Live Fire Drills

[Anchor Lead]

A U.S. mainland-based Army artillery unit arrived in Korea Thursday and conducted a live-fire exercise together with U.S. Forces Korea. The drill took place in the wake of President Trump's hawkish remarks about North Korea at the U.N. General Assembly. The U.S. military said the exercise shows the ability to integrate joint capabilities with stateside units to any location on the Korean Peninsula.

[Pkg]

A US military rocket launcher gushes out streams of fire. Six long-range precision munitions fired from the coast of Daecheon in Chungcheongnam-do Province all hit their targets at a shooting range on Jikdo Island in the Yellow Sea some 60 kilometers away. The US Forces Korea's Eighth Army staged the joint live-fire training on the west coast with the U.S.'s 18th Field Artillery Brigade based in southeastern United States. The brigade transported two artillery rocket launch vehicles to the US Kunsan Air Base in Korea using the C-17 transport aircraft. The brigade then moved the launchers to Daecheon and conducted the shooting drills toward Jikdo Island. The unit was deployed in Korea with no prior notice to its soldiers. The US said the exercise has affirmed the artillery unit's ability to swiftly deploy precision munitions to the peninsula from US mainland for rapid integration with local units. Eighth Army Commander Lt. Gen. Thomas Vandal said in a statement that the exercise demonstrated the Eighth Army's capacity to integrate joint capabilities with stateside units to any location on the Korean Peninsula.