Leave No Man Behind: Multiple Conflict Edition

The DoD has announce the identification of a Marine that's been missing in action since the Korean War

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a serviceman, missing in action from the Korean War, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Marine Pfc. Richard S. Gzik, of Toledo, Ohio, will be buried today, at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, DC. On Dec. 2, 1950, Gzik and the other Marines of M Battery, 11th Artillery Regiment, 1st Marine Division, came under attack on the west side of the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea. It was during this battle that Gzik was killed in action and his remains were buried alongside the road leading to Hagaru-ri. Later that month, the withdrawal of U.N. forces from the Chosin Reservoir region made it impossible to recover Gzik’s remains.
In 1954, United Nations and Communist Forces exchanged the remains of war dead in what came to be called “Operation Glory.” All remains recovered in Operation Glory were turned over to the Army Central Identification Unit for analysis. Those which were unable to be identified, given the technology of that time, were interred as unknowns at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii -- the “Punchbowl.”
In 2012, analysts from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) re-examined the case records and determined that advances in technology could likely aid in the identification of the unknown remains as Gzik. Once the remains were exhumed, scientists from JPAC used circumstantial evidence and forensic identification tools, including dental records and radiographs, to validate Gzik’s identification.
Using modern technology, identifications continue to be made from remains that were previously buried as unknown. Today, 7,947 Americans remain unaccounted for from the Korean War.

They've also recovered an Airman missing since WWII

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a serviceman, missing in action from World War II, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Samuel E. Lunday, of Marianna, Fla., will be buried today, at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, DC. On April 24, 1943, Lunday and four other U.S. servicemen were flying a C-87 Liberator Express aircraft over the Himalayan Mountains, from Yangkai, China, to their home base in Chabua, India. After losing radio communications following take-off, the crew was never heard from again. Eleven aerial search missions were unable to locate the aircraft or crew due to intense snows on the mountains at high altitudes, and dense jungle growth at lower altitudes.
As part of the war effort against the Japanese, U.S. Army Air Forces cargo planes based in India continually airlifted critical supplies over the high mountain ranges that comprise the Himalayas -- known as “The Hump” -- in support of American airbases in China. The amount of materiel flown over the Himalayas was a logistical achievement unparalleled at the time.
Almost 60 years later, in 2003, an American citizen discovered the wreckage of the C-87 aircraft while trekking in the mountains, approximately 100 miles from Chabua, near the Burmese border. He recovered the aircraft’s identification plate, military equipment and human remains. The artifacts and remains were turned over to U.S. officials for analysis. Attempts to excavate the site are being negotiated with the Indian government.
To determine the identity of the remains, scientists from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory used circumstantial evidence and mitochondrial DNA -- which matched that of Lunday’s nephews.
Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, more than 400,000 died. Today, more than 73,000 are unaccounted-for from the conflict.

By: Brant

US/SK to Norks: Back off!

How do you piss off the Norks? Plant their flag in the impact area of a live-fire exercise.

A huge North Korean flag disappeared behind a tower of flames and thick black smoke Friday as South Korean fighter jets and U.S. attack helicopters fired rockets in the allies' biggest joint live-fire drills since the Korean War.
The war games south of the heavily armed Korean border come amid rising animosity between the rival Koreas and are meant to mark Monday's 62nd anniversary of the start of the 1950-53 war, which ended in a truce, leaving the Korean Peninsula still technically at war.
Live-fire drills by the allies are fairly routine, but using the North's national flag as part of target practice is unusual -- and will be seen as a provocation by Pyongyang, which has previously threatened war for what it called South Korean insults to the country's national symbols and leadership.

It's not quite the Most Dangerous Range Ever, but that one didn't start a war.

By: Brant

US-JPN-SKOR Naval Exercises Announced

Defense.gov News Release: United States, Republic of Korea and Japanese Naval Exercises Announced

The United States, the Republic of Korea and Japan will conduct a two-day, trilateral naval exercise June 21 - 22 in the waters south of the Korean peninsula.

The exercise will focus on improving interoperability and communications with the ROK Navy and the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force, which can facilitate cooperative disaster relief and maritime security activities in the future. The three navies will conduct this exercise beyond the territorial waters of any coastal nation.

The United States will then conduct a routine carrier operation with the ROK Navy in the Yellow Sea immediately after the trilateral exercise June 23 - 25.

The George Washington Carrier Strike Group will make a port call in Busan, South Korea, after completing the two exercises.

Note that there's no mention of either China or the Norks.

By: Brant

How Do Norks Keep Getting Away With It?

They're almost Phineas-and-Ferb-like in their ability to attack their southern cousins and suffer no repercussions.

Restraint in the face of such provocation is unusual, in particular for the United States, which has not been shy about using military force when it or its allies are attacked. For example, Manuel Noriega’s military forces harassed Americans in Panama and killed a U.S. marine; the United States invaded and deposed Noriega. In 1986, Libya bombed a West Berlin disco frequented by U.S. servicemen; the U.S. military launched air strikes in Libya, killing Muammar al-Qaddafi’s daughter.

North Korea escapes such punishment thanks to a powerful deterrent. The first leg of Pyongyang’s strategic triad is its “madman” image: the idea that the country might react to retaliation by plunging the peninsula into general war. North Korean officials are not irrational, as so often depicted in the media. Rather, they are following in the tradition of U.S. President Richard Nixon, who spoke of feigning irrationality in order to intimidate his adversaries. Through its wild rhetoric and behavior at home and abroad, Pyongyang has told the world that in the international game of chicken, it will not swerve -- that it is so ready to fight that it will starve its people and devote a quarter of its economy to defense, hack up enemy soldiers with an axe, and even try to assassinate presidents. This reputation has helped convince CFC’s leaders that they cannot rely upon the normal rules of deterrence, that with such an opponent, tit-for-tat retaliation is too risky and too likely to lead to all-out war.

Make no mistake: no one thinks that North Korea would actually win that war. The country is dwarfed economically by South Korea, and the military balance long ago shifted against the North. In the late 1990s, military analysts concluded that CFC would prevail should a war ever be fought, and the ensuing two decades of famine and energy shortages have only weakened North Korea’s position. But even though Pyongyang would lose this war, no one wants to fight it, either. North Korea can still inflict terrible pain on South Korea (and possibly, with its ballistic missiles, on nearby Japan). The city of Seoul, home to more than ten million people, lies well within range of North Korean artillery. North Korea’s leaders know that a second Korean war would be an existential war -- that neither the regime nor they themselves would survive a defeat -- and so they would have an incentive to use every weapon in their arsenal, including weapons of mass destruction. Is North Korea so crazy that if CFC carried out an act of limited retaliation, the country would start a war that would end in its own certain destruction? No one wants to find out.

What do you think? Why does the West keep letting the Norks off the hook?

By: Brant

Missile Races Accelerating in Asia

Norks threaten war and South unveils their own cruise missiles.

South Korea announced Thursday it has deployed new cruise missiles capable of destroying targets such as missile and nuclear bases anywhere in the North.
"With such capabilities, our military will sternly and thoroughly punish reckless provocations by North Korea while maintaining our firm readiness," Major General Shin Won-Sik told reporters.

Sure would be nice to see the South shoot back once.

India is countering China's growing missile capability by testing their own nuclear-capable missile... that can range to China.

India announced the successful test launch Thursday of a new nuclear-capable missile that would give it the ability to strike the major Chinese cities of Beijing and Shanghai for the first time, a significant step forward in its aspirations to become a regional and world power.
The Agni-V missile, with a range of 5,000 kilometers (3,100 miles), still requires a battery of tests and must clear other bureaucratic hurdles before it can be inducted into India's arsenal in a few years. But officials hailed the launch as proof the country has taken its place among the world's most powerful and scientifically advanced nations.
"The nation stands tall today," Defense Minister A.K. Antony said, according to the Press Trust of India.
The test came just days after North Korea's failed rocket launch, but sparked none of the same global condemnation aimed at Pyongyang, an internationally isolated regime that has been banned by the U.N. from testing missile technology.
China is far ahead of India in the missile race, with intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of reaching anywhere in India. Currently, the longest-range Indian missile, the Agni-III, has a range of 3,500 kilometers (2,100 miles) and falls short of many major Chinese cities.

By: Brant

Norks Leaving Now Doubt About Twitishness

They're going to shell the South just because they're holding a drill?

North Korea warned South Korea on Sunday that it would shell islands close to their disputed sea border if the South violates its territorial waters during a military drill reported to begin in the Yellow Sea this week.
The official KCNA news agency also quoted the North's military as urging civilians living on five islands near the disputed area to evacuate before the start of the military exercises on Monday.
The North has repeatedly threatened armed retaliation against the South's military exercises but it is rare for Pyongyang to mention in advance about evacuation of civilians over such drills.
The North's military said that if the South "starts a reckless military provocation in those waters, trespassing on the DPRK's inviolable marine demarcation line,.... the KPA will promptly make merciless retaliatory strikes."

By: Brant

Anniversary: Norks Attack South, Unprovoked

Today marks the anniversary of the Norks shelling civilians on Yeonpyeong Island.

Solemn ceremonies have been held in South Korea marking one year since North Korea shelled a southern island, plunging the peninsula into crisis.

Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik said his country had worked hard to ensure that the North could never again engage in such "reckless provocations".

The South plans to hold military drills later near the maritime border.

Northern forces hit Yeonpyeong island with dozens of shells last year, killing two soldiers and two civilians.

It was the first artillery attack by the North on a civilian area since the end of the Korean War in 1953.

View Larger Map

By: Brant

Monday Video: South Korea's Killer Barbies

Starting your week off with a classical music BANG, and some ass-kicking lady commando-types



By: Brant

Norks to US/South: "Waaah"

If it's Tuesday, the Norks must be complaining about something again.

The US and South Korea have begun a joint military drill to improve combat readiness on the Korean peninsula.

The annual Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercise brings together 530,000 forces in Korea and abroad, using computer programmes to simulate war situations.

North Korea has reacted furiously to the exercises, which run for 10 days.

It called them "an undisguised military threat" and a "wanton challenge to peace" in the official Rodong Sinmum newspaper last week.

I'm curious how the Norks would've characterized their sinking of the Cheonan. Was it "an undisguised military threat" or a "wanton challenge to peace"? What say you?

By: Brant

Norks Lobbing Rounds Again; Southies Shoot Back!

Unlike the exchange fire last year when, y'know, people died, this time the South Koreans shot back .

North Korea test fired artillery shells into waters near a disputed border on Wednesday, provoking a South Korean volley of warning shots, raising tensions between the rivals as they inch toward disarmament talks.
South Korea issued a verbal warning after three shots landed near their tense maritime border at around 1 p.m., and then in a tit-for-tat, the South returned three artillery rounds toward the same area about an hour later.
The South's response came after the government was heavily criticized for failing to react with force last year when North Korea shelled one of its islands, Yeonpyeong, in the same area.

View Larger Map

By: Brant

Random Friday Wargaming: Redline Korea

Since they're back in the news, we thought we'd revisit the World's Most Heavily Armed Peninsula and bring you Redline Korea for this week's wargame.

Another Miranda creation, this one was also in GameFix magazine and can be tough to find.

Discuss it at the ConsimWorld Forum here.



For some other Korean wargamy-goodness, you can also check out:
Millennium Wars: Korea, also a Miranda design.
DMZ: The Next Korean War, a folio from Decision Games, updating the original ModQuad2 game DMZ: The Battle for South Korea, late 1970s


Master links/images from Boardgamegeek.com; message boards linked to Consimworld. Other links to the actual game pages...

By: Brant

Another Nork Hissy-Fit

Waaaaah! Waaaaaah! They put up a sign we don't like! Waaaaah!

North Korea's military vowed Wednesday to retaliate for anti-Pyongyang signs posted at front-line South Korean army units, as rare talks between the rivals on a stalled joint tourism project broke down.
North Korea also has been releasing water from a dam southward without prior notice since Monday night, Seoul officials said. A release on the same river caused a surge that killed six South Koreans in 2009.
The North's Korean People's Army issued its military warning via state media, promising "merciless military retaliatory measures" until South Korea apologizes and removes signs that it says "seriously hurt the dignity of the leadership" of North Korea.
The "hideous provocation" was "perpetrated only by hooligans who go wild like 'puppies knowing no fear of a tiger,'" an unidentified spokesman for the KPA's Supreme Command said.
Earlier Wednesday, an unidentified North Korean government spokesman warned of a "sacred war" against South Korea over the signs.

By: Brant

CINC-USFK Nominee Talks KJI

GEN Thurman gives his opinion on Kim Jong Il during his confirmation hearings.

North Korea’s Kim Jong Il will continue his “cycle of provocations” and will remain the most dangerous threat to North Asia, Army Gen. James Thurman said Tuesday in his confirmation hearing to be the next commanding general of U.S. troops in Korea.

The general also pledged to take up the recent request by key senators to reassess the 15-year-old Pacific realignment plan, which includes consolidating Korean bases.

“I fully expect to make that the number one priority,” said Thurman, who is commanding general of U.S. Forces Command in Fort McPherson, Ga.

Thurman, who is expected to be confirmed easily, faced few questions during a joint hearing before the Senate Armed Service Committee that gave far more attention to the other two witnesses: Lt. Gen. John Allen, the successor to Gen. David Petraeus, and Vice Adm. William McRaven, who led the raid that killed Osama bin Laden and will take over U.S. Special Operations Command.

But in written answers to the committee’s advance questions, Thurman identified four “major” challenges for Korea:

-- understand the intent behind Kim Jong Il’s “increasingly escalatory and dangerous” actions.
-- train and be ready to fight a war with North Korea.
-- sustain the alliance with Seoul.
-- transform the alliance to reflect regional changes and “fiscal constraints.”

I got to sit next to GEN Thurman back at NTC in 2000 when we were in an AAR together. I got a tickle in my throat that wouldn't stop and he handed me a big-ass glass of cold water to help me stop coughing, since I was against the wall and couldn't easily get out of the AAR. One of the best glasses of water I've ever had - NTC is pretty hot in July.

By: Brant

Anniversary: North Korea Invades South Korea

Today marks the anniversary of the start of the Korean War, arguably still the most successful UN operation in their history (and what does it say that it came about 5 years into the UN's 60+ year history).

It's a war that's never officially stopped, even though it's been kinda-sorta over for 55 years now. Of course, with the heavily-armed DMZ, and the Norks being bat-shit crazy, it's a favorite among wargame designers to build some hypotheticals around.

Here's a quick-list of the gaming goodness that exists for the actual war as fought in the '50s.

Korea: The Forgotten War
The Korean War
The Forgotten War: Korea
Korea: The Mobile War 1950-51
Hell Over Korea, 1950
The Korean War
Inchon, Turning The Tide of Korea
Yalu (2nd edition) (reimplements Yalu)

You want something really entertaining? Here's a clip of a dramatic radio broadcast being interrupted with the news that the North has declared war, from the day it happened.

By: Brant

CyberAttacks-A-Go-Go

This weekend featured a few cyberattacks around the world... connected or not?

The French government was apparently poked by China.

The French finance ministry has shut down 10,000 computers after a "spectacular" cyber attack from hackers using Internet addresses in China, officials and reports said on Monday.

And the South Koreans were hit by an international botnet.

South Korean police have isolated 30 overseas servers that were ordering more than 34,000 zombie computers to carry out DDoS attacks, Yonhap news agency said.
These servers have been traced to 18 countries and territories around the world, including the United States, Russia, Italy, Mexico, Israel and Hong Kong.

By: Brant

South Koreans Kick Pirate Ass

A South Korean commando team has stormed a ship to rescue the crew from pirates.

South Korean special forces stormed a hijacked freighter in the Arabian Sea on Friday, rescuing all 21 crew members and killing eight assailants in a rare and bold raid on Somali pirates.
The military operation in waters between Oman and Africa — that also captured five pirates and left one crew member wounded — came a week after the Somali attackers seized the South Korean freighter and held hostage eight South Koreans, two Indonesians and 11 citizens from Myanmar.
"We will not tolerate any behavior that threatens the lives and safety of our people in the future," South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said in a brief televised statement, adding that the rescue was a "perfect operation."
In photos of the operation, a small boat loaded with South Korean forces can be seen alongside the freighter. Some commandos already aboard the ship appear to be hauling others up. In other images, pockmarks from artillery fire blanket the ship's bridge.
The successful raid is a triumph for Lee, whose government suffered harsh criticism at home in the weeks following a North Korean attack in November on a South Korean island near disputed waters. Critics said Lee's military was too slow and weak in its response to the attack, which killed two marines and two civilians.

By: Brant

Japan May Strengthen Military Relationship With South Korea

China can't be too happy with the prospect of a possible military alliance between Japan and South Korea.

Responding to recent provocations by North Korea, Japan's defense minister soon will visit Seoul with several proposals aimed at strengthening military ties despite South Korea's lingering bitterness over Japan's colonial past, Japanese news media reported Tuesday.

During the trip next week, Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa will propose that the two Asian neighbors sign separate agreements to cooperate in supplying each other's armed forces during peacekeeping and other international operations, and to facilitate sharing of sensitive military information, the reports said. They also said he would propose Japan and South Korea increase military contacts by scheduling regular high-level meetings between defense officials.

[snip...]

According to Tuesday's news reports, one of Kitazawa's proposals would be for an agreement allowing forces to cooperate during international operations like peacekeeping and disaster-relief efforts, sharing food, water and fuel, and support services like transportation and medical care.

The news reports said it was unclear if the cooperation with South Korea would extend to military emergencies, like a larger confrontation on the Korean Peninsula. While some Japanese leaders have spoken of raising their nation's profile, Japan so far has said it would limit its military role during such a contingency to supporting the United States, its longtime protector.

Last month, South Korean observers attended joint U.S.-Japan military exercises for the first time. In an interview last month, Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara of Japan said he expected the two nations to slowly increase military ties in response to the North.

By: Shelldrake

GrogNews Daily Headlines

US to WikiLeaks: WTF! Yes, the WikiLeaks Task Force is now in effect, yo.

Good to that US intelligence is keeping an eye on developments in London (or not...)

The Norks are vowing a "sacred war" if they are provoked by the South. Uh, OK.

China wants to speed up the launch of their aircraft carrier.

Will the Russians ratify START before the US?

A nice story about a wedding dress going on display at the Airborne & Special Ops Museum in Fayetteville, NC. Yes, a wedding dress. Go read it. (h/t Guardian)

By: Brant

South Korea Plans Large-Scale Ground And Air Live-Fire Exercises

South Korea's military plans to stage large-scale live-fire exercises tomorrow almost within sight of the border with North Korea. Will the Norks respond or not? Place your bets folks.

An army spokesman said Thursday's drill would be held at Pocheon, 20km (12 miles) south of the border - about 50km from central Seoul.

Exercises have been held at Pocheon before, but this would be on an unprecedented scale, the spokesman said.

"The scale of mechanised assets taking place is enormous. When we would normally have 6 K-9 mechanised artillery, we'll have 36.

"We'll have the F-15 jets firing. We'll have choppers. You can say most of the mechanised assets taking part will be firing live ammunition," the spokesman said.

"We will retaliate thoroughly if the North commits another provocative act like the shelling of Yeonpyeong," First Armoured Battalion commander Choo Eun-sik told Yonhap news agency.

"Through this exercise [at Pocheon], we will demonstrate our solid military preparedness," he said.

The BBC's Kevin Kim in Seoul says this is the largest winter live-fire exercise ever conducted on land here.

Separately, a "routine" four-day naval firing exercise has begun off the east coast of South Korea, involving six warships and helicopters.

By: Shelldrake

GrogNews Daily Headlines

Apparently the Brits caved to "economic warfare" in fast-tracking the release of the Lockerbie bomber to Libya.

DADT
President Obama is planning to sign the repeal of DADT on Wednesday. The DoD has released statements from Secretary Robert Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, regarding the repeal of DADT.

Korea
The Southies are preparing for a possible Nork attack and the Chinese are pushing the Norks to accept nuclear inspectors. Bill Richardson somehow claims it's all some sort of progress.

Is the US pushing NATO for raids into Pakistan? NATO says "no" but c'mon...

The Senate seems more and more likely to pass START II.

Palestinians lob rockets. Israeli strikes back by air. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

By: Brant