New USFK commander vows readiness

By Jun Ji-hye

Gen. Brooks

The new commander of the United States Forces Korea (USFK) vowed to continue to be “ready to fight today” as he took command of the 28,000 U.S. soldiers stationed in South Korea, Saturday.

“It is my great honor to stand before you as the successor to a great lineage of commanders who defeated external threats, set an example of a committed alliance, preserved an armistice and secured a course of peaceful development and progress for nearly seven decades,” Gen. Vincent Brooks said during a change-of-command ceremony held at the Yongsan garrison in central Seoul.

Brooks, incoming commander of the USFK, the United Nations Command (UNC) and the Combined Forces Command (CFC), replaced Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, who had been in those posts since October 2013.

Scaparrotti will assume his new position as the commander of the U.S. European Command (EUCOM).

“I am both honored and humbled as I consider the immense responsibilities inherent in these three commands,” Brooks said. “I will adopt Gen. Scaparrotti’s priorities until further notice, and I will ensure that we always remain ready to fight tonight.”

Brooks’s inauguration comes amid mounting military tension on the Korean Peninsula as North Korea is reportedly preparing for its fifth nuclear test to mark the seventh Congress of the ruling Workers’ Party, slated for May 6.

The communist state has already undertaken provocative actions including test-firings of Musudan intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBM) as well as a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM).

“In the present day, the challenges continue to rise, but so also does the strength of this alliance and the resolve of the United Nations,” Brooks said. “We must look into the future with clear eyes, confronting the challenges to peace and prosperity, and doing so in a spirit that is becoming of those who served and sacrificed before us.”

He also hailed Scaparrotti’s skills as a combat commander and warrior diplomat that “have been absolutely essential in navigating the complex situations.”

Brooks, previously the commanding general of the U.S. Army Pacific, graduated from West Point in 1980 and served in the 2nd Infantry Division of the USFK when he was a lieutenant colonel.