Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Hopson Promoting Peace In Korea

The son of a Prescott man plays the same role in international politics as a U.S. Secretary of State. While the Secretary of State negotiates an end to a cold war between North Korea and its southern neighbor, this soldier is also doing his part to promote peace, albeit in a starkly different fashion.

Army Sgt. Rickey Hopson, son of Vernon Meeks of Prescott, was one of 30,000 U.S. military members taking part in Foal Eagle 2000, a massive military exercise teaming U.S. troops with more than 500,000 Republic of Korea forces and showcasing their capability to defend South Korea should the need arise.

Held at military sites throughout South Korea in October and November, the exercise tested the ability of allied forces to provide ground and air protection, launch and recover aircraft and evacuate civilians from an embattled Korean peninsula.

It also tested the individual job skills of soldiers like Hopson, a transportation supervisor from the 35nd Transportation Detachment, Jacksonville, Fla.

"My job during Foal Eagle was to get the army troops where they needed to go and get them the supplies they needed," said Hopson, a 1985 graduate of Prescott High School. "After I deployed my unit from Jacksonville I ensured all of their equipment and vehicles were loaded onto ships and arranged for them to be transported to Korea.

"When it was time to go home, we loaded our troops, equipment and vehicles onto railcars and headed to the port to do the reverse of what we did to come here," added Hopson. "We had to transport everything in as little time as possible, because it's a very expensive process."

The experience U.S. troops gained during Foal Eagle is good practice should the uneasy peace between North and South Korea ever erode. It's that kind of uncertainty that had U.S. and South Korean forces not only practicing for Foal Eagle 2000, but for real-world crises as well.

"Before leaving for Foal Eagle we underwent a mobilization and deployment exercise to re-familiarize ourselves with the deployment process," said Hopson. "Once in Pusan, we participated in chemical attack exercises."

With another Foal Eagle exercise successfully completed Hopson returned to his usual job and resumed the pursuit of personal and professional goals.

"Foal Eagle is over, so I can concentrate on the personal aspects of my life," said Hopson. "I have a beautiful wife and two beautiful children. I've been in the service for 13 years and I enjoy what I do. I look forward to retirement."

Hopson's loftiest goals may not have him negotiating a peace agreement, but he joins thousands of U.S. soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines in keeping the peace, while U.S. dignitaries help negotiate a new beginning in the land of the Land of the Morning Calm.