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The United States Air Forces marks its 66th Birthday: September 18, 2013

  • Published
  • By Robert Vanderpool
  • 8th Fighter Wing Historian
OSAN AIR BASE, Republic of Korea --  On July 26, 1947, President Harry S. Truman signed into law the National Security Act of 1947 which established the Air Force as a separate service of the United States military under the newly established Department of the Air Force. The National Security Act of 1947 stated that the Air Force "shall be organized, trained, and equipped primarily for prompt and sustained offensive and defensive air operations" beginning no more than 60 days after the law was enacted. With the swearing in of W. Stuart Symington as the first Secretary of the Air Force on Sept. 18, 1947, the Air Force was born making it the youngest of all the United States' military services. General Carl A. Spaatz was sworn in as the first Air Force Chief of Staff eight days later on Sept. 26th.

Air Force operations on the Korean Peninsula began two years before the Air Force became an independent service, dating back to the end of World War II with the U.S. Army's Far East Air Forces' (today's Pacific Air Forces) 308th Bombardment Wing. The 308th was ordered to Seoul on Sept. 22, 1945, to assume occupation duties as part of the American military efforts to de-militarize Japanese forces in Korea, becoming the first of many Air Force units to be stationed in Korea establishing a continuous Air Force presence on the peninsula which remains today, 68 years later.

The Air Force was nearly three years old when it suffered its first aircraft loss on the opening day of the Korean War on June 25, 1950, when North Korean fighter planes attacked the airfields at Seoul and Kimpo, destroying an Air Force C-54 Skymaster transport on the ground while it was parked for maintenance. Air Force aircraft dominated the sky three years later when the armistice agreement was signed on July 27, 1953. By the time open hostilities over the Korean Peninsula drew to a pause, the United States' youngest military service had flown more than 720,000 sorties, had destroyed more than 2,100 enemy aircraft, had produced 38 aces, and 4 Airmen had been awarded the nation's highest military award, the Medal of Honor. Nearly 44,000 Airmen served in Korea during the conflict with an additional 66,000 serving in theatre from Japan.

Today, Air Force operations on the Korean Peninsula continue under the guidance of Seventh Air Force, the Air Force's oldest Numbered Air Force dating back to Nov. 1, 1940. Seventh Air Force's primary responsibilities are to organize, train, and equip the warfighting forces that support the Air Component Command assigned to the Combined Forces Command; and to perform missions that support United Nations Command armistice maintenance. Seventh Air Force accomplishes these missions primarily through the operational efforts of the 8th Fighter Wing "Wolf Pack" and the 51st Fighter Wing "Mustangs" and their subordinate units; in addition to a number of other Air Force units stationed across the Korean Peninsula.

Seventh Air Force first came to Korea on Sept. 8, 1986, when the unit reactivated at Osan Air Base after an 11 year inactivation period having previously served as the primary combat command for Air Force operations during the Vietnam War between 1966 and 1975 from South Vietnam and Thailand. Both the 8th Fighter Wing and the 51st Fighter Wing had previously served in the Korean Theatre during the Korean War from bases located throughout both Korea and Japan. The 8th Fighter Wing returned to the Korean Peninsula on Sept. 16, 1974, as the host unit at Kunsan Air Base after completing nine years of combat operations during the Vietnam War while being based out of Ubon, Thailand. The 51st Fighter Wing returned to the Korean Peninsula on Nov. 1, 1971 as the host unit at Osan Air Base after a brief inactivation period and a lengthy stint based out of Okinawa, Japan.

For the past 66 years since becoming an independent and in the years immediately before, the Air Force has continued to stand together with its Korean Allies on the Korean Peninsula as a vital component of the combined commitment to maintaining the armistice agreement, to deterring aggression from North Korea, and to remaining ever vigilant and ready to fight and win tonight. Airmen across the Korean Peninsula and around the world everyday continue to contribute to and build upon the proud Air Force traditions and legacies established by the generations of Airmen who have come before them. Happy 66th Birthday to the United States Air Force!