‘Legendary combat leader’ takes key Eighth Army post as tensions rise with North Korea

Maj. Gen. Jason Curl, who served three combat tours in Afghanistan and two in Iraq, became Eighth Army’s deputy commander for operations. Maj. Gen. Jason Curl, Eighth Army’s deputy commander for operations, speaks during an honors ceremony at the Eighth Army Memorial on Camp Humphreys, South Korea, Oct. 22, 2026. (Yoojin Lee/Stars and Stripes) CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea — A veteran of five combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan assumed a senior leadership position with Eighth Army this week as North Korea stepped up weapons testing and threatened further military action along its southern border. Maj. Gen. Jason Curl, who served three combat tours in Afghanistan and two in Iraq, became Eighth Army’s deputy commander for operations during an honors ceremony Thursday outside the command’s headquarters at Camp Humphreys, about 40 miles south of Seoul.

Eighth Army commander Lt. Gen. Joseph Hilbert described Curl as a “legendary combat leader” whose experience would strengthen the U.S.-South Korea alliance. Hilbert said Curl would help the allies “synchronize operations, build joint interoperability and project decisive land power when deterrence demands the highest levels of senior leadership.” Lt. Gen. Joseph Hilbert, commander of Eighth Army, speaks during an honors ceremony at the Eighth Army Memorial on Camp Humphreys, South Korea, Oct. 22, 2026. (Yoojin Lee/Stars and Stripes) Interoperability is a military term describing the