A U.S. military aviation battalion at the U.S. Forces Korea base in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, was confirmed to have been deactivated late last year. The move follows the U.S. Army's force restructuring plan and is raising questions about a potential shift in the role of U.S. Forces Korea.
According to a Congressional Research Service (CRS) report posted on the U.S. Congress website on the 31st of last month, the U.S. Army 5-17 Air Cavalry Squadron (5-17 ACS), stationed at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, was deactivated as of Dec. 15 last year. The report is titled "Army Transformation Initiative (ATI) force structure and organizational proposals for 2025: Background and issues for Congress."
The 2025 Army Transformation Initiative is a U.S. Army force restructuring plan pursued at the direction of Minister Pete Hegseth of the Ministry of National Defense, aimed at retiring aging equipment and redundant units, reorganizing aviation, armor, and command structures, and focusing capabilities on unmanned systems and multi-domain operations (MDO).
In the CRS report's deactivation entries for air cavalry squadrons, the 5-17 ACS at Camp Humphreys was the only overseas unit listed, alongside U.S. bases including Fort Hood in Texas, Fort Riley in Kansas, Fort Drum in New York, and JBLM in Washington state.
The 5-17 ACS, numbering in the hundreds, has operated Apache attack helicopters (AH-64E), among others. However, it is unclear whether this deactivation implies a reduction in the U.S. Forces Korea troop level, currently at about 28,500.
The report also included the reorganization of U.S. Forces Korea's aeromedical evacuation (MEDEVAC) units. The U.S. Army reorganized MEDEVAC units under the Combat Aviation Brigade (CAB) as of Dec. 16 last year, and in this process, the 2nd Infantry Division MEDEVAC unit at Camp Humphreys was the only overseas-based unit included, along with U.S. bases in Texas, Kansas, and New York.
Reorganization does not mean disbandment of a unit but that its mission, table of organization, and equipment operations were adjusted.
The move draws attention as it comes amid talk that the Trump administration could push to strengthen so-called "strategic flexibility," expanding U.S. Forces Korea's role from a traditional focus on deterring North Korea to responding to regional issues such as a Taiwan conflict. Some also raise possible links to discussions on reducing or relocating U.S. Forces Korea.