Lt. Gen. Sharp to Take Over U.S. Forces Korea

Lt. Gen. Walter L. Sharp, who assists the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will reportedly replace the retiring Gen. Burwell B. Bell as commander of the U.S. Forces Korea this summer.

Between June 1996 and Oct. 1998, Sharp served as executive officer to the commander-in-chief at the United Nations Command in Korea and assistant commander of the 2nd Infantry Division of the Eighth U.S. Army.

Sources said Sharp will soon be promoted because only generals can head U.S. forces in Korea. He will also undergo a confirmation hearing at the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Sharp will assume the post between June and July after his nomination process is complete. He will also head the Combined Forces Command and the U.N. Command in Korea at the same time.

The career soldier was commissioned as a second lieutenant after graduating from West Point in 1974. He also holds a master’s in operations analysis and engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York.

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