CAMP CARROLL, South Korea -- Five Soldiers from the 39th Special Forces Detachment, 1st Special Forces Group, arrived here Aug. 13 at a 403rd Army Field Support Battalion warehouse to inspect and sign for prepositioned equipment as a loan in support of Exercise Ulchi Freedom Guardian 13.
The Korean-U.S. Combined Forces Command exercise began Aug. 19 and ended Aug. 30.
Servicemembers and civilians from South Korea and the United States took part in the exercise. Participants came from the Korean peninsula, the U.S., and elsewhere in the Pacific region. Seven United Nations Command sending states also participated in the exercise: Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, United Kingdom, New Zealand and Norway.
"This year's Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercise further strengthened our combined defense and enhanced the readiness of Republic of Korea, U.S. Forces and the U.N. sending states," said Gen. James D. Thurman, Combined Forces commander. "The exercise was based on realistic scenarios that enabled us to provide valuable training on our essential tasks and ensured we are fully prepared to defend the Republic of Korea."
Upon arrival the Soldiers received a safety and issue briefing from the battalion commander, Lt. Col. Gary Cregan, and its operations officer. Upon completion of the briefings, the Soldiers and battalion personnel conducted joint inspections and inventories of two power units, four distribution systems, two tool kits and two light sets.
After the inventory and inspections were completed, the 39th SFD personnel signed for the equipment from the APS-4 accountable officer in accordance with Army standards.
AFSBn-Northeast Asia Supply Division personnel uploaded the equipment onto commercial carriers which then departed for exercise areas to the north of Camp Carroll.
The battalion falls under the 403rd Army Field Support Brigade, Camp Henry, South Korea, which is one of seven brigades whose headquarters is the U.S. Army Sustainment Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Ill. ASC supports Army and joint forces in support of the combat commanders around the world.
The exercise, which was initiated in 1976 and is conducted annually, is the world's largest computerized command and control implementation which helps ensure stability and security on the peninsula, and reaffirms the U.S. commitment to the Northeast Asia region.
This year's training event involved computer simulations hosted at various sites across South Korea and the U.S. It allows senior leaders to exercise their decision-making capabilities and trains commanders from both nations in combined planning, military intelligence, logistics, and command and control operations.
(Information for this article was compiled from Gary Marquez, deputy to the commander, Army Field Support Battalion-Northeast Asia, and, U.N. Command/Combined Forces Command/U.S. Forces Korea public affairs office releases.)
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