Daegu Air Base, Daegu, Republic of Korea - Part 1

After a LONG trip around the world, I landed in Daegu, South Korea some 20 hours after I left North Carolina on October 6^th, 2015.  My co-workers (all 5 of them) were waiting for me at the airport, loaded me and my bags up and drove the last 10 minutes to the place I would call home for the next year.  The one thing that I absolutely loved there, we were such a small presence, we would meet our new arrivals at the airport just as they had done for me.  That was an amazing aspect of this small, close-knit POL family that we had there!  I found myself at the forefront of this little shop with a huge mission.  I was assigned to the 607^th MMS (Material Maintenance Squadron) where our motto was “Just Turn the Key.” 

We all lived in Daegu but also were the caretakers of 3 additional bases spread all over the Korean peninsula with bases in Daegu, Busan, Suwon, and Gwangju.  All 4 bases were in a standby caretaker status but would be very vital to the United States if a conflict were to ever break out again between North and South Korea.  We had contractors on each of the bases and we would spend time at each site for a few days each month to make sure the bases could be opened up at a moment’s notice if and whenever necessary.  The 607th Materiel Maintenance Squadron maintains assets across these four co-located operating bases (Daegu, Gimhae, Gwangju and Suwon) and oversees the reception and bed-down of outside units to these locations. One thing won’t change. In wartime, it would still be the Airmen of the 607^th MMS who would get each of the bases ramped up for war — unlocking and organizing the ammunition, fuel, medical supplies, vehicles, forklifts and other equipment needed to set up a combat air base.

The United States has engaged in four military occupations after World War II and the one in Korea was both the shortest and by most accounts, the least successful. At the end of WWII, the country of Korea was divided in 1948 at the 38^th Parallel, with backing from the US sponsored ROK in the south and the Soviet-sponsored Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) in the north. The Korean War started on June 25^th, 1950 when North Korea invaded South Korea. It ended unofficially on July 27^th, 1953 in an armistice. The agreement created the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) to separate North and South Korea, and allowed the return of prisoners. However, no peace treaty was ever signed, and the two Koreas are technically still at war, engaged in a frozen conflict. To this day, the leaders of North and South Korea are still in an on again/off again process to work toward a treaty and formally end the Korean War. A little Korean War history about each of the bases that we maintained:

Daegu - At the outbreak of the Korean War, the airfield consisted of a dirt and gravel runway and two concrete buildings. The airfield was designated by the USAF as K-2. The airfield was used as part of the Bout One project, an emergency program to train Republic of Korea Air Force pilots to fly the F-51 Mustang. The Bout One planes provided close air support to the U.S. 24th Infantry Division through July 1950. On 10 July 1950, the Bout One force was re-designated as the 51st Fighter Squadron and was merged into the 12th Fighter-Bomber Squadron on August 4^th. Taegu Airfield was abandoned following the North Korean attack on Taegu in mid-August 1950, but USAF units began reoccupying the base by September 23^rd, 1950.

Suwon - This base was originally established during the Korean War as Suwon (K-13) Air Base and hosted United States Air Force units. The base was evacuated on the night of June 30^th, 1950 in the face of the Korean People's Army (KPA) attack, but the base was not occupied by the KPA until July 2^nd, 1950. The base was recaptured on September 24^th, 1950; the base was again evacuated in the face of the Chinese Third Phase Campaign on January 5^th, 1951 and the base's buildings were destroyed. The base was recaptured on January 28^th as part of Operation Thunderbolt and by March 6^th, despite its poor condition, the base was used for the staging of F-86 patrols along the Yalu River and Mig Alley.

Gwangju - Though I haven’t been able to find much Korean War history pertaining to this base, Gwangju (K-7) is 150 miles south of Seoul. It was an active-duty US Air Force base until the ownership of it was turned over to the Republic of Korea in 1991. The ROK subsequently used the airfield as a base and airport in Kwang Ju City, the 5th largest city in the South Korea. The US Air Force continued to maintain nearly 250 acres of the base. The continued US presence was part of the potential forward deployment of US military personnel and equipment in a wartime scenario. In peacetime the base is normally used for training by South Korean Air Force units and US Air Force units on a regular basis.

Gimhae - The base was originally established during the Korean War as Pusan West (K-1) Air Base and hosted United States Air Force and United States Marine Corps units. On June 25^th, 1950, 10 divisions of the North Korean People's Army attacked the Republic of Korea. The North Koreans quickly overwhelmed the South Korean Army and moved south. On June 30^th, 1950 C-54s of the Fifth Air Force began transporting a battalion of the 24th Infantry Division from Itazuke Air Base to K-1, however the weight of the C-54s damaged the runway and later flights were made using C-47s. By April 1951 K-1 served as the headquarters of the First Marine Air Wing and Marine Aircraft Group 12 was based at K-1 to provide aircraft for combat missions and special missions.

To be continued……..