North Korea Concerns Drive Pacific Partnerships

America’s partners in the Asia-Pacific region are looking for more opportunities to train and work with the U.S. Army in the face of an increasingly volatile North Korea, the top Army general in the region told Army Times.

"There’s huge concern as I look at what North Korea’s doing," said Gen. Robert Brown, commanding general of U.S. Army Pacific. "This is very unstable, and [our partners in the region] are very, very concerned about North Korea."

America’s partners also are worried about China, Brown said.

"Army to army, we have a tremendous relationship with China," he said. "Army to army, we don’t have the same challenges as maritime and air might have, but people are a little bit concerned by some of the aggressive behavior by folks."

This has led to a growing demand for more multilateral exercises and training opportunities, Brown said.

"They realize it’s really good if we do stuff together," he said. "We build relationships, we practice together, whether that’s saving lives or North Korea doing something stupid, it really helps us to prepare. The more you can do together, the more militaries talk to each other, the more you can avoid miscalculation."

There’s also growing concern about extremist activity, Brown said.

"As extremist ideology is being defeated in the Middle East and other parts of the world, some of them are looking to come to the Pacific as they’re looking to get away and get to a safe haven," he said. "We don’t want extremists to have a safe haven, so we track that very closely."

One of the key ways the Army is working and training with its partners is through Pacific Pathways, Brown said.

"Up to 25 nations now I’ve talked to, every single one of them wants a Pathway," Brown said. "They all want to be a part of it. They all talk about it because they realize the incredible value in it."

The Pacific Pathways program, which made its debut in 2014, employs a single unit through what officials call a "training pathway." This unit spends three to four months in a series of already approved, consecutive bilateral and multilateral exercises and engagements with foreign militaries.

Previous Pathways have included stops in Mongolia, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Pathways puts U.S. forces west of the international dateline 10 months out of the year, allowing units to practice deploying, gain valuable training and build relationships with their foreign counterparts, Brown said.

"It’s really growing leaders through real-world challenges, and that’s been fantastic to see," he said.

This year, the Army even conducted a so-called reverse Pathway, where troops from Japan, Singapore and Canada trained with U.S. forces in Hawaii, Washington State and Alaska.

In the future, U.S. Army Pacific plans to continue conducting three Pathways a year, Brown said.

There are no reverse Pathways scheduled for fiscal year 2017, but there could be one of those every year beginning in 2018, he said.

"I could see two Pathways where we go out during the year, and one reverse a year, eventually, will be a pretty good mix," Brown said.

There also are plans to have an Army National Guard brigade combat team lead a future Pathway, Brown said.

"We have the total Army in Pathways, but it’s mostly active duty," he said. "In FY18, we’re going to work to have the Indiana National Guard brigade lead a Pathway. We’re a total Army. We deploy together, that’s what we do. We want to show that the Guard can go do this as well, and we’ve got to practice and train that."



Brown said he works closely every day with his Navy, Air Force and Marine counterparts to support U.S. Pacific Command.

"You’ve got us all understanding, ‘Hey, we’ve got to work together, and we’ve got to present multiple dilemmas for the enemy, and we’ve got to provide multiple options to our leaders,’" he said. "We’re all working together."

In addition to Pacific Pathways and increasing training opportunities with partner nations, Brown also discussed several other topics during his conversation with Army Times.

Here are some highlights.

North Korea

North Korea and its unpredictable leader continue to be a top concern for Brown.

"When you look at the aggressiveness in the leadership in North Korea, it’s unbelievable," he said. "Some would say he’s just a mad man. I think there’s much, much more. There’s a method to the madness. That’s why we have to be ready, and hopefully they’ll see that and not be stupid, and that’ll be a deterrent."

Even as a young lieutenant serving in South Korea, Brown said he was struck by how complicated it would be to have to fight in Seoul.

"Seoul was a large city then, but it’s unbelievably complex today when you look at how the Korean peninsula has changed," he said. "There are 27 million people in Seoul. You definitely have to be ready and trained in high-end, decisive action warfare, and that’s why that’s a huge emphasis for the Army."

U.S. Army Pacific’s mission

USARPAC has about 94,000 soldiers dedicated to the region, Brown said. That number grows to 106,000 if you include Army civilians and contractors, he said.

There are troops stationed in South Korea, Guam, Japan and other locations, in addition to Hawaii, Alaska and Washington State, he said.

And they spend their time conducting up to 550 engagements a year, up from about 150 just five years ago, Brown said.

Army Pacific also plays a "huge role" in setting the theater to support U.S. forces in the region, he said.

"We do about 75 percent of the joint force foundational stuff, like munitions, fuel, logistics," he said. "We have a huge role in that, so we work that very hard."



Part of the challenge faced by USARPAC is the sheer size of the Pacific, Brown said.

"Among the Army service component commands, we have the largest area of operations, 52 percent of the earth’s surface," he said. "We have the most forces of any ASCC, but the tyranny of distance is still there. It’s still a long way, so we’ve got to practice and rehearse that."

Growing leaders

The Army’s advantage is its people, Brown said.

He cited as an example a briefing he received from Spc. Andrew Channell, a military intelligence soldier who had only been in the Army for a year.

"This kid was unbelievably smart," Brown said. "Two captains briefed me, and they were very good, and then this young E-4, one year in the Army, briefed me and blew me away. That’s our advantage. That’s our quality of people and our quality training."

The Army’s emphasis on leader development is what is going to enable it to accomplish complex tasks, Brown said.

"We have to have the right leaders," he said. "Not leaders who are comfortable in ambiguity and chaos, but leaders who thrive in ambiguity and chaos."

The way ahead

Brown said he’s optimistic about the future, even as the Army works to better integrate with the other services.

"Sometimes things like sequestration cause services to get into stove pipes and have to compete, if you will, which is a terrible thing," Brown said. "But everybody realizes we’ve got to get from interdependence to integration. It’s absolutely key."