An AH-64E Apache helicopter, assigned to 2nd Combat Aviation Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, flies over Rodriguez Live Fire Complex in Pocheon, South Korea, Aug. 14, 2024. (Luis Garcia/Stars and Stripes)
CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea — U.S. troops may now employ attack helicopters in live-fire drills at a range 16 miles from North Korea, according to the South’s Ministry of National Defense.
For the past six years, the Army could fly AH-64 Apaches in exercises at the Rodriguez Live Fire Complex, but not fire their weapons.
Representatives from the ministry, South Korean army and a citizens’ group investigating noise complaints from the range, signed a memorandum Monday to “normalize” training by U.S. forces, according to a ministry news release that day.
Concerns over noise generated by the Apaches prompted a U.S. noise study earlier this year, Kang Tae Il, chairman of the citizens’ group — Pocheon Live Fire Range Countermeasure Committee — told Stars and Stripes by phone Tuesday.
“We, local residents, originally wanted to get this range moved and closed,” he said. “However, in the situation in our country that is a standoff with North Korea, soldiers need to train somewhere.”
The change near the border came as tensions continue to tick higher on the peninsula. On Tuesday, North Korea destroyed parts of inter-Korean roads on its side of the border, after claiming that South Korean drones flew over Pyongyang.
To compensate Pocheon residents for the noise, the ministry agreed to construct a gymnasium, golf course and other sports facilities around the range at an undetermined date, Kang said.
The proposed facilities would be available for use by area residents and the military and would “improve the living conditions and revitalize the local economy,” according to the National Defense Ministry’s release.
The ministry “will continue to communicate and cooperate with the community to ensure security,” it added.
Since 2018, U.S. forces have been required to inform the ministry and Pocheon’s government of their intent to carry out live-fire training at the range. U.S. troops train there throughout the year using Apaches, eight-wheeled Strykers and M1A2 Abrams tanks.
In August, the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team conducted a live-fire drill from Strykers and M109 Paladin howitzers positioned a mile from the range.
On Oct. 24, 2023, a stray 5.56mm bullet fired from the range hit the windshield of an SUV driven by a South Korean man. The driver was not injured.
One month later, Eighth Army, the command responsible for U.S. ground operations in South Korea, took responsibility for the accident and permanently closed the shooting lane where the bullet was fired.
