Charles Miller\/CNN<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Most of the ingredients for the doughnuts are imported from the States, said Choi Sung Ha, manager of the Army Air Force Exchange (AAFES) Bakery on Camp Humphreys, who is also an Army veteran and naturalized American. <\/p>\n
He said, for families stationed at the base, biting into those gooey doughnuts is like biting into a piece of home. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s our intent, and that\u2019s what I\u2019m proud of,\u201d Choi said. <\/p>\n
The 300 dozen Krispy Kremes the bakery produces daily are just one of the products hot off its production lines. Its bakers also produce Wonder Bread \u2013 1,400 loaves a day \u2013 brioche buns for Popeye\u2019s chicken sandwiches and sesame seed buns for Burger King Whoppers. <\/p>\n
All told, the bakery goes through 5,400 pounds of dough a day, officials said. <\/p>\n
Believe it or not, familiar baked goods are a subliminal part of military readiness, according to Air Force Col. Jason Beck, Pacific region commander for AAFES. <\/p>\n
If a soldier in the field knows their family back on base is enjoying \u201ca taste of home,\u201d they\u2019re more likely to be more focused on their mission, Beck said. <\/p>\n
And troops that know their families are happy are more likely to stay in the military and stay in South Korea, he said. <\/p>\n
The Cook\u2019s military-supplied apartment has echoes of home, with three bedrooms, modern American appliances and a large, comfortable couch. <\/p>\n
Its electrical sockets take American plugs, which means small appliances brought from the US are easily used without adapters. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s so simple and little\u201d but provides \u201ca piece of comfort of home,\u201d said Re. <\/p>\n
Another military spouse, Dymen McCoy, started a home-based business, LeahCole\u2019s Delights, after arriving in South Korea two years ago from North Carolina. <\/p>\n
During the July Fourth festival, she sold baked treats from a stand on the base\u2019s main promenade. Business was brisk. By midafternoon, cupcakes were still available, but the brownies were gone, save for a few crumbs she offered as a sample. <\/p>\n
\u201cI hit my stride here, when we got to Korea,\u201d McCoy said, explaining that the business is now finding customers across Humphreys\u2019 many commands and those in nearby Osan Air Base. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe just kinda blew up here bigger than we imagined,\u201d McCoy said, as customers stopped by, with some saying friends had told them about her \u201cmust try\u201d products. <\/p>\n
The military history of Camp Humphreys dates back more than 100 years, when the Japanese colonial occupiers of Korea built Pyeongtaek Airfield on the site. During the Korean War, US forces repaired and expanded it for American use, naming it K-6. <\/p>\n
In 1962, K-6 was renamed Camp Humphreys in honor of Army Chief Warrant Officer Benjamin Humphreys, a helicopter pilot who was killed in an accident. <\/p>\n
The base took on various functions for more than four decades until 2007, when land was broken for an expanded Humphreys to be known as US Army Garrison Humphreys. <\/p>\n
Under a 2004 deal with the South Korean government, the US moved troops from bases in and north of the South Korean capital, including the US Forces Korea headquarters at Yongsan in central Seoul, to Humphreys. <\/p>\n
It saw the footprint of Humphreys triple, from 1,210 acres to more than 3,600 acres. <\/p>\n
In the 2000s, that expansion saw protests as some South Koreans decried forced evictions of local landowners and the effects on land prices and noise levels the expanded Humphreys would bring. <\/p>\n
But the South Korean government stressed the need for the base, especially having Yongsan return to Korean control. In a 2006 statement, then-Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook called it \u201ca matter of boosting national pride.\u201d <\/p>\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
After more than 10 years of work, the transformation became official on June 29, 2018, when the new, relocated headquarters of UN Command and US Forces Korea opened at Humphreys. <\/p>\n
The expansion had cost $10.8 billion, 90% of which was paid by the South Korean government, Gen. Vincent Brooks, then-commander of USFK, said in a dedication speech that day. <\/p>\n
\u201cFor that 90%, the US remains with you, 100%!\u201d Brooks told the Koreans in attendance. <\/p>\n
Then-South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo told the crowd the UN and US forces at Humphreys would play \u201ca crucial role of contributing to the world\u2019s peace by achieving a balance as the stabilizer of Northeast Asia and peace on the Korean Peninsula.\u201d <\/p>\n
Since 2018, the base has continued to expand with construction cranes towering over new housing blocks as the US military adds capacity. <\/p>\n
At the end of May, two eight-story housing blocks opened for enlisted personnel without families, with room for more than 300 residents in each tower. <\/p>\n
The $67 million cost was funded by South Korea, an Army release said. <\/p>\n
Eleven projects valued at more than $1 billion are expected to be completed by September 2026 under the Humphreys modernization plan, said Daniel Hancock, deputy to the garrison commander. Those include barracks, vehicle maintenance facilities, a satellite communications facility, an elementary school, and aircraft support facilities. <\/p>\n
Plans for the next decade include more aviation hangars, a new airport runway and aircraft parking areas, a consolidated headquarters and new maintenance, laundry and dining facilities, Hancock said. <\/p>\n
Camp Humphreys is preparing for a workday population of 45,000 in the next three to five years \u2013 almost double the 26,000 people who report for duty each day at the Pentagon in Washington DC. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve grown exponentially and continue to grow,\u201d Hancock says. <\/p>\n