Kunsan Air Base

CHECK OUT PART OF THE WOLF PACK’S VAST HISTORY THROUGH THE KOREAN WAR!

The 8th Fighter Wing also known as the Wolf Pack has an illustrious and storied history. That heritage extends through the duration of the Korean War in the 1950s when the then, 8th Fighter Bomber Wing conducted combat operations over Korea.

The wing was stationed at Itazuke Air Base, Japan at the beginning of the Korean War. On the third day of hostilities, the wing’s F-82G Twin Mustang aircraft provided cover for transports evacuating U.S. citizens when North Korean fighters were sighted over Kimpo, South Korea. The Twin Mustangs scored the first aerial victories of the war. This action was followed by another first, as F-80C Shooting Star aircraft from the 35th and 80th Fighter Bomber Squadrons shot down four enemy attack aircraft marking the first ever confirmed aerial victories for U.S. jet aircraft.

The 8th Fighter Bomber Group and the squadrons moved to South Korea on August 11, 1950. The 35th and 36th Fighter Bomber Squadrons converted to F-51D Mustangs as these aircraft could operate from austere airfields and consumed less fuel than jet aircraft. Our F-80s and F-51s provided close air support for United Nations’ ground forces during the Battle of the Pusan Perimeter. After U.N. forces pushed into North Korea, the 8th Fighter Bomber Group conducted operations from Pyongyang, North Korea in late November of 1950.

Operations would have to resume from Japan after Chinese Communist forces drove allied troops south beyond the 38th parallel in December 1950. It was at this time that the wing converted back to the F-80 Shooting Stars.

The wing moved to Suwon Air Base, South Korea in mid-1951, the wing continued to provide close air support and interdiction missions to take out targets deep in enemy territory.

One of the heroes of the Korean War, Major Charles Loring Jr. conducted a mission in 1952 to provide close air support to eliminate enemy gun positions. After taking heavy fire, he intentionally dove his crippled F-80 Shooting Star into an enemy gun position on Sniper Ridge eliminating the threat. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor and is one of only four U.S. Air Force Medal of Honor recipients during the Korean War. As combat operations dwindled, the wing converted to F-86F Sabre aircraft at the end of the war before the armistice was signed in July of 1953.

The Wolf Pack continues to play a critical role in the Pacific and in the defense of the United States of America and her allies. Today, countless individuals all over the world continue to hold admiration and respect for the Wolf Pack heritage.

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Credit: Staff Sgt. Anthony Hetlage

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