Our Mission

Our mission is to deter aggression and if necessary, defend the Republic of Korea to maintain stability in Northeast Asia. The Service Members of the United States and the Republic of Korea have stood together for more than 60 years maintaining the Armistice and setting the conditions for stability and prosperity in the Republic of Korea.

United States Forces Korea History

United States Forces Korea (USFK) was established July 1, 1957.

Although the United States had been providing both military and economic aid to South Korea prior to 1957, the military aid had taken precedence as a result of the Korean War, and after the Armistice Agreement was signed the economic aid provided continued to be coordinated by the military. The US Presidential Private Advisory committee was responsible for separating the military and economic aid in 1957, with regional control of the military aid then being delegated to US Commander of the US Pacific Command in 1961. This change meant that the groups in charge of the planning and operation of military aid in Korea no longer reported to the US ambassador in Korea, but now reported to a newly appointed Commander of the US Forces in Korea: General George Decker.

More to come here.

Commanders, USFK

	Commander		Term		Service branch
	Portrait	Name	Took Command	Left Command	Service branch
1		General George Decker (1902–1980)	1 July 1957	30 June 1959
2		General Carter B. Magruder (1900–1988)	1 July 1959	30 June 1961
3		General Guy S. Meloy (1903–1968)	1 July 1961	31 July 1963
4		General Hamilton H. Howze (1908–1998)	1 August 1963	15 June 1965
5		General Dwight E. Beach (1908–2000)	16 June 1965	31 August 1966
6		General Charles H. Bonesteel III (1909–1977)	1 September 1966	30 September 1969
7		General John H. Michaelis (1912–1985)	1 October 1969	31 August 1972
8		General Donald V. Bennett (1915–2005)	1 September 1972	31 July 1973
9		General Richard G. Stilwell (1917–1991)	1 August 1973	8 October 1976
10		General John W. Vessey Jr. (1922–2016)	8 October 1976	10 July 1979
11		General John A. Wickham Jr. (born 1928)	10 July 1979	4 June 1982
12		General Robert W. Sennewald (born 1929)	4 June 1982	1 June 1984
13		General William J. Livsey (1931–2016)	1 June 1984	25 June 1987
14		General Louis C. Menetrey Jr. (1929–2009)	25 June 1987	26 June 1990
15		General Robert W. RisCassi (born 1936)	26 June 1990	15 June 1993
16		General Gary E. Luck (born 1937)	15 June 1993	9 July 1996
17		General John H. Tilelli Jr. (born 1941)	9 July 1996	9 December 1999
18		General Thomas A. Schwartz (born 1945)	9 December 1999	1 May 2002
19		General Leon J. LaPorte (born 1946)	1 May 2002	3 February 2006
20		General B.B. Bell (born 1947)	3 February 2006	3 June 2008
21		General Walter L. Sharp (born 1952)	3 June 2008	14 July 2011
22		General James D. Thurman (born 1953)	14 July 2011	12 October 2013
23		General Curtis M. Scaparrotti (born 1956)	2 October 2013	30 April 2016
24		General Vincent K. Brooks (born 1958)	30 April 2016	8 November 2018
25		General Robert B. Abrams (born 1960)	8 November 2018	2 July 2021
26		General Paul J. LaCamera (born 1963)	2 July 2021	Incumbent