Brig. Gen. Charles A. Anderson, left, 2nd ID assistant division commander, briefs U.S. and South Korean media on changes to the Warrior Readiness Center with the help of a translator. (Seth Robson / S&S)
Brig. Gen. Charles A. Anderson, left, 2nd ID assistant division commander, briefs U.S. and South Korean media on changes to the Warrior Readiness Center with the help of a translator. (Seth Robson / S&S)
Newly arrived 2nd ID soldiers prepare to sample Korean food at the Dan Goon restaurant in Uijongbu. (Seth Robson / S&S)
CAMP MOBILE, South Korea — Dozens of newly arrived 2nd Infantry Division soldiers in South Korea are experiencing the recently upgraded Warrior Readiness Center at Camp Mobile.
The division recently announced that its newcomers’ orientation now will include more on Korean culture and an extra two days of briefings at the facility, formerly known as the Warrior Replacement Center. Last week, for example, dozens of new 2nd ID soldiers ended their five-day orientation with a tour of northern Gyeonggi Province, where 2nd ID is based. Starting at Camp Mobile, it included lunch at a South Korean restaurant, shopping at the Home Plus department store in Uijongbu and visits to the Gyeonggi provincial government’s northern headquarters and the Odusa Unification Observatory near the Demilitarized Zone.
Brig. Gen. Charles A. Anderson, 2nd ID assistant division commander who spearheaded the changes, said the program was extended from three days to five to “bring in the cultural piece. In the history of warfare, the more culturally aware your soldiers are, the better soldiers they will be.”
Pfc. Ian McCord, 24 of Tempe, Ariz., was heading to the 102nd Military Intelligence Battalion at Camp Essayons after serving at Camp Humphries in South Korea from 2002 to 2003.
“They [were] a lot stricter this time and they give us a lot more information. At Camp Humphries, we didn’t get a cultural awareness class,” he said, surrounded by other newly arrived soldiers sampling South Korean food at the Dan Goon restaurant in Uijongbu. McCord said he knew a little about Korean language and culture from his previous tour but that his newly arrived buddies didn’t.
The revamped newcomers’ orientation speeded up in-processing, he said: “There is no confusion and it is a lot more organized. Before it took 15 days to in-process at your unit.”
Sgt. 1st Class Robert Brillant, 33, of Quincy, Mass., was headed to the 2nd Engineers Battalion at Camp Castle after arriving in South Korea for the first time last week.
“The only thing I knew about South Korea was that it was a shopping center and I was interested in doing some traveling while I was here,” he said.
The opportunities to shop and travel were absent from his last duty station in Samarra, Iraq, where soldiers had no access to shops or restaurants. A highlight of his time there, he said, was when ice finally was delivered to his unit’s forward operating base.
Capt. Jeremy Wedlake, 28, of Turlock, Calif., was headed to 1st Battalion, 15th Field Artillery Regiment after a 2000-01 tour at Camp Carroll with the 23rd Chemical Battalion.
“The in-processing really focused on the Korean culture and history,” Wedlake said. “Last time we didn’t get any of that. We just had a day at Yongsan and then they shipped me off to my unit. I have got more in the last week of Korean history and culture than in a year stationed with [Korean Augmentees to the U.S. Army].”
The extra training would better prepare soldiers for their work, he added.
“How can you expect to work alongside and fight with someone if you don’t understand where they are coming from and how they interact?”
Photos by Seth Robson/Stars and Stripes
Above: Brig. Gen. Charles A. Anderson, left, 2nd ID assistant division commander, briefs U.S. and South Korean media on changes to the Warrior Readiness Center with the help of a translator. Below: Newly arrived 2nd ID soldiers prepare to sample Korean food at the Dan Goon restaurant in Uijongbu.
