Contact Information
Camp Castle is one of the few military bases still operating in South Korea. It covers almost 50 acres and is located in Dongducheon. The camp is not as important and large. It is located relatively close to a similar military base in the area – Camp Casey. Although they are not connected, it is adjacent to it. Both bases are run by the United States of America and are still “alive” to maintain the peace in the area. A major Korean highway splits the camp in two different parts. One of them covers the general facilities, the barracks and the offices. The other part hosts the motor pool. In order to prevent any accidents while crossing the highly populated roadway and especially the pedestrian problems, both parts are connected through a huge bridge that was built in 2002, when this problem gained popularity. The camp hosts around 630 individuals. Close to 500 of them are military troops coming from the United States of America. The rest are various contractors for particular local services.
Facilities
The facilities on site are good enough for such a small camp. The most popular one is a dining facility. Other than that, the troops at Camp Castle can benefit from a few courts to play various sports, a gym and a laundry service. The good news is that the camp proximity to Camp Casey provides the soldiers with anything else they need. Camp Casey is walking distance away from this base, therefore many of the facilities are shared. With all these, when something is missing, the close human communities have everything you can think of.
In order to keep the soldiers entertained, the USO provides them with regular trips in the area. The most important touristic attractions are less than a day away, therefore such excursions are extremely popular around. Other than that, the Asian culture and civilization is completely different from the American ones, therefore these incursions represent a great opportunity to learn how people in these areas live and what their history is.
Another good facility to stimulate and motivate the troops is the base inclusion in the Hardship Duty Pay program. 42 bases are part of this program that implies adding $150 extra in the monthly wages for the troops deployed in areas with harsh living conditions, whether they count the sociological factors or the living conditions.
Units
The longest lasting unit deployed at Camp Castle was the 2-nd Engineer Battalion, which remained in the area for 32 years, from 1972 to 2004. A small part of it was then deployed to make some room for the 70-th Support Battalion and the Infantry Division. These units consist of more groups and companies. Their general mission is to support all the local operations, but especially to maintain the peace in this problematic area of Asia.
Housing
The troops deployed at Camp Castle are hosted on site. The off site system is not considered to be extremely secure. Those who want to rely on it are free to.
