Soldiers move their belongings into a new barracks building on Camp Humphreys, South Korea, May 31, 2024. (U.S. Army)

SEOUL, South Korea — The U.S. Army has doubled the tour length for single soldiers serving in certain roles on the Korean Peninsula.

Unaccompanied soldiers, or those who serve without a spouse or dependents on location, are expected to serve in South Korea for two years starting Aug. 1, according to an Army Publishing Directorate memo that day.

The policy applies to soldiers within seven career fields: air traffic control operators, UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter repairers, working military dog handlers, counterintelligence agents, signal intelligence analysts, and enlisted and warrant officer special agents in the Criminal Investigation Division.

U.S. Forces Korea, the command overseeing roughly 28,500 U.S. troops on the peninsula, will review the list annually and update as needed, the memo states.

The change is meant “to improve readiness” in those fields, which require soldiers to train more to become “fully mission capable,” according to the memo.

Soldiers who had permanent change-of-station orders to South Korea prior to August will be exempt from the change but are “encouraged to voluntarily extend” for another year, according to the memo.

Most U.S. troops stationed in South Korea serve from Camp Humphreys, the largest U.S. military base overseas, about 40 miles south of Seoul in Pyeongtaek city. The installation is headquarters for USFK, U.N. Command, Combined Forces Command, Eighth Army and the 2nd Infantry Division.

The base also opened three housing towers for 216 accompanied households in 2022.