Ms. Song Yon-Chong works on her Defense Acquisition University training course on Aug. 20, 2024, in her new office at Headquarters Navy Region Korea. She served as a CFAC KGS-11 contract specialist before her promotion to KGS-12 Contracting and Acquisition Management Office (CAMO) program analyst. (Lt.Cmdr. Hien Vu, Commander, Navy Region Korea)
May 15, 2002, was not just another day for Ms. Song Yon-Chong. That day became the most memorable day in her career with United States Forces Korea (USFK) because, on that day, sometime in the afternoon, she started working as a cook at a U.S. Army dining facilities (DFAC) on Camp Long, South Korea.
Twenty-two years later, Camp Long is no more, and Ms. Song’s career has taken off at an impressive pace. On Aug. 15, 2024, she became the first Navy Region Korea’s (CNRK) female Korean National (KN) employee to reach the Korean General Schedule grade 12 (KGS-12) aboard Fleet Activities Chinhae (CFAC) as an analyst who manages the Contracting and Acquisition Management Office (CAMO) program.
How did one start out cooking and cleaning, and end up managing a complex contracting and acquisition program for the most well-funded military branch off the world’s most formidable armed forces? By sheer will and hard work.
“Throughout my career, I must have submitted over 200 resumes and applied for all kinds of jobs – waiter, cashier, cook, bartender, baker, clerk, and so on – at various U.S. military bases in South Korea,” reminisced Ms. Song, a native from Seoul. “When I was hired as a contractor at Camp Red Cloud [turned over the Republic of Korea in 2018], I was overjoyed because I just wanted to work for USFK. I did not care that it was a contractor position, though I did not know the difference then.”
After two years of working various jobs as a Korean Wage Board (KWB) employee, Ms. Song finally became a KGS-4 billeting clerk at Camp Humphreys in 2003, and received her promotion to KGS-5/6 as a housing management assistant. In 2005, she headed south to CFAC where she attained KGS-7 grade as a program analyst.
The last 12 years at CFAC saw her steady rise as a contract specialist from grade 7 to grade 11, until she reached her current position as a KGS-12. She credited her career development as such: “Don’t rush. Keep trying. Keep learning.” Indeed, her continuous education garnered her an impressive list of college degrees: Bachelor of Economics degree in Statistics from Sungshin Woman’s University (1989), Master of Business Administration in Accounting from Graduate School of Changwon National University (2011), another Bachelor of Language degree in English from Open Cyber University (2012), and a Master of Art in Practical English from Korea National Open University (2019). She also received a Certificate of Appointment for Simplied Acquisition Procedures (SAP) Warrant ($250,000) in 2018.
Of course, being surrounded by co-workers and supervisors whom she admired and got along with played a tremendous part in her professional growth. “There are so many things I find fascinating working with U.S. personnel that I cannot just pick one,” Ms. Song said. “I am also lucky to have met many good bosses and friends at the various U.S. Army jobs and CFAC. They have helped and encouraged me a lot.”
Luck may have been a career factor in her mind, but it was tenacity that propelled her forward and upward. “What do I tell a Korean about your career with the U.S. government? ‘Just apply and apply again until you are hired. Then you work really hard, and a lot of good chances will be waiting for you,” she mused.
