Asia Pacific Defense Forum Summer 2002

Here, a ROK Army officer briefs U.S. Army officers on convoy procedures during a chokepoint exercise.

Exercise RSOI – Reception, Staging, Onward Movement and Integration – tests capabilities to effectively receive, deploy and integrate U.S. augmentation forces from outside Korea, if and when needed to defend the ROK. Here, a ROK Army officer briefs U.S. Army officers on convoy procedures during a chokepoint exercise.
Photo by SSgt. Vincent A. King, USA

A U.S. Army M1A1 tank commander awaits an "enemy" attack during exercise RSOI/FOAL EAGLE 2002.
Photo by JO2 Stacy Young, USN

ROK Army Special Forces troops prepare to fly for a night insertion drop during exercise defense maneuvers.
Photo by JO2 Stacy Young, USN

RSOI/FOAL EAGLE 2002 also "reduced the burden on the U.S. Transportation Command [to transport troops and equipment to Korea], allowing not only continued support to the Global War on Terrorism but also other exercises and activities in the U.S. Pacific Command area of operations and throughout the world," said Lt. Cmdr Lee Johnson, a Northeast Asia Exercise Planner for HQ U.S. Pacific Command.

Battalion units benefited as well. Usually during a field training exercise, units send their reports and data to their brigade or division level where it stops. RSOI/FOAL EAGLE 2002 allowed the lower levels of command "to forward the information they were gathering and analyze information being pushed down to them," said Maj. Farmer.

In the field, RSOI/FOAL EAGLE 2002 involved several different activities: U.S. Army prepositioned war stocks (APS-4), time-phased force deployment data, air base ground defense, choke point training, combined amphibious assault, and theater missile defense operations. The following highlights these activities.

APS-4

U.S. Army Prepositioned Stocks, known as APS-4 in Korea, contain equipment and supplies needed for two armored battalions and one mechanized infantry battalion. Stored in unit sets, the equipment and supplies reduce force deployment time. This involves, for example, airlifting personnel from a U.S. Army heavy brigade and its support elements into Korea from bases outside the ROK to link-up with the brigade’s equipment and supplies at a prepositioned land site.