Courageous Channel Evacuation Exercise and Related Events

UNCLAS SEOUL 000975 DEPT FOR S/ES-O/CMS, CA/OCS, EAP/K, EAP/J, DS/IP, DS/IP/EAP, DS/OSAC E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: CASC AEMR MARR XE JA KS SUBJECT: Courageous Channel Evacuation Exercise and Related Events in South Korea, May 14-16, 2009 CORRECTED CABLE - ADDRESSEES ADDED; REPLACES SEOUL 0900 ¶1. SUMMARY: Embassy Seoul continues to expand its role in evacuation planning for South Korea. During the first three weeks of May 2009, post was heavily involved in Noncombatant Evacuation Operation (NEO) events and exercises in conjunction with U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) and third-country embassies. The activities allowed post to improve linkages and communication with these groups and create a deeper understanding of the NEO exercise for third countries likely to seek our assistance in the event of a real evacuation. End summary. -------------- COURAGEOUS CHANNEL EXERCISE -------------- ¶2. U.S. Forces Korea conducted its countrywide, semi-annual evacuation exercise known as Courageous Channel on May 14-16. In addition to processing all military families through their nearest Evacuation Control Center (ECC) and checking their required packets of evacuation and personal documents, USFK staged a mock "fly-away" evacuation of nearly 50 volunteers to Japan. ¶3. Our Consular staff trained Entry-Level Officers on how to screen potential evacuees in a real NEO. The officers then worked shifts May 14-16 at the ECC on Yongsan Army Garrison in Seoul, screening military families who are required to pass through the ECC during Courageous Channel exercises. The Embassy checkpoint is the first station that real evacuees would encounter after a security check and is the stage where eligibility for evacuation is determined. ¶4. On the fly-away exercise, Embassy Seoul sent three Embassy-sponsored observers, including a U.S. Embassy consular officer and the political counselor and the military attach from the Embassy of Japan to Korea. All travelers were entered into the NEO Tracking System (NTS) database that DOD would employ during a NEO. The evacuees were issued NTS bar-coded wristbands that were scanned at numerous screening stations and checkpoints in Korea and Japan in order to track their movement. ¶5. The 49 fly-away volunteers included nine military escorts and 37 volunteer noncombatants (EFMs and civilian employees) from all regions of South Korea. The volunteers passed through ECCs on various U.S. military installations throughout the peninsula in order to be cleared for evacuation, as they would be in a real NEO. ¶6. The travelers were all processed successfully with the exception of a Filipina national who did not have a proper visa for Japan and was denied entry there. This traveler was required to remain on Yokota Air Base for the duration of the weekend, under escort. (Note: This individual was not screened at the ECC staffed by Embassy personnel at Yongsan Garrison.) While unfortunate for the individual, this was a valuable learning experience for both USFK and Embassy Seoul as it reinforced the requirement and the difficulty of ensuring that evacuees have valid travel documents to enter third-country fly away points or the United States. ¶7. The next Courageous Channel will be held in late October/early November 2009. We are working with USFK on plans to have all, or at least as many as possible, of our Embassy dependents participate in the registration and screening process at the Yongsan ECC. Post also hopes to expand our capabilities to staff additional ECCs around the Korean peninsula and will participate in the planned "sail-away" exercise. -------------- COORDINATION WITH JAPANESE EMBASSY -------------- ¶8. Separate from the fly-away exercise, on May 15 our ACS Chief and RSO escorted two Japanese Embassy officers on a walk-through tour of the ECC on Yongsan Garrison, beginning at the Embassy eligibility screening station. A U.S. Army major from the division that would run the ECC in a real NEO led the group through the other stations of the ECC, including security screening, NEO Tracking System (NTS) processing, and the staging area for evacuees waiting to be moved out on buses. The group was given an in-depth explanation of the capabilities of NTS, which will be used to track evacuees via a "FedEx"-type bar-coded wristband that can be read by USFK and USFJ personnel at downstream processing points for staging, embarkation, and reception, and can be used to produce manifests. ¶9. Because Courageous Channel is a USFK exercise and the Yongsan Garrison ECC will be used only for processing USFK and USG evacuees during a real NEO, many of the stations at the ECC were for use only by USFK evacuees, such as the pet drop-off, personnel protective equipment demonstration, and screening of the document binders that USFK requires its dependents to carry. The Japanese understood that these stations would not be set up at other ECCs used by private Amcits and TCNs, and that USFK offers certain benefits only to its own potential evacuees. -------------- FURTHER COORDINATION NEEDED WITH USFK -------------- ¶10. Given the year-long gap between this and the last Courageous Channel Exercise in May 2008, most participants from USFK, the U.S. Embassy, and the Japanese Embassy were experiencing this exercise for the first time. The reassignment of the theater NEO planners in USFK and USFJ created an additional challenge as these were the officers who typically understood and monitored all the many pieces of the NEO and the Courageous Channel puzzle on both sides of the operation. ¶11. While post regularly participates in the planning and execution of NEO exercises, questions persist at the working level about the distinction between a NEO and an ordered departure, the NEO authorities of our Ambassador vs. the USFK Commander (a four-star General),and other issues such as the evacuation of pets. Post has communicated Department guidelines on these issues in the past, but with heavy turnover among USFK participants at the working level, we continue to have to address these questions. Post will continue to coordinate with USFK on NEO exercises and planning, and we look forward to expanding our participation and that of the American private sector in the next Courageous Channel. STANTON