The 6167th Air Base Group is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last duty assignment was at K-16 (Seoul Airport),

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

during the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

History

Formed from the 6167th Air Base Unit in October 1950 to operate flare aircraft, psychological operations, and behind-the-lines agent insertions and resupply drops during the war. Its designation served as a cover for its actual special operations activities Its 6167th Operations Squadron was augmented by aircrews from the Clark AB, Philippines-based 581st Air Resupply and Communications Wing (581st ARCW), a cover designation for a special operations unit. Aircraft operated were the B-26 Invader,

C-46 Commando The Curtiss C-46 Commando is a low-wing, twin-engine aircraft derived from the Curtiss CW-20 pressurized high-altitude airliner design. Early press reports used the name "Condor III" but the Commando name was in use by early 1942 in company ...

, and

C-47 The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota ( RAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II. During the war the C-47 was used for troo ...

s. Two SA-16 Albatrosses were sent to K-16 (Seoul Airport) in South Korea by the 581st ARCW to augment B Flight of the 6167th Air Base Group. In addition, four

Sikorsky H-19 The Sikorsky H-19 Chickasaw (company model number S-55) is a multi-purpose piston-engined helicopter that was used by the United States Army and United States Air Force. It was also license-built by Westland Aircraft as the Westland Whirlwin ...

A helicopters were also forward deployed to K-16 in support of the 2157th Air Rescue Squadron (in fact, they were colocated with the 2157th but actually supported B Flight, as did the two SA-16s). Combined Command Reconnaissance Activities, Korea (CCRAK) maintained Operational Control of these forces and employed them into

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

along with B Flight and Special Air Missions detachment aircraft. The 6167th Operations Squadron operated C-47s and B-26s, equipped for both leaflet drops and psychological warfare voice missions. In 1952–1953, almost all flying operations were nighttime missions and included occasional drops of very young teenaged Korean nationals whose parents were well paid to allow their children to parachute into North Korea. Their assignments were to visually obtain strategic intelligence on production facilities, transportation, troop placement, and other specifics. They were to walk back to the battle lines and, using passwords, pass through to deliver the intelligence gathered to the proper US military authorities. The 6167th Air Base Group was redesignated the 6167th Air Base Squadron and activated at Kimpo Air Base (K-14) near Seoul ROK. The unit was discontinued when Kimpo Air Base closed in the 1970s. The old air base is now part of Kimpo (sometimes translated as Gimpo) International Airport, Gangseo District, Seoul, South Korea.

References

* Thigpen, Jerry L. (2001). The Praetorian STARShip: The untold story of the Combat Talon. Air University Press, Maxwell AFB, Alabama. ASIN: B000116LSI Four digit groups of the United States Air Force United States Air Force units and formations in the Korean War Special operations units of the United States Air Force {{USAF-stub

History

See also

References