The Pentagon’s latest strategic documents knock the Indo-Pacific off its perch as the Defense Department’s priority theater, but that guidance has so far not negatively affected funding or training opportunities for soldiers stationed in South Korea, the head of 8th Army told reporters Monday at the AUSA annual meeting in Washington, D.C.
And the command is keeping soldiers fed and trained during the government shutdown, which was set to cut off troops’ pay on Wednesday. President Donald Trump on Saturday said he had directed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to use “all available funds” to send Oct. 15 paychecks to service members.
“They’re being fed this morning. They’re still training,” Lt. Gen. Hank Taylor said of troops under his command, but noted his civilian workforce has been furloughed.
In the longer term, it remains to be seen how the National Defense Strategy’s shift to the Western Hemisphere will impact funding in the Indo-Pacific. While China is now the Pentagon’s second priority, U.S. troops on the Korean peninsula are more specialized to training with Republic of Korea forces to deter North Korea.
The Trump administration had considered shifting 4,500 troops from the peninsula to Guam, the Wall Street Journal reported in May.
But for now, Taylor said, he’s not feeling any marked changes in resources or prioritization.
“I have everything I need, when I think about live-fire training, live-flight training, maneuver training, driving our vehicles, instructors, all those things,” he said. “Nothing that I’ve had to change any of my readiness here.”
And while the Pentagon is pushing Asian allies to spend more on their own defense, that hasn’t been coupled with any American withdrawal from the region.
“We are ready. We are modernizing, right? We have capabilities forward in the Indo-Pacific region,” Taylor said.
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