Content area
Full Text
The special relationship forged in war between the soldiers of Eighth Army and the Korean people of the Korean Service Corps remains as strong today as it was nearly 48 years ago. Although the forklift has replaced the A frame, U.S. commanders still visualize the Korean Service Corps as a means to maximize their forward fighting strength. Through the prudent use of these unarmed, paramilitary civilians to augment many CS and CSS [combat support and combat service support/ functions, soldiers can be leveraged to perform critical combat tasks leaving the more laborious tasks to the members of the Korean Service Corps.
Today's members of the Korean Service Corps are three-dimensional. They hold down a normal 40hour a week job, are engaged in CS and CSS battle task training with their U.S. wartime affiliate headquarters, and simultaneously prepare themselves for cadre leadership positions in the Korean Service Corps' mobilization companies. The immediate employment of Korean Service Corps members in these CS and CSS battle tasks is absolutely essential in the first days of hostilities before the arrival of reinforcing units. The Korean Service Corps is truly Eighth Army's only on-peninsula CS and CSS reinforcement.
During hostilities, the Korean Service Corps expands tenfold with the armistice members taking key leadership positions within the mobilization companies. This infusion of Korean manpower to haul ammunition and fuel, operate forklifts within supply points, drive ambulances to evacuate the wounded, and operate construction equipment to maintain roads and bridges or build fortifications is as necessary today as it was in 1950, when General Walker found himself short of soldiers on the Pusan Perimeter The expansion of the Korean Serv-ice Corps gives Eighth Army a much-needed CS and CSS boost during the most critical days.
The Korean Service Corps is a unique organization; no other organization of similar design exists in the U.S. Army today. Eighth Army is fortunate to have such a dedicated group ready to perform their wartime mission with the same level of service as their predecessors of the Korean War. The Korean Service Corps has been, for almost five decades, a full member of the Eighth Army team. This will continue well into the 21st century.
-Lieutenant General Randolph YK House Commanding General Eighth...