Kunsan K-8 Air Base is a

United States Air Force base This is a list of installations operated by the United States Air Force located within the United States and abroad. Locations where the Air Force have a notable presence but do not operate the facility are also listed. Background The locatio ...

located at

Gunsan Airport Gunsan Airport () is an airport serving Gunsan, a city in the North Jeolla Province in South Korea. In 2019, 306,518 passengers used the airport. It shares its runway with Kunsan Air Base, which uses the same IATA and ICAO codes. Because Gunsa ...

, on the west coast of the

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

n peninsula bordered by the

Yellow Sea The Yellow Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean located between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula, and can be considered the northwestern part of the East China Sea. It is one of four seas named after common colour ter ...

. It is located in the town of Gunsan (also romanized as Kunsan), about south of

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the Capital city, capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the North Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea ...

. Kunsan Air Base is the home of the 8th Fighter Wing, "The Wolf Pack," assigned to the

Pacific Air Forces Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) is a Major Command (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force and is also the air component command of the United States Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM). PACAF is headquartered at Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam (f ...

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 ...

and the 38th Fighter Group of the

Republic of Korea Air Force The Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF; ko, 대한민국 공군; RR: ''Daehanminguk Gong-gun''), also known as the ROK Air Force or South Korean Air Force, is the aerial warfare service branch of South Korea, operating under the Ministry of N ...

. About 45 F-16 aircraft are stationed at the base. It is one of two major Air Force installations operated by the

United States Forces Korea United States Forces Korea (USFK) is a sub-unified command of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM). USFK is the joint headquarters for U.S. combat-ready fighting forces and components under the ROK/US Combined Forces Command (CFC) – a ...

, the other being

Osan Air Base Hanja:) , partof = , location = , nearest_town = Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province , country = South Korea , image = Osan Air Base 51 FW F-16 A-10 Flyby.jpg , alt = US Air Force F-16C Fighting Falcon and A ...

History

The history of Kunsan Air Base dates back to 1938, when

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

ese forces occupying Korea built a base near Kunsan for fighter-interceptor aircraft. The

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

first used the base in 1945, but on a very small scale. From 1945 to 1950, the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

and later the

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an ...

intermittently operated small detachments from Kunsan, with these detachments maintaining liaison aircraft. At most these detachments contained a handful of people. When the United States pulled its combat units out of the

Republic of Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its ea ...

in 1949, it left only a Military Assistance Advisory Group in the country, and the periodic detachments at Kunsan became even more infrequent.

Korean War

When the

Korean War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Korean War , partof = the Cold War and the Korean conflict , image = Korean War Montage 2.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Clockwise from top:{ ...

broke out on 25 June 1950, Kunsan Air Base had no United States flying units assigned. In their rapid advance, the invading

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

ns captured Kunsan Air Base on 13 July 1950. The 24th Infantry Division retook Kunsan in October 1950, and the Chinese intervention that winter failed to push far enough south to put Kunsan in jeopardy. United States forces first operated in significant numbers from the base in 1951. The first USAF unit to be assigned to the base was the

27th Fighter-Escort Wing 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has greatly symbolic associations in religion, mythology, s ...

, which arrived on 1 April 1951. The 27th Fighter Escort Wing was one of the first F-84 Thunderjet units to see combat action in Korea and earned numerous honors and awards for their combat record during the Korean War. Improvements to the base were needed, however, to accommodate jet fighters. The 27th FEW was reassigned at the end April and the Army's 808th Engineer Aviation Battalion built a runway to replace the sod runway constructed by Japanese. This runway was known as Taxiway Charlie (06/24). By August, construction had progressed to the point that heavier units could be based at Kusan and the USAF assigned the

3rd Bombardment Wing The 3rd Wing is a unit of the United States Air Force, assigned to the Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) Eleventh Air Force. It is stationed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska. The Wing is the largest and principal unit within 11th Air Forc ...

to Kunsan. The 3rd Bomb Wing consisting of the 8th, 13th and 90th Bomb Squadrons flew the B-26 Invader bomber during the war, remaining at Kunsan from August 1951 until October 1954. A

Marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military ...

aviation squadron,

VMF(N)-513 Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 502 (VMFAT-502) is a United States Marine Corps fighter attack training squadron flying the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II. Known as the "Flying Nightmares", the squadron maintains the history of ''Marin ...

, arrived in April 1952, and a few months later the base added the 474th Fighter-Bomber Group, which included three squadrons of F-84 fighters, bringing the total size of the operation to one wing, one group, and a Marine fighter squadron. The 474th bombed and strafed such targets as bunkers, troops, artillery positions, bridges, vehicles, airfields, and power plants, and sometimes escorted bombers that attacked munitions factories and other objectives. In April 1953, the 474th Fighter-Bomber Group returned to the United States and was replaced by the

49th Fighter-Bomber Wing "Thank God for Mississippi" is an adage used in the United States, particularly in the South, that is generally used when discussing rankings of U.S. states. Since the U.S. state of Mississippi commonly ranks at or near the bottom of such rankings ...

, also flying the F-84. During the Korean War, the large number of locations used for bases and the similarity of some geographical names prompted the Air Force to use alphanumeric identifiers for bases in addition to their proper designations. Under this system, each base in Korea received a "K number," simplifying positive identification when referring to the various bases. Kunsan received the number K-8, while

was also known as K-55.

Cold War

After hostilities ceased, the base began to draw down. The F-84 forces of the 49th Fighter-Bomber Wing left in November 1953, and by October 1954 the host unit of the base, the 3d Bombardment Wing, also departed. This left the base with a much-reduced mission. From 1953 to 1954, the 808th and 841st Engineering Aviation Battalions constructed what is today's main runway. For the next several years Kunsan merely hosted periodic rotations of fighter and light bomber squadrons, with base facilities maintained and operated by an air base group. During 1957 and 1958 the base hosted squadrons from Japan temporarily. During 1957–8 a

(ROKAF) F-86 Sabre crashed into the Yellow Sea south of the base after having a flame out and a USAF

F-100 Super Sabre The North American F-100 Super Sabre is an American supersonic jet fighter aircraft that served with the United States Air Force (USAF) from 1954 to 1971 and with the Air National Guard (ANG) until 1979. The first of the Century Series of U ...

crashed in the rice paddies north of the base. The base remained a radar site as a backup during this time to Osan, until the Radar site was turned over to the ROKAF in mid 1958. The Osan detachment on the base also maintained a radio relay site from a hill on the base. Then the base remained relatively dormant, hosting temporary deployments of flying units and serving as a safe haven base for aircraft evacuated from Okinawa and Guam during typhoons. In 1965, the ROKAF assigned a squadron of F-86 fighters to the base. This ROKAF unit was the only permanently assigned flying contingent at Kunsan until after the

Pueblo incident USS ''Pueblo'' (AGER-2) is a , attached to Navy intelligence as a spy ship, which was attacked and captured by North Korean forces on 23 January 1968, in what was later known as the "''Pueblo'' incident" or alternatively, as the "''Pueblo'' cri ...

in 1968.

At an unknown date in this time frame, the US Army 38th Air Defense Artillery Brigade assigned Battery B, 6th Battalion,

44th Air Defense Artillery Regiment The 44th Air Defense Artillery Regiment is an Air Defense Artillery regiment of the United States Army, first constituted in 1918 in the Regular Army during World War I. During World War II the unit served as the 54th Coast Artillery Regiment ...

, a

HAWK Hawks are birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are widely distributed and are found on all continents except Antarctica. * The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks and others. This subfa ...

missile unit to the base. The Tactical Operations site was located on a hill just off the coast, but near the base. Its mission was to defend the base from air attack. The HAWK site and all hardware was turned over to the Korean Army sometime in the early 1990s. After the USS ''Pueblo'' was captured by the North Koreans in January 1968 the 4th Tactical Fighter Wing deployed to Korea on January 25, 1968. Under the command of Col. Jack Hayes F-4D Phantom IIs arrived at Kunsan on January 29, 1968 as part of Operation Combat Fox. In March Col. Hayes was replaced by Col.

Chuck Yeager Brigadier General Charles Elwood Yeager ( , February 13, 1923December 7, 2020) was a United States Air Force officer, flying ace, and record-setting test pilot who in October 1947 became the first pilot in history confirmed to have exceeded the ...

, the 4th remained in Korea until replaced by the

354th Tactical Fighter Wing The 354th Fighter Wing is a United States Air Force wing that is part of Pacific Air Forces (PACAF). It is the host wing at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, and is assigned to the Eleventh Air Force (11 AF). The wing replaced the 343d Fighter Wi ...

. The 354th TFW consisting of the Kansas Air National Guard, the Ohio Air National Guard, (ANG) and a few members of the

District of Columbia Air National Guard The District of Columbia Air National Guard (DC ANG) is the aerial militia and Air Force reserve organization of the District of Columbia, United States of America. It is, along with the District of Columbia Army National Guard, an element of the ...

flying the F-100, arrived at Kunsan in July 1968, as part of the buildup of forces in Korea. In 1969 the wing began a transition from the F-100 to the F-4 Phantom. The 354th remained until June 1970, when the base again returned to hosting temporary deployments, such as the four-month activation of the

54th Tactical Fighter Wing The 54th Tactical Fighter Wing is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the Pacific Air Forces Fifth Air Force, at Kunsan Air Base, South Korea where it was inactivated on 31 October 1970. During World War II, ...

from June through October 1970. The 3d Tactical Fighter Wing, previously designated the 3d Bombardment Wing, stationed at Kunsan in the early 1950s, arrived in March 1971 to assume control of the base. Like the 354th and 54th, the 3d Tactical Fighter Wing flew the F-4 Phantom. Aircraft came primarily from Misawa AB Japan,

475th Tactical Fighter Wing The 475th Air Base Wing is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last duty station was at Yokota Air Base, Japan, where it was inactivated on 1 April 1992. A non-flying wing, the wing's mission at Yokota was to perform host unit missi ...

after it was inactivated and as were most of the personnel initially assigned to the 3rd TFW. When it first activated in May, the wing contained the 35th, 36th and 80th Tactical Fighter Squadron. In September, the 36th TFS transferred to Osan AB. In September 1974 the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing, the "Wolf Pack," was transferred from Ubon Air Base,

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

to replace the 3rd at Kunsan. The move took place in name only, as the 8th moved without personnel or equipment, absorbing all assets of the 3d Tactical Fighter Wing. This included the two flying squadrons, which continued to operate as the 35th and 80th Tactical Fighter Squadrons, reuniting the wing with two of its original squadrons. Since then, the 8th has continued to serve as host unit of Kunsan Air Base, continually improving the base's facilities over the years. In February 2018 it was announced that following the completion of construction of hangars and supporting facilities at the base, 12

MQ-1C Gray Eagle The General Atomics MQ-1C Gray Eagle (previously the Warrior; also called Sky Warrior and ERMP or Extended-Range Multi-Purpose) is a medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) unmanned aircraft system (UAS). It was developed by General Atomics Ae ...

UAS' will be deployed to Kunsan in March/April 2018.

Major Commands

* US Army Pacific Air Command, (1946–47) * Far East Air Forces, (1947–57) *

, (1957–present)

Base operating units

* 27th Fighter-Escort Wing, (April – May 1951) * 931st Engineering Aviation Group (May – August 1951) * 3d Bombardment Wing (August 1951 – September 1954) * 6170th Air Base Group (September 1954 – April 1956) * 6170th Air Base Squadron (April 1956 – March 1959) * 6175th Air Base Group (March 1959 – August 1968) * 354th Tactical Fighter Wing (August 1968 – June 1970) * 6175th Air Base Group (June 1970 – March 1971) * 3d Tactical Fighter Wing (March 1971 – September 1974) * 8th Fighter Wing (September 1974 – present)

Major USAF units assigned

(April 1951) *

3d Bombardment Wing 3-D, 3D, or 3d may refer to: Science, technology, and mathematics Relating to three-dimensionality * Three-dimensional space ** 3D computer graphics, computer graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data ** 3D film, a ...

(August 1951 – October 1954) * 474th Fighter-Bomber Wing (July 1952 – April 1953) *

(April – November 1953) *

(July 1968 – June 1970) *

(June – October 1970) *

3d Tactical Fighter Wing The 3rd Wing is a unit of the United States Air Force, assigned to the Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) Eleventh Air Force. It is stationed at Joint Base Elmendorf–Richardson, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska. The Wing is the largest and ...

(March 1971 – September 1974) * 8th Fighter Wing (September 1974–present) Kunsan has provided support for

F-84G Thunderjet The Republic F-84 Thunderjet was an American turbojet fighter-bomber aircraft. Originating as a 1944 United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) proposal for a "day fighter", the F-84 first flew in 1946. Although it entered service in 1947, the Thun ...

, B-26 Invader, F-86 Sabre, RF-100 Super Sabre, RB-57 Canberra,

F-4 Phantom II The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is an American tandem two-seat, twin-engine, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor and fighter-bomber originally developed by McDonnell Aircraft for the United States Navy.Swanborough and ...

, and

F-16 Fighting Falcon The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is a single-engine multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it evolved into a successf ...

operations.

Based Units

Flying and notable non-flying units based at Kunsan Air Base. Units marked GSU are Geographically Separate Units, which although based at Kunsan, are subordinate to a parent unit based at another location.

United States Air Force

(PACAF) *

** 8th Fighter Wing *** Headquarters 8th Fighter Wing *** 8th Operations Group **** 8th Operations Support Squadron **** 35th Fighter Squadron – F-16C/D – Fighting Falcon **** 80th Fighter Squadron – F-16C/D – Fighting Falcon *** 8th Maintenance Group ****8th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron ****8th Maintenance Squadron ****8th Maintenance Operations Squadron *** 8th Mission Support Group ****8th Civil Engineer Squadron ****8th Communications Squadron ****8th Force Support Squadron ****8th Logistics Readiness Squadron ****8th Security Forces Squadron *** 8th Medical Group ****8th Medical Operations Squadron ****8th Medical Support Squadron

Air Mobility Command Air Mobility Command (AMC) is a major command (MAJCOM) of the U.S. Air Force. It is headquartered at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, east of St. Louis, Missouri. Air Mobility Command was established on 1 June 1992, and was formed from elemen ...

(AMC) * United States Air Force Expeditionary Center **

515th Air Mobility Operations Wing The 515th Air Mobility Operations Wing is part of Air Mobility Command stationed at Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam, Hawaii. It was activated in 2008. It coordinates logistical air movements into, out of, and throughout the Pacific. It is part ...

*** 515th Air Mobility Operations Group ****

731st Air Mobility Squadron The 731st Air Mobility Squadron (731 AMS) is an air mobility squadron of the United States Air Force based at Osan Air Base in South Korea. It is part of the 515th Air Mobility Operations Group, based at Yokota Air Base, Japan and the 515th Air Mo ...

***** Operating Location Alpha (GSU)

United States Army

US Army Pacific (USARPAC) Eighth Army *

94th Army Air and Missile Defense Command The 94th Army Air and Missile Defense Command (94th AAMDC) is an activated (at Fort Shafter on 16 October 2005) Air Defense Artillery command of the United States Army assigned to United States Army Pacific. It is headquartered at Joint Base Pea ...

** 35th Air Defense Artillery Brigade *** 2nd Battalion, 1st Air Defense Artillery Regiment –

MIM-104 Patriot The MIM-104 Patriot is a surface-to-air missile (SAM) system, the primary of its kind used by the United States Army and several allied states. It is manufactured by the U.S. defense contractor Raytheon and derives its name from the radar comp ...

* 65th Medical Brigade ** US Army Medical Materiel Center-Korea *** 25th Transportation Battalion

Republic of Korea Air Force

Air Force Operations Command * Air Combat Command ** 38th Fighter Group *** 111th Fighter Squadron (111대대) – F-16C/D and KF-16C/D

References

*
USAAS-USAAC-USAAF-USAF Aircraft Serial Numbers—1908 to present
* Some of the text in this article was taken from pages on th
Kunsan Air Base website
which as a work of the U.S. Government is presumed to be a public domain resource. That information was supplemented by: * Endicott, Judy G. (1999) Active Air Force wings as of 1 October 1995; USAF active flying, space, and missile squadrons as of 1 October 1995. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. CD-ROM. * Fletcher, Harry R. (1989) Air Force Bases Volume II, Active Air Force Bases outside the United States of America on 17 September 1982. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. * Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. . * Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). Air Force Combat Wings Lineage and Honors Histories 1947–1977. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. . * Rogers, Brian (2005). United States Air Force Unit Designations Since 1978. Hinkley, England: Midland Publications. . * Thompson, Warren (2000). B-26 Invader Units over Korea. Osprey Publishing * Thompson, Warren (2001). F-80 Shooting Star Units over Korea. Osprey Publishing

External links

Kunsan Air Base
official U.S. Air Force website

* * {{authority control Installations of the United States Air Force in South Korea Gunsan Airports established in 1938 Buildings and structures in North Jeolla Province Korean War air bases 1938 establishments in Korea