PYONGTAEK, South Korea — The top U.S. military command in South Korea is moving a one-star general to Camp Humphreys to help clear the way for the eventual shift of U.S. forces to the base, officials said Wednesday.
Brig. Gen. Steven M. Anderson will hold the title of deputy commanding general, USFK (Advance Element). USFK stands for U.S. Forces Korea, the senior U.S. military command on the Korean peninsula.
Anderson will continue to hold several other senior positions in South Korea: USFK logistics chief, deputy logistics chief for Combined Forces Command, and deputy commanding general for support for 8th U.S. Army.
Accordingly, he’ll keep an office at Yongsan Garrison in Seoul. But his main residence, along with a support staff, will be at Camp Humphreys, USFK said. He starts work there next week.
Part of Anderson’s new role will be to serve as USFK’s liaison with the Korean community, including local officials, in the Camp Humphreys area. Camp Humphreys is a 1,250-acre helicopter base in Pyongtaek, in west-central South Korea.
Plans call for transforming the base over a period of years into the U.S. military’s largest installation in South Korea. USFK and other units and organizations based in Seoul are slated to relocate to Camp Humphreys by 2008. Combat units also will be stationed at Camp Humphreys eventually, USFK officials have said.
The relocation and the enlargement of the base’s boundaries are scheduled under U.S.-South Korea agreements.
Anderson’s duties will include supervising the work of helping newly relocated units establish themselves at Camp Humphreys.
And he’s to build on “Good Neighbor” programs the U.S. military already has set up at Camp Humphreys. USFK launched the Good Neighbor Program in 2003, mandating that U.S. military units in South Korea take robust steps to foster good relations between the U.S. military and the Korean public.
“I consider it a great honor and a unique privilege to have been selected to represent the command in the Pyongtaek community at this important time,” Anderson was quoted as saying in a USFK news release issued Wednesday. “I look forward to working with Kyonggi Province and Pyongtaek City government officials, community leaders and citizens.”
