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Army missile defense keeps ROK skies protected

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Marcus Morris
  • 7th Air Force Public Affairs
OSAN AIR BASE, Republic of Korea --  Alarms blare as simulated enemy missiles head towards allied targets while the 94th Army Air and Missile Defense Center and Republic of Korea Air Force rapidly send the Air Operations Center strike data to nullify the damage.

The 94th Soldiers are on duty 24 hours a day during the exercise to react to scenario-based simulated missile attacks that could come at any time. They also have a forward element team that is permanently assigned to Osan Air Base and continue to work with their ROKAF counterparts and 7th Air Force long after each exercise is complete in order to maintain a "Fight Tonight" capability as part of Team Osan.

"During wartime, we serve Lt. Gen. Jan-Marc Jouas, 7th Air Force commander, as his deputy area air defense system alongside the ROKAF," said Army Col. Carlos Betancourt, 94th AAMDC operations officer. "It takes a combined effort between the U.S. Army and ROKAF air defense systems to defend the Republic of Korea and in the seven years I have been participating in these exercises, the progress of effort has developed considerably."

The 94 AAMDC, along with the Republic of Korea Air Force Air and Missile Defense Center and the Air Force Operation Center members, operate the Combined Air and Missile Defense Operations Coordination Cell during the exercise. The 94 AAMDC also picks up the early warning system from Seoul along with other agencies to give them real-world training on monitoring feeds.

The CAMDOCC serves a specialized function that combines Theater Air and Missile Defense within the Air Component Command and Republic of Korea-U.S. coordination in combined Air and Missile defense operations in the Korea Theater of Operations.

Because of the complex nature of missile defense, the CAMDOCC is a fully integrated, multinational operations center whose members must work together as one team to deter and defeat the enemy.

"It is important to make the most out of the supplies we have," said U.S. Army Master Sergeant Gene Harding, 94th Army Air and Missile Defense Command NCO in charge of forward element. "That is why we work side by side with our Republic of Korea counterparts daily to make sure we are not shooting at the same target."

The air and missile defense can be broken up into four sections. Active defense, directs action taken to destroy, nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air and missile threats against friendly forces and assets. Attack operations take kinetic and non-kinetic actions to deny the enemy's ability to target and launch air and missile assets.  Passive defense encompasses all measures other than active defense taken to minimize damage and threats such as camouflage, concealment, early warning systems and protective construction. Lastly, Battle management/ Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence, provides timely assessments of threats, gives rapid tactical warning, processes targeting data and posts strike assessment to leadership.

With all of these components, working as a joint force is essential to completing the mission.

"We have to work with joint forces daily, providing analysis and planning to keep the ROK safe," Harding said. "Being able to work with different U.S. and ROK agencies on a daily basis is the best part of this job."