Combined Command Post Training (CCPT)
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff says the computer-simulated Combined Command Post Training which started 08 March 2021 was to take place over nine weekdays until March 18th. It's been drastically shortened compared to the previous springtime drills which normally run around-the-clock for around two weeks. The training involves a "minimal level of troops" given the coronavirus situation and no outdoor drills will take place.
"There's limitations to assessing the military's full operational capability due to various factors such as COVID-19, the combined defense posture and the overall situation regarding the Korea peace process. This is why this training will include a run-though of theater operations led by a future Combined Forces Command under the leadership of a four-star Korean general."
The two allies are believed to have agreed to try to carry out the rest of the Full Operational Capability test, a prerequisite for the envisioned conditions-based transfer of wartime operational control from Washington to Seoul during the summertime exercise in the second half of this year. The North had long opposed the exercises denouncing them as rehearsals for invasion despite the South reiterating that they are defensive in nature. North Korea had not yet responded to the latest drills but it's almost certain that it will and the tone used by Pyeongyang this time could serve as an important barometer for the Biden administration in how it'll deal with the North Korean denuclearization issue.
Up until now, North Korea had used the combined exercises as an excuse to conduct its own tests of ballistic missiles and weaponry.
South Korea and the United States launched a new combined exercise called "Dong Maeng" in March 2020 to replace their springtime Key Resolve drills.
South Korea and the U.S. kicked off one of their joint, annual military exercises 10 August 2020 which was set to run until August 20th. The name of the training was originally thought to be "19-2 DongMaeng" -- a Korean word meaning 'alliance' -- but the name was changed considering North Korea's continued criticism of joint South Korea-U.S. military drills and the impact they may have on denuclearization talks. Up until now, joint military exercises have been named Key Resolve, Foal Eagle, and Ulchi Freedom Guardian... but following the series of inter-Korean and North Korea-U.S. summits, they were scaled down as part of efforts to support diplomatic efforts for denuclearization. In March, the "19-1 DongMaeng" exercise replaced the Key Resolve exercise.
The South Korean and U.S. militaries hold their "Combined Command Post Training" for ten days. South Korea and the U.S. conducted preliminary sessions in the run-up to their joint summertime training. It was preceded by "crisis management staff training" from August 5 to 8. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the training, which is divided into two parts, involves computer-based war simulations to verify South Korea's state of readiness for the future transfer of wartime operational control from Washington to Seoul.
Real military equipment and forces are not mobilized during the training. For the first time, a South Korean general serves as the commander, and an American general takes on the role of a deputy. As the joint exercise is focusing on testing Seoul's initial operational capability to prepare for the OPCON transfer, a South Korean general took the role of a commander for the first time. Deputy Commander of the Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command Choi Byung-hyuk took the commander role in the joint drill while U.S. Forces Korea Commander Gen. Robert Abrams is acting as vice commander.
The bilateral drill wasn't held in the first half of the year 2020 due to coronavirus concerns.
South Korea and the United States planned to hold a scaled-back version of a combined exercises from 16 August 2020. According to a government source, in the run-up to the joint exercises, the two sides completed crisis management staff training (CMST) and will carry out the main computer-simulated command post training to August 28. In light of the outbreak, daytime exercises will replace nighttime training this time, which will lengthen the exercise period by two to three days. The planned exercise will be smaller in scale compared with previous ones and will be held only daylight hours, as American troops necessary for the program were reportedly unable to come to South Korea under coronavirus-related restrictions.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a statement on 16 August 2020 that the computer-simulated Combined Command Post Training (CCPT) will begin Tuesday and run until August 28 in consideration of the COVID-19 situation and other conditions. The allies initially planned to start the training Sunday but pushed back the date after a South Korean Army officer, who was supposed to take part in the exercise, tested positive for the coronavirus.
Training will relate to preparations for Seoul to take back wartime operational control of its forces from the U.S., although earnest testing of Full Operational Capability is expected to take place in 2022.
South Korea will keep a close eye on how North Korea will respond to a major joint military exercise under way with the United States, the unification ministry said 17 August 2021, as Pyongyang remained silent in contrast to angry reactions to last week's preliminary exercise. The nine-day computer-simulated Combined Command Post Training, which kicked off 16 August 2021, is based largely on a computer simulation with no field training, in consideration of the virus situation, according to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).
The nation's defense minister Suh Wook said that, although the South Korea-U.S. joint computer-simulated Combined Command Post Training may look like a video game, it is in fact the "most optimal" training for war. Suh made the comments on 20 August 2021 while speaking with members of the National Assembly's defense committee. To the members questioning the decision to downsize the joint military exercises, Suh said that all core members are in training and that if war was to break out, they would still be able to maintain a readiness posture. . The computer-simulated command post training continued until 26 auguest 2021.
