Frontline: Fighting for Bin Laden

[houndawg]

Interesting...in my time there I NEVER got that impression...from anyone inside the US military command or the many ROK military personnel I dealt with.

I was a nuclear target analyst and liaison to TROKA. Spent a lot of time in that underground bunker at Yong-in with the TROKA brass. I saw a lot of their offensive op plans. Most of them weren't contingent on an attack from the North.

A lot of the old-timers, both Korean and American remembered when Carter tried to withdraw US forces from Korea in '77. As soon as they started loading up on boats and planes, the ROKs started mobilization. When Carter realized what was happening, he canceled the withdrawal.

I was stationed in Alaska with the 222nd Aviation Bn at that time and I recall that they actually pulled a brigade or so out of Korea and rumor control was in full swing at Ft. Wainwright - we were to be deployed, war was certain because we showed weakness by withdrawing troops, no, the North Koreans were starving and couldn't attack if they wanted to, no they have already tunneled under Seoul and would come boiling up out of the ground, no, they didn't have enough artillery rounds to last a week...etc., but I don't recall hearing the rumor that the ROKs were going to roll North if we if we left.