Memories from My Military Service

From July 2024 to January 2026, I completed my mandatory military service in the Republic of Korea Army. I served as a communications specialist at a tier-1 isolated mountain post, which I will refer to as GRS. Looking back, the environment was highly unusual, and I want to document a few episodes from my time there before the memories fade.

GRS: A Post in the Clouds

Our primary mission was to support the core military communication network. Because of this, our base was located on a mountain peak over 2,500 feet high. The post was completely isolated. There were no roads leading to it, no military convenience store (PX), and no medic. It was a tiny post with only ten crew members. Unless we went on official leave, which occurred approximately every three months, we could not leave the mountain.

GRS originally used a cable car to deliver our food and supplies. However, during my service, the cable car broke down and remained unusable for a long period.

As a result, we had to manage the supply chain manually.

GRS-Style Logistics

Three times a week, we hiked down the mountain, filled military duffel bags with food and supplies, and carried them back up. Each bag weighed about 20 kg (44 lbs). We had to do this regardless of the weather, including heavy rain, deep snow, winter temperatures of -20°C (-4°F), and summer heat of 35°C (95°F).

When we hiked down to pick up fresh food, we could not walk empty-handed. We used those same duffel bags to carry down our accumulated garbage, food waste, and used toilet paper. At the bottom, we emptied the trash, loaded the bags with fresh food, and hiked back up. Fortunately, nobody got sick from this routine.

During our hikes, we tried to optimize our load. Heavy drinks were the most difficult to carry because they were heavy but consumed quickly. To reduce the weight, we often drank them halfway up the mountain. For heavy and less popular vegetables like extra potatoes or tomatoes, we occasionally dropped them into the woods, where wild boars ate them.

Because our supply runs depended on the weather, severe storms or typhoons cut off our supply chain completely. On those days, we could not get fresh food, and our menu was limited to plain rice and Kimchi. If we had emergency canned Spam, we fried it as a special meal.

Looking Back

Life at GRS was absurd and physically grueling. Yet, I sometimes miss those hikes and the time I spent surviving on that peak with my crew members. It was a unique chapter of my life, and those memories remain valuable to me.