Kunsan Air Base -- How It Was...
Caretaker Period, Pueblo Incident, and Nuclear Alerts

• Caretaker Period (1954-1971)
  • 1954 -- 6170th ABG; Christmas Menu; Czech/Polish UN Inspectors cause protests at Main Gate
  • 1955 -- 8th FBG Deployment
  • 1957 -- Name change to 6175th Air Base Group (1957-1965)
  • 1958 -- 8th FBG Deployment
  • 1959 -- 6175th Air Base Group (1957-1959) -- A base that has gone to seed; Commentary of John Moench's book
  • 1960 -- AFRTS Kunsan (1960-1961); New dorms and dining hall 6175th ABG; 6175th Security Police; panoramic photos of Kunsan City; Fall of Syngman Rhee's First Republic
  • 1961 -- ROC Missions from Kunsan; ROK Military Coup and fall of Second Republic
  • 1962 -- Cuban Missile Crisis tensions world-wide
  • 1963 -- Park Chung-Hee sets up "civilian" government
  • 1964 -- ROC Missions from Kunsan (U-2 missions over China); 6175th Security Police (1964-1965)
  • 1965 -- 6175th Civil Engineer Squadron (1965-1966) On-base facilities; SOFA established
  • 1966 -- Off-base conditions; Train guard duty
  • 1967 -- "Field Days" illustrating conditions prior to Pueblo Incident
  • 1968 -- Pueblo Incident: 4th TFW arrives; Tent City; Off-base pipeline; 47th ARRS (Pedro); ROKAF Helicopter Support; Flightline; Facilities and Housing; C-pad and Christmas Tree Area; On-base POL operations; Road to Kunsan; Off-base bars
  • 1969 -- Construction of Arches started
    • 557th CES (HR) Red Horse (Apr 68 - Nov 69)
  • 1970 -- Kunsan-Seoul air route; Building of America-town (A-town)
    
    
  • ROK Air Force Detachment (1953-1957)
    38th Tactical Fighter Group/111th TFS (1958-Present)
    
    • Early ROKAF - Original ROKAF Aircraft - Training Problems
      
    • ROKAF at Kunsan in 1960s - F-86F Specifications
      
    • ROKAF at Kunsan in 1970s & 1980s - Transition to F-4D/E - F-5A/B & F-5E Tiger II
      
    • ROKAF into the new Millenium - 38th Fighter Group - Differences in Defense/Offensive Strategies
      
    • Changes - North Korea - Nuclear Weapons - Changes in "Little Brother" Attitude - New Programs
      
    
    
    
    
  

• Pueblo Crisis (Jan 1968 - Jul 1968)
  • 475th Tactical Fighter Wing (Jan 68 - Feb 68: Pueblo Crisis)
    
  • 4th Tactical Fighter Wing (Jan 68 - Jul 68) -- Buildup at Kunsan and Kwangju
    
    
    
    
  • 354th Tactical Fighter Wing (Jul 68 - Jun 70) -- F-100 ANG units and Interim Deployed Units
    
  • 54th Tactical Fighter Wing (Jul 70 - Oct 70)
    
  

• Nuclear Alert
  • 3rd Bomb Group (Aug 58 - Apr 64) (Yokota AB, Japan)
    
    
    
  • 39th Air Division (Apr 60- Jul 64) (416th TFS/531st TFS: Misawa AB, Japan)
    
  • Misawa Deployments/Detachments (Jun 64- Mar 71)
    
    • 27th TFW Squadrons (Deployed to Misawa) (Jun 1964 - Jun 1965) (523 TFS/524th TFS: Cannon AFB, New Mexico)
      
    • 356th TFS (39th Air Division, Misawa) (Mar 1965 - Jan 1968)
      
    • 3rd TFW Squadrons (Deployed to Misawa) (Feb 1965 - Jun 1966) (90 TFS/416th TFS: England AFB, Florida)
      
    • 401st TFW Squadrons (Misawa Deployment) (May 1966 - Sep 1966) (612th TFS/614th TFS/615th TFS)
      
    • Det 1 347th TFW (Dec 67 - Jan 68)
      
  • Detachment 1, 475th Tactical Fighter Wing (Jan 1968 - Mar 1971) - (67th TFS/356th TFS/391st TFS) Special thanks to Bruce Charles for his narrative account of the Det 1 475th TFW.
    
  • 347th Tactical Fighter Wing (Feb 1971-Mar 1971) -- (35th TFS/36th TFS/80th TFS)
    
    

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