Army Col. Michael J. Taliento Jr., right, talks with an official Wednesday at a construction site on Camp Humphreys. (Franklin Fisher / S&S)
Army Col. Michael J. Taliento Jr., right, talks with an official Wednesday at a construction site on Camp Humphreys. (Franklin Fisher / S&S)
Workers install fiber optic cable last Wednesday at Camp Humphreys. The U.S. military plans to expand the base into a major troop hub for U.S. forces in South Korea, and numerous projects are under way or planned to upgrade the base’s infrastructure. (Franklin Fisher / S&S)
CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea — The U.S. Army’s commander in the central Korea region said Wednesday one of his top priorities will be keeping the Korean public outside Camp Humphreys updated on planned changes in the base’s size and population.
Col. Michael J. Taliento Jr., commander of the Area III Support Activity, said he’s working closely with the senior U.S. military leadership at U.S. Forces Korea in Seoul to ensure the Korean public is kept informed on the changes.
Under an agreement between the United States and South Korea, the U.S. military plans to greatly expand Camp Humphreys’ boundaries and transform the base into a major troop hub in the coming years. The expansion is part of a broader USFK plan to gradually reposition its forces to locations south of Seoul.
Camp Humphreys is a 1,250-acre helicopter base in the Anjung-ni section of Pyongtaek, 45 miles south of Seoul. The Army currently has numerous construction and renovation projects under way as part of the expansion, and still more infrastructure projects are scheduled.
“This is a theater plan,” Taliento said in an interview with Stars and Stripes. “This isn’t an Area III plan. This is clearly a theater transformation … being done at the theater level.”
The Area III Support Activity is responsible for daily management and upkeep of several area U.S. military installations — Camp Humphreys, Camp Long, Camp Eagle and a U.S. Army element at Suwon Air Base, a Republic of Korea air force installation.
As Area III commander, Taliento will assist USFK partly by forging close relationships with Korean officials, civic leaders, clergy and other members of the Korean public, he said.
The aim, he said, is “to sensitize, inform, educate the community at large about the changes that are occurring and that will occur at Camp Humphreys and Area III.”
Future growth of the installation’s size and population will affect the area outside the base in various ways, he said.
The bigger population — including Defense Department civilians and civilian contractors working with the military — is expected to spawn a commercial boom for construction firms, developers and the real estate industry, as well as boost revenues for the area retail community, Taliento said.
The expansion also will impact municipal services and public works in the outlying community, bringing changes in traffic volume, parking requirements and other areas of daily community life.
Indeed, part of the Camp Humphreys expansion plan calls for construction of an additional highway spur, he said.
“The community will be involved in addressing those issues,” Taliento said.
The Army recently hosted community-relations functions with South Korean officials who are working with the U.S. military on its relocation efforts, Taliento said. Among those officials were representatives of the national government, Kyonggi Province and the Pyongtaek region.
“My goal will be to continue to personalize the relationship that is there,” Taliento said. “I’ll continue to do that.”
Last week, Taliento met with nine Korean clergymen, the local mayor and the chief of the local Korean National Police branch, he said.
His meeting with clergy was “to help them understand the impact on their congregations” of the eventual increase in the Camp Humphreys population, especially its Defense Department civilians and civilian contractors working with the military.
While religious services are held on post, many of those civilians — especially those with Korean spouses — may seek places of worship off-post, he said.
“The spiritual side, I think, is as important as any of the other areas,” Taliento said.
In addition, he said, he plans to “maintain a very active relationship” with the local commercial community, including local merchants and tourism associations.
Taliento assumed command of Area III last June. He holds Army qualifications in air assault and as a parachutist and senior aviator. His past assignments have included command of the 4th Battalion, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne), and the 3rd Battalion (Airborne), 1st Special Warfare Training Group. He also was a battalion operations officer in Panama and the Gulf War.
