Gimhae Air Base is a

Republic of Korea Air Force The Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF; ), also known as the ROK Air Force or South Korean Air Force, is the Air force, aerial and Space force, space warfare service branch of South Korea, operating under the Ministry of National Defense (South K ...

(ROKAF) base adjacent to Gimhae International Airport. Runway 18L/36R is used for military purposes only.

Units

The base is home to the ROKAF's 5th Tactical Airlift Wing (제5전술공수비행단), comprising: * 251st Tactical Air Support Squadron flying the C-130H and C-130H-30 * 258th Tactical Support Squadron flying the CN235-100M and CN235-220M * 259th Tactical Air Support Squadron flying the UH-60P The ROKAF's 4 Boeing 737 AEW&C ''Peace Eye'' aircraft were all delivered to the base which is to be the home base for the aircraft. Until September 2010 a contingent of United States Air Force personnel of the 607th Materiel Maintenance Squadron served in a co-located operating base on Gimhae Air Base.

History

The base was originally established 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 ...

as Pusan West (K-1) Air Base and hosted

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

and

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

units. On 25 June 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. Following the passing of United Nations Security Council Resolution 83 on 27 June 1950, President Truman ordered US forces to defend the Republic of Korea. On 30 June 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. On 2 July the Battalion, known as Task Force Smith, boarded trains to

Taejon Daejeon (; ) is South Korea's fifth-largest metropolis, with a population of nearly 1.5 million. Located in a central lowland valley between the Sobaek Mountains and the Geum River, the city is known both as a technology and research cente ...

and was destroyed on 4 July in the

Battle of Osan The Battle of Osan () was the first engagement between the United States and North Korea during the Korean War. On July 5, 1950, Task Force Smith, an American task force of 540 infantry supported by an artillery battery, was moved to Osan, south ...

. On 7 July 1950 two L-5s and an SC-47 from the 3rd Air Rescue Squadron (3rd ARS) deployed to K-1 from Ashiya AB in Japan, but the aircraft proved unsuitable for the terrain and returned to Japan on 16 July. On 30 August, the 3rd ARS formally organized Detachment F, with six H-5s at K-1. Following the success of the

Inchon landing The Battle of Inchon (), also called Inchon landing, was an amphibious invasion and a battle of the Korean War that resulted in a decisive victory and strategic reversal in favor of the United Nations Command (UN). The operation involved some ...

Detachment F moved north to Seoul (K-16) Air Base. On 24 December 1950 the Air Defense Section of Marine Tactical Air Control Squadron 2 was deployed to K-1 to establish a tactical air command center. By April 1951 K-1 served as the headquarters of the First Marine Air Wing and

Marine Aircraft Group 12 Marine Aircraft Group 12 (MAG-12) is an active air group of the United States Marine Corps, tasked with providing fighter and assault support aircraft. It is currently part of the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing (1st MAW), itself an integral part of th ...

was based at K-1 to provide aircraft for combat missions and special missions.

VMA-513 Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 502 (VMFAT-502) is a United States Marine Corps fighter attack training squadron flying the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II. Known as the "Flying Nightmares", the squadron maintains the history of ''Mar ...

flying F7Fs and F4U-5Ns were flying out of K-1 and providing the sole night fighter air defense and interdiction support to all UN forces in Korea. On 31 May 1951 a US Navy R5D-3 #56513 hit a mountain at the end of the base killing all 5 passengers and crew. In November 1951 the 1903rd Aviation Engineer Battalion arrived at K-1 and relieved the First Marine Air Wing of all responsibilities for maintaining the base and runways. Maintenance responsibility was later assumed by the 366th Aviation Battalion. Tachikawa Ki-9 - Aircraft

From October to December 1952, the

17th Bombardment Wing 17 (seventeen) is the natural number following 16 and preceding 18. It is a prime number. 17 was described at MIT as "the least random number", according to the Jargon File. This is supposedly because, in a study where respondents were asked to ...

was based at K-1 to allow for the resurfacing of the

Pusan East (K-9) Air Base Pusan East (K-9) Air Base(동부산공군기지) was a United States Air Force (USAF) and Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) air base adjacent to the Suyeong River in Haeundae District, Busan, South Korea. It was redeveloped in the 1990s as Cen ...

runway from PSP to asphalt.

References

{{authority control South Korean airbases Korean War air bases