Kunsan Air Base

History

Kunsan Air Base (K-8) (Korean: 군산공군기지) is a United States Air Force base located at Gunsan Airport, on the west coast of the Korean Peninsula bordered by the Yellow Sea. It is located in the town of Gunsan (also romanized as Kunsan), about 180 kilometres (110 mi) south of Seoul.

Kunsan Air Base is the home of the 8th Fighter Wing, "The Wolf Pack," assigned to the Pacific Air Forces Seventh Air Force and the 38th Fighter Group of the Republic of Korea Air Force. 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, the other being Osan Air Base.

Text from Wikipedia: Kunsan Air Base, CC BY-SA 4.0, lightly trimmed.

Key dates

1. 1945
   The United States first used the base in 1945, but on a very small scale.
2. 1950
   When the Korean War broke out on 25 June 1950, Kunsan Air Base had no United States flying units assigned.
3. 1951
   United States forces first operated in significant numbers from the base in 1951.
4. 1951
   The first USAF unit to be assigned to the base was the 27th Fighter-Escort Wing, which arrived on 1 April 1951.
5. 1952
   On 10 July 1952 the 474th Fighter-Bomber Group, which included three squadrons of F-84 fighters established its command post at Kunsan and began operations on 1 August.
6. 1957
   During 1957 and 1958 the base hosted squadrons from Japan temporarily.
7. 1968
   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.

Dates and events quoted from the same Wikipedia article (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Records that place someone at this base

A base history doesn't name everyone who served. These records do:

• Morning reports (include Army Air Forces units)
• Search Army and AAF morning reports, 1912–1946 (National Archives Catalog)
• Air Force organizational records and lineage (AFHRA)

More history

• Air Force Historical Research Agency
• Wikipedia: Kunsan Air Base