Seventh Air Force

The Seventh Air Force (Air Forces Korea) (7 AF) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Pacific Air Forces (PACAF). It is headquartered at Osan Air Base, South Korea.

The command's mission is to plan and direct air component operations in the Republic of Korea and in the Northwest Pacific.

Established on 19 October 1940 as the Hawaiian Air Force at Fort Shafter, Territory of Hawaii, the 7 AF was a United States Army Air Forces combat unit in the Pacific Theater of World War II, providing air defense of the Hawaiian Islands and engaging in combat operations primarily in the Central Pacific AOR. It was assigned units engaging enemy forces in the Gilbert Islands; Marshall Islands; Caroline Islands; Mariana Islands, and in the last major battle of the Pacific War, the Battle of Okinawa. Returning to its defense role in Hawaii after the war, 7 AF became the primary USAF command and control organization in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War.

7 AF is commanded by Lt Gen Scott L. Pleus. The Vice Commander is Brig Gen David S. Eaglin.

Overview

On 8 September 1986, Seventh Air Force was activated at Osan Air Base in South Korea and assumed the mission of maintaining the fragile armistice on the Korean peninsula previously performed by the 314th Air Division.

Since then, both as U.S. Air Forces Korea, under the joint U.S. Forces Korea, and the U.S. Air Force component to the United States and Republic of Korea Combined Forces Command's Air Component Command, 7 AF has been an integral part of deterring aggression from North Korea. It develops the total air campaign and reinforcement plans for ROK defense and sustains mission readiness of 117 operational units and 8,300 U.S. Air Force personnel.

It operates in conjunction with United States Pacific Command (USPACOM), United Nations Command, U.S. Forces, Korea/Combined Forces Command and United States Forces Korea (USFK).

Units

Major units of Seventh Air Force are:
* 51st Fighter Wing, Osan Air Base, South Korea
( F-16 and A-10 squadrons)
* 8th Fighter Wing, Kunsan Air Base, South Korea
( F-16C/D)

Non-Flying Units (Osan Air Base)
* 607th Air and Space Operations Center
* 607th Air Support Group
* 607th Air Support Operations Group
* 607th Support Group

History

Origins

Formation of the Hawaiian Air Force

The United States Army Hawaiian Department was established on 6 February 1913, which formally established the presence of the Army in the Territory of Hawaii. The history of Seventh Air Force can be traced to the arrival of the 6th Aero Squadron, Aviation Section, Army Signal Corps, at Fort Kamehameha, Hawaii on 13 March 1917 under the Air Office, Hawaiian Department, which was established in 1916.

Airplanes assigned to the 6th Aero Squadron consisted of three Curtiss N-9 seaplanes which were single-engine biplanes carrying a crew of two and capable of a top speed of 70 miles an hour. Late in 1917 the U.S. Government purchased Ford Island in Pearl Harbor for use as an airport and by September 1918 the 6th Aero Squadron, by then composed of ten officers and a small group of enlisted men, moved to Ford Island.

The first inter-island flight occurred in February 1919 and by 1920 inter-island flights were used for training purposes. Early in 1920 the 4th Observation Squadron arrived at Ford Island, known by then as Luke Field, named for "balloon buster" Frank Luke who fell in action during World War I on the Western Front in 1918. Also by this time, Luke Field was used jointly by the aerial forces of the Army and Navy. The year 1920 marked a considerable advance in aviation in the Islands. The first night flight over Oahu took place on 30 June 1920.

Also air power began to take its place in the Hawaiian Department's military maneuvers. An aerial photo section joined other air units; the 23d Bombardment Squadron moved to Luke from March Field, California on 25 January 1923, and the 72d Bombardment Squadron was activated at Luke on 1 May 1923.

The first detachment of twenty men started clearing land south of Schofield Barracks for Wheeler Field in February 1922. This Field was named for Major Sheldon H. Wheeler, who had assumed command of Luke Field in 1920 and was killed in an air accident in 1921. By June 1923, Wheeler boasted six 112x200 foot hangars, three used for housing shops and three others for planes, plus four hangars used as warehouses, and oil storage tanks holding 50,000 gallons. Tents and huts housed the men. The First commander of Wheeler Field was Major George E. Stratemeyer, who by 1941 was a brigadier general and Acting Chief of the Army Air Corps.

The first known reforesting by plane was accomplished for the Department of Agriculture by a plane from Wheeler in 1926. The first non-stop Hawaiian flight from Oakland, California to Wheeler Field was made in June 1927 by L.J. Maitland and A.F. Hegenberger. (Navy Commander John Rodgers had set a non-stop seaplane record from San Francisco in 1925 and had fallen short of the mark for Honolulu, landing off the Island of Kauai), the famous Dole flight also took place in 1927, with Art Goebel and Lt. W. V. Davis, USN, the only fliers completing the flight to Hawaii.

During the period from 1917 to 1931, the military air component in Hawaii grew to seven tactical squadrons and two service squadrons. In 1931 the 18th Composite Wing was activated with headquarters at Fort Shafter, and was combined with the Air Office of the Hawaiian Department. The Hawaiian Air Depot was based at Luke Field. Since the Navy contemplated using the entire area available at Ford Island, plans for purchasing land adjacent to Pearl Harbor near Fort Kamehameha for construction of an airfield resulted in purchase by the U.S. Army on 20 February 1935 of this land from Faxon Bishop ''et al.'' for US$1,091~239.

Hickam Field was dedicated on 31 May 1935, named for Lt. Colonel Horace M. Hickam, C.O. 3rd Attack Group, killed 5 November 1934 at Ft. Crockett, Texas. The first detachment of 12 men (the 31st Bomb Squadron) arrived at Hickam on 1 September 1937 and was housed in tents. By September 1938, when the base was officially activated, the Hawaiian Air Depot began its move from Luke Field. The move was completed on 31 October 1940.

On 1 November 1940 the Hawaiian Air Force was established as a part of the general United States Army Air Corps expansion program of 1939/1940. It was organized and activated with headquarters at Fort Shafter – the first Army Air Forces outside the continental United States – moving to Hickam in July 1941. It consisted of two air base commands:
* 18th Bombardment Wing; Formerly 18th Composite Wing (B-10's) at Hickam Field
* 14th Pursuit Wing; Activated on 1 November 1940 (P-26's) at Wheeler Field

Aircraft strength at the beginning of the year 1941 consisted of 117 planes, mostly obsolete. In connection with defense plans for the Pacific, planes were brought to Hawaii throughout 1941 (principally P-36's and P-40's) by carrier. The first mass flight of Army bombers (21 B-17 Flying Fortresses) from Hamilton Field, California, arrived at Hickam on 13 May 1941. Nine of the 21 bombers were sent to Clark Field in September to begin a belated reinforcement of the Philippine Department. By 7 December 1941, the Hawaiian Air Force had been an integrated command for slightly more than one year under the command of Major General Frederick L. Martin, and consisted of 754 officers and 6,706 enlisted men with 231 military aircraft.

Order of Battle, 6 December 1941

The day before the Japanese Attack on Hawaii, and subsequent United States entry into World War II, the Hawaiian Air Force consisted of the following:

* 14th Pursuit Wing, Wheeler Field, Territory of Hawaii
: 15th Pursuit Group (Fighter), Wheeler Fld
:: 45th Pursuit Sqd (Fighter) ( P-36A)
:: 46th Pursuit Sqd (Fighter) (P-36A, P-40B)
:: 47th Pursuit Sqd (Fighter) (P-40B, P-36A)
:: 72d Pursuit Sqd (Interceptor) (none)
: 18th Pursuit Group (Interceptor), Wheeler Fld
:: 6th Pursuit Sqd (Interceptor) (P-40B)
:: 19th Pursuit Sqd (Interceptor) (P-40B, P-40C)
:: 44th Pursuit Sqd (Interceptor), Bellows Fld (P-40B, P-40C)
:: 73d Pursuit Sqd (Interceptor) (P-40B)
:: 78th Pursuit Sqd (Interceptor) (P-40B)

* 18th Bombardment Wing, Hickam Field, Territory of Hawaii
: 5th Bombardment Group (Heavy), Hickam Fld
:: 4th Reconnaissance Sqd (Heavy) (B-17, B-18)
:: 23d Bombardment Sqd (Heavy) (B-17, B-18)
:: 31st Bombardment Sqd (Heavy) (B-17, B-18)
:: 72d Bombardment Sqd (Heavy) (B-17, B-18)
: 11th Bombardment Group (Heavy), Hickam Fld
:: 26th Bombardment Sqd (Heavy) (B-17, B-18)
:: 42d Bombardment Sqd (Heavy) (B-17, B-18)
:: 50th Reconnaissance Sqd (Heavy) (B-17, B-18)

The B-17 squadrons were equipped with a mixture of B-17B, B-17C and B-17D models. Additional units assigned to Hawaiian Air Force on 6 December 1941 were:

* 19th Transport Sqd, Hickam Fld (C-33)
* 58th Bombardment Sqd (Light), Hickam Fld (A-20)
* 86th Observation Sqd, Bellows Fld (B-12, O-47, O-49)

In addition to the above units, during the night of 6–7 December 1941, another squadron, the 38th Reconnaissance Squadron of the 41st Bombardment Group, Davis-Monthan Field, Arizona, were en route to Hawaii with four B-17Cs and two B-17Es to reinforce the 18th Bombardment Wing.

Also, six B-17Es the 88th Reconnaissance Squadron, 7th Bombardment Group, were also en route to Hawaii from Hamilton Field, California, with a final destination of Clark Field, Luzon, Philippines.

These units were deploying due to the heightened tensions between the United States and the Empire of Japan. They arrived in Hawaii at the height of the attack on 7 December (radar operators mistakenly thought that the Japanese attack force was this flight arriving from California). Two of the B-17Es managed to land at a short fighter strip at Haleiwa, one B-17E set down on a golf course, one landed at Bellows Field and five B-17Cs and three B-17Es landed at Hickam under the strafing of Japanese planes.

World War II

Pearl Harbor Attack

The attack on Pearl Harbor or Hawaii Operation as it was called by the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters devastated the Hawaiian Air Force. Total Air Force casualties during the Japanese attack on 7 December were 163 killed. 43 missing, and 336 wounded, of which 121 killed, 37 missing, and 274 wounded were at Hickam Field. Out of a total of 231 aircraft of the Hawaiian Air Force, 64 were destroyed and not more than 79 were left usable. Some fighters were scrambled and managed to engage Japanese aircraft.

Seventh Air Force

On 5 February 1942, the Hawaiian Air Force was re-designated 7th Air Force.
* VII Bomber Command replaced the 18th Bombardment Wing
* VII Fighter Command replaced the 14th Pursuit Wing
* VII Base Command assumed responsibility for various base and service functions, along with the Hawaiian Air Depot. VII Air Force Base Command became VII Air Force Service Command under Brig. Gen. Walter J. Reed on 15 October 1942.Army Air Forces in World War II, Volume 4
page 288
/ref>

The 7th Air Force was redesignated Seventh Air Force on 18 September 1942

Re-equipping of the command after the Japanese attack on Oahu took a significant length of time. The re-equipped Seventh Air Force consisted of the following units:

In Hawaii the Seventh Air Force used the following military airfields. Some were operated solely by the AAF, others were jointly used with the United States Navy. Wartime images of these airfields are linked to their names as most of them were minimal facility landing fields.

* Bellows AAF, Oahu
* Haleiwa AAF, Oahu
* Hickam AAF, Oahu
* Hilo AAF/NAS, Hawaii
* Homestead Field AAF/Molokai NAF, Molokai
* Kahaku AAF, Oahu
* Kipapa Field AAF, Oahu
* Kualoa Field AAF, Oahu

* Mana AAF / Barking Sands NAAF, Kauai
* Mokuleia AAF, Oahu
* Suiter Field, Hawaii
: Joint USAAF/Navy

Waieli Strip AAF (Aux)
Oahu
* Wheeler AAF, Oahu

Wartime operations

Seventh Air Force retained the mission of its predecessor of the defense of the Hawaiian Islands and, until the closing months of the war, it maintained its headquarters at Hickam Field. Clarence L. Tinker, an Osage and career officer, was named Commander of the Seventh Air Force, and promoted to Major General in January 1942, the first Native American to reach that rank and the highest-ranking one in the Army. He led a force of B-24s during the Battle of Midway, and his plane went down in June 1942. No bodies were recovered.

In Hawaii, the command grew into a key position in the logistical organization of the Pacific war. One of the biggest elements of this organization was the Hawaiian Air Depot at Hickam, which served as an in-transit supply, repair, and modification center for force units scattered all the way to Australia. The Air Depot had to expand its activities, which in peacetime included assembly, repair, and reconditioning of aircraft, to handle large numbers of P-39s and P-40s. These were rushed out in crates for assembly, flight-testing, and delivery to forward-deployed combat units.

Seventh Air Force also became the hub of the Pacific aerial network. In addition to Depot functions, it supported the 4-engine all-weather transport used in ferrying troops, supplies, and evacuating wounded from forward areas. These transport planes were under the command of Pacific Division, Air Transport Command. The command also played a major role throughout the Pacific War as a training, staging, and supply-center for air and ground troops.

The command deployed most of its combat units to the Central Pacific, where operations were best summed up by its air and ground views as "Just one damned island after another!"

Seventh Air Force units deployed 2,000 miles southwest to the Gilbert Islands, then 600 miles northwest to the Marshall Islands, 900 miles west to the Caroline Islands, 600 miles northwest to the Mariana Islands, 600 miles north to Iwo Jima, 1,000 miles west to Okinawa, always edging closer towards the center of Japanese power. A map story of the Seventh Air Force would cover 3,000 miles north and south of Midway Atoll to Fiji, and 5,000 miles east and west from Pearl Harbor to the Ryukus. The combat record of its major units is as follows:

* The 15th Fighter Group was re-equipped after the Pearl Harbor attack and remained in Hawaii as part of the Hawaiian Defense Force, although rotated squadrons to the Central Pacific attached to Thirteenth Air Force groups. In April 1944, it received North American P-51 Mustang fighters and trained for long-range bomber escort missions. The group deployed to Iwo Jima in February 1945 and was reassigned to Twentieth Air Force for the remainder of the war. In November 1945 it returned to Hawaii and Seventh Air Force in November 1945.
* The 18th Fighter Wing was re-equipped after the Pearl Harbor attack, then was deployed to the Central Pacific and reassigned to Thirteenth Air Force. It began operations from Guadalcanal. Moving across the Pacific, at the end of the war, the group moved to Clark Field on Luzon and became a permanent part of Far East Air Forces after the war.
* The 21st Fighter Group was created in Hawaii in March 1944 and initially was part of the Hawaiian Defense Force flying Bell P-39 Airacobras. Re-equipped with P-51 Mustangs in January 1945 and trained for long-range bomber escort missions. The group deployed to Iwo Jima in February 1945. Was reassigned to Twentieth Air Force for the remainder of the war, being inactivated on Guam in April 1946.
* The 318th Fighter Group was created in Hawaii in May 1942 as part of the Hawaiian Defense Force flying P-39s, P-40s and later Republic P-47 Thunderbolts. Deployed to the Central Pacific being attached to Thirteenth Air Force in June 1944. Reassigned to Eighth Air Force in July 1945 in preparation for the Invasion of Japan. Returned to the United States in January 1946 and was inactivated.
* The 508th Fighter Group was created on 12 October 1944 at Peterson Field, Colorado. The group trained with P-47 Thunderbolts to provide very-long-range escort for Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombardment units in the Southwest Pacific Theater. The lack of significant Japanese fighter defense by late 1944 caused a change of mission and the group was reassigned to Seventh Air Force in Hawaii in January 1945 and served as part of the Hawaiian Defense Force. In Hawaii, the group also trained replacement pilots for other organizations, repaired P-47s and P-51s received from combat units, and ferried aircraft to forward areas. The unit was inactivated in Hawaii on 25 November 1945 when it replaced by the 15th Fighter Group.
* The 5th Bombardment Group was re-equipped after the Pearl Harbor attack with a mixture of B-17 Flying Fortresses and Consolidated B-24 Liberator bombers. The unit was engaged primarily in search and patrol missions off Hawaii from December 1941 to November 1942. In Hawaii, the group was used in the Battle of Midway to attack Japanese surface fleets. It was deployed to Espírito Santo in the Solomon Islands and served in combat with Thirteenth Air Force during the Allied drive from the Solomons to the Philippines. It was assigned to the Philippines in 1945 until the end of the war.
* The 11th Bombardment Group was re-equipped after the Pearl Harbor attack with B-24 Liberators and initially flew patrol missions around Hawaii. It was deployed to the New Hebrides in July 1942 where it became part of Thirteenth Air Force and engaged in combat operations in the central Pacific.
* The 30th Bombardment Group was reassigned to Seventh Air Force in October 1943 from March Field, California where it flew west coast antisubmarine patrols for Fourth Air Force. It was deployed to the Ellice Islands in the central Pacific during November 1943, where its B-24 Liberators took part in the invasion of the Gilbert Islands. Remaining part of Seventh Air Force, the group moved westward across the Pacific, taking part in several campaigns until returning to Wheeler Field, Hawaii in March 1945. From Wheeler, the group flew patrol missions until being inactivated in June 1946.
* The 41st Bombardment Group was formed at March Field, California in January 1941 and performed antisubmarine patrols along the west coast until deploying to Seventh Air Force in Hawaii during October 1943 for final overseas training. From Hawaii, the group deployed its North American B-25 Mitchell medium bombers to Tarawa