Joint Training Commanded by a Korean Army General

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] A Korean general, who is the deputy commander of the ROK-US Combined Forces Command, is commanding the combined exercise "Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS)." It is the first time a Korean general has commanded UFS, as the exercise period includes an evaluation of the Future Combined Forces Command's Full Operational Capability (FOC) according to the "Conditions-Based Wartime Operational Control Transfer Plan."

According to the US Forces Korea on the 24th, this UFS will be conducted with a role swap between Combined Forces Command Commander Paul J. LaCamera and Deputy Commander An Byung-seok. The defense ministers of both countries agreed last year that the Korean deputy commander of the Combined Forces Command would take on the commander role to conduct the FOC evaluation of the Future Combined Forces Command.

The FOC evaluation corresponds to the intermediate stage among the three-step assessments?Initial Operational Capability (IOC), FOC, and Full Mission Capability (FMC)?which assess the Future Combined Forces Command’s theater-wide operational execution ability under the command of a four-star Korean general. Out of 73 Combined Mission Essential Task List (CMETL) items, 49 will be evaluated, with a joint ROK-US evaluation team of about 60 members deriving the results together.

Commander LaCamera stated, "Ulchi Freedom Shield 22-2 is an opportunity to swap command duties between General An Byung-seok and myself based on the Future Combined Forces Command structure as presented by the defense ministers of both countries last year," emphasizing, "It is significant as the deputy commander is commanding the exercise for the first time as the future command’s commander," according to materials distributed by US Forces Korea last night.

Meanwhile, this UFS consists of two parts: Part 1 transitions to wartime posture to practice repelling North Korean attacks and defending the Seoul metropolitan area, and Part 2 focuses on rehearsing counterattacks and counteroffensive operations to secure metropolitan safety. Since 2019, the government exercise (Ulchi), which had been conducted separately focusing on non-military crises such as disasters, has been integrated with the Part 1 military exercise and will be conducted over four days and three nights. Prior to the main exercise, ROK and US forces conducted a four-day Crisis Management Exercise starting on the 16th.

To enhance realism, this UFS incorporates new warfare aspects revealed in the Ukraine conflict, such as drones and cyber warfare, applying practical wartime scenarios. Assuming enemy attacks on key industrial facilities like ports, airports, and semiconductor factories, as well as national critical infrastructure, protection drills and damage recovery exercises involving civilian, government, military, and police participants are conducted simultaneously.

In Part 2, alongside counterattacks to secure metropolitan safety, counteroffensive operations are trained. The Ministry of National Defense explained that the exercise will not be limited to command post exercises (CPX) based on computer simulations but will include various tactical-level, realistic combined field training exercises (FTX) by units and functions.

A total of 13 exercises will be conducted, including Combined Scientific Combat Training (brigade-level), Combined Weapons of Mass Destruction Elimination Training (battalion-level), and Combined Special Warfare Exchange Training (small-scale). This marks a partial revival of combined maneuver exercises at the regiment level or higher, which had been suspended since 2018.

Considering the resurgence of COVID-19, both sides will comply with quarantine guidelines such as ▲ PCR testing before exercise participation ▲ self-testing two to three times a week ▲ mask-wearing ▲ social distancing during the exercise.

The name of the theater-level defensive exercise has changed over time: from Ulchi Focus Lens (UFL) between 1976 and 2007, to Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG) from 2008 to 2018, and then to Combined Command Post Training (CCPT) from 2019 to 2021.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.