camp Humphreys.
“These three towers were part of a vision that began over a decade ago for the transformation of Camp Humphreys,” said Col. Jeremiah Willis, commander and district engineer of the USACE Far East District.
Camp Humphreys was selected to be an enduring installation under the Yongsan Relocation Plan and the Land Partnership Plan. Since 2007, construction has been constant on the installation with one of the first vertical-construction groundbreakings being for Army Family Housing in 2009.
“Getting to today has been no small feat. Across the four contracts, over 8-million-man hours have been put into just the construction of the 12 towers. This is truly amazing as the project teams ensured a perfect safety record,” said Willis.
Yi Yun-hak is the Army Family Housing deputy resident engineer and has worked on every new tower project since the first groundbreaking in 2009. Since then, he said all 12 towers have never had a lost-time safety incident across the man hours put into the construction.
“Safety is at the cornerstone of what we do,” said Yi. “We want to make sure we not only deliver quality facilities for the Soldiers and their families, but also make sure everyone who makes it happen gets to go home to their families at the end of the day.”
Willis also added that the 12 towers represented nearly a half-billion-dollar investment in the quality of life for service members and their families.
Don Bizek, facilities housing manager for USAG Humphreys, said the opening of the three new towers gives the installation a total of 1,000 family housing units – excluding general officer and senior brigade-level leader quarters – across 12 towers on the new land, opened between 2013 and 2024, and three older towers in Sentry Village, which opened 2003-2007.
U.S. Army Garrison Humphreys is the “Army’s Home in Korea” and is located along the western coast of South Korea within the seaport city of Pyeongtaek, approximately 40 miles south of Seoul. Camp Humphreys is the headquarters for the 8th U.S. Army, the 2nd Infantry Division, the Army’s most active airfield in the Pacific, and the hub of U.S. Forces Korea.
| Date Taken: | 09.13.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 09.17.2024 19:21 |
| Story ID: | 480930 |
| Location: | CAMP HUMPHREYS, GYEONGGIDO [KYONGGI-DO], KR |
| Web Views: | 33 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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