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U.S. Air Force pilots in Korea have started training abroad because they lack a bomber training range here, in what pundits fear will have repercussions for the entire U.S. Forces Korea.
U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld warned at the bilateral Security Consultative Meeting last year that pilots¡¯ skills and morale could suffer because of the lack of training facilities, and the entire U.S. air presence would be forced to relocate off the peninsula if Korea did not provide an alternative to a closed-down range. On July 13 U.S. Forces Korea commander Gen. Burwell Bell repeated the warning. In the recent ninth round of Security Policy Initiative meetings, the U.S. again vented its dissatisfaction with the situation.
Government officials do not deny that the issue is critical. But they say it requires agreement from local governments in the area where an ear-splittingly noisy bomber range is to be located. One candidate location for a new range is on Jikdo Island in North Jeolla Province, off the coast of Kunsan, but the U.S. has doubts whether Korea is serious, according to a U.S. source. Washington is not saying what exactly will happen if the problem continues, but there have been warnings of "serious consequences."
Korean military sources express concern that if the problem is not soon resolved, the U.S. Air Force could disappear from the country.
"People in the U.S. military are taking this issue extremely seriously," a high-ranking official said. "Even if local governments are opposed, the central government needs to take broad action." Military experts are concerned that there will be holes in military strength if the U.S. air power relocates. The Seventh Air Force here consists of about 10,000 troops and one fighter squadron of block-30 F-16C/D fighters, two squadrons (about 70) of Block-40 aircraft and one squadron (around 20) of A/OA-10 Thunderbolt IIs for ground attack and battlefront control.
A diplomatic source in Seoul said the fact that according to military affairs expert Richard Halloran the U.S. is examining a complete withdrawal of U.S. forces after 2008 ¡°is not to be taken lightly.¡± If things continue to deteriorate, this would surely strengthen calls for a withdrawal, the source added.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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