Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Bryant Maude | Pvt. Mathew Van Schmidt, United Nations Command Security Battalion Military Police...... read more read more
SOUTH KOREA - A group of West Point cadets and their sponsors from the 501st Sustainment Brigade, 19th Expeditionary Sustainment Command trekked north to the Demilitarized Zone as part of their Cadet Troop Leader Training, June 16.
The outing was organized by Capt. Rich Rogers, who is assigned as the unit’s S-3 training manager to open the cadets’ eyes to the reality of the Korean peninsula.
“The goal is to ensure that each cadet understands the armistice and how the Republic of Korea operates under these conditions,” Rogers said. “When you see the Republic of Korea soldiers staring down the North Korean soldiers 24 hours a day, you get a little insight as to what the ROK goes through each and every day.”
The tour originated at Camp Carroll and stopped to pick up passengers at Camp Humphreys and Yongsan before arriving at Camp Bonneville.
The group was met by Pvt. Mathew Van Schmidt, United Nations Command Security Battalion Joint Security Area military police, who acted as tour guide.
After a short briefing and outline of the base rules of conduct, the group loaded up in a bus and made the short trip to the DMZ’s most popular attraction – “Conference Row.”
“Everybody wants to come up here and see the North Koreans,” Van Schmidt said. “The site that people see the most is Conference Row, because whenever it’s advertised they always have the three blue buildings in the front with all the North Korean Guards standing out front. It’s something new and exciting to them.”
“The thing that impressed me the most, was the area we were at had just a line across the ground creating the border between South and North Korea,” said Jacob Ray Taylor Shevitz, a West Point cadet from Franklin, Pa. “You have the soldiers on one side starring down the soldiers on the other side, and you can see in their posture how intense everything is between them.”
In the Armistice Agreement of July 27, 1953, the DMZ was created as each side agreed to move their troops back 2,000 meters from the front line, creating a buffer zone. It is on this line where the famous blue conference buildings stand and act as meeting points for delegates of the North and South Korean governments.
“What struck me most about the DMZ is how tense it is at Conference Row. With all the limitations they have in place the whole time you’re there, it creates a greater reality of just how tense the relationship is between North and South Korea,” said Patrick Doumont, a West Point cadet from Winchester, Va.
The cadets also had an opportunity to pose with ROK soldiers, visit an observation tower, view the Bridge of No Return and walk through Tunnel No. 3, a tunnel dug out by North Koreans.
“It’s very humbling,” Shevitz said.
“This trip to the DMZ is one of the big takeaways of my time here in Korea,” Doumont said. “It highlights … how good leaders will need to be in the future to handle situations like this.”
| Date Taken: | 06.16.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 06.19.2012 21:14 |
| Story ID: | 90277 |
| Location: | DAEGU GWANG'YEOGSI [TAEGU-KWANGYOKSHI], KR |
| Web Views: | 206 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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