Pyongtaek, South Korea

The next underway started a few days after the stores on load. The two weeks in between underways was nice but I could not shake the feeling that my crew had not had much time in port to recover. That is the big difference between being stationed on a forward deployed ship in Japan or being on a ship back in the states. Many times we do not have a long stand down period before and after a long deployment.

This was to be a more routine operation, we were to cooperate with the South Korean Navy in at sea operations. We did add quite a few new Sailors and Officers to the crew. Unfortunately, the majority of them were assigned to us as Temporary Assigned Duty (TAD). They would leave the ship as soon as we returned to homeport. Many Officers lost their staterooms and moved into berthing. I had enough seniority to avoid the initial move. We did conduct several scenarios with ships and submarines from the South Korean Navy prior to arrival. They were mostly designed to test US and South Korean abilities to avoid detection and launch attacks.

We arrived in Pyongtaek and anchored out since most of the piers are not deep enough to support our draft. Another US Destroyer was already there as this particular operation required assets from two ships. While I was on watch as OOD, I watched the ongoing project to deepen the port so the seventh fleet can moor their ships. Getting supplies and people from anchor to shore and back again is much harder at anchor than a simple walk off the brow. I had loaded enough supplies to avoid a stores on load while at anchor. Future port visits will be much easier, that will allow for better coordination with South Korean Forces.

South Korea is a critical alley, especially when it comes to North Korea. Their navy is quite capable when it comes conducting small scale operations and patrols. They have an excellent record when it comes to skirmishes with North Korean Forces, having won every engagement without US assistance. The one exception being the surprise attack and subsequent sinking of the Chonan warship. When I found out the Chonan ship had been turned into a museum and monument, I was very interested in adding my name to the tour.