A quarter-century of historical events is reflected in the resume of Maj. Gen. Edward Cardon of the Second Infantry Division.

The commanding general of the U.S. Forces Korea’s front line division was in Europe to see the fall of the Berlin Wall, at the Pentagon for 9/11 and in Iraq for the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

This prompts the question of what will happen while he is stationed in Korea.

For Cardon, the 2ID’s motto “fight tonight” could not ring any truer, having seen both the death of Kim Jong-il and a missile test masquerading as a satellite launch during his seven months here.

“There is always potential for something to happen here and you have to be ready,” said Cardon.

“I just stay ready and I approach things from a capability perspective,” said Cardon in a discussion with English media in Korea.

One of his ways of staying ready is studying North Korea with stacks of books.

He tries to understand North Korea’s driving policies, the mentality of the North Korean soldier and think critically about issues highlighted in the media.

He also has an extensive reading list for all of his officers including “Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea” by Barbara Demick and “The Aquariums of Pyongyang: Ten Years in the North Korean Gulag” by Kang Chol-hwan.

Another way he is strengthening his capabilities is increasing interoperability between Korean and U.S. forces.

“I’m spending a lot of time with the ROK army for this line I talked about, strengthening the alliance. To me this is about becoming much more interoperable with the ROK army, we are not as interoperable as we should be,” he said.

And to Cardon, one of the biggest issues in increasing interoperability is communications.

Cardon, known within the army as a “changer,” found that communications systems were different between Korean and U.S. troops during a joint exercise with a Korean regiment.

“That ROK regiment couldn’t talk to me so I had to take an entire communications package down. Collocate it with their headquarters and they had to sit side by side so that we can communicate.”

Although this works, for Cardon, it could be better. He is looking for ways to communicate between forces directly.

As a “changer,” Cardon says he is ready to tackle the task.

By Robert Lee (robert@heraldcorp.com)