Tag Archives: yongsan

First Gay General on Readiness, Integrity

MajGen Tammy Smith, 8th Army deputy commander for sustainment, is often lauded as the “first openly gay general” in the US military. She recently spoke at Yongsan Garrison, South Korea, on the topic of sexuality:

The U.S. military’s first openly gay general says advances in granting rights to the military’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community have increased the ability “to fight tonight” in South Korea.

Gen Smith’s reasoning essentially says there are so few potential service members in American society that everybody has to be allowed to serve — even if they’re homosexual. She does not appear to address the many other exclusions that prevent “talent” from entering the military, like criminal records, drug use, etc.

Interestingly, the article referenced since-deleted “negative comments” on the Garrison’s Facebook page in response to her speaking in favor of homosexuality:  Read more

US Military Christian Preschool Moves Off Post

The Mustard Seed preschool program had been run at the US Army garrison at Yongsan, South Korea, for more than 30 years.  Apparently, someone applied to become director of the preschool but was rejected — so they filed an anonymous complaint that triggered an investigation of the entire program.

Initially, the Army was simply going to shut it down, but it relented when parents voiced their concerns over the hardship a sudden closure would cause.  The Mustard Seed school has now moved off post to Seoul International Baptist Church, where it can still serve US troops and civilians without military involvement.

“We decided to see if it would work, and it worked beautifully,” said Jon Goldsmith, executive director of the Seoul International Baptist Church, which now operates the Mustard Seed Preschool. “It’s not really out of context for us because we have a large military presence at our church, and we were the closest church to the base, with a sizeable representation from the base.”

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Yongsan Chapel Preschool to Close after Complaint

The Mustard Seed preschool operated at an Army base in South Korea will be closed after military leaders received a complaint it was operating illegally.  After commanders reviewed the program’s status, they determined there were no regulations governing the operation — thus, it had to be closed.

A long-running Christian preschool at U.S. Army Garrison Yongsan will close at the end of the school year due to Read more