page_title: Kunsan Air Base
section_title: Cold War
hierarchical_section_title: Kunsan Air Base / History / Cold War
caption_attribution_description: English: F-4E Serial 67-0231 of the 16th Tactical Fighter Squadron - 354th TFW Kunsan Air Base, South Korea.
context_page_description: Kunsan K-8 Air Base is a United States Air Force base located at Gunsan Airport, on the west coast of the South Korean peninsula bordered by the Yellow Sea. It is located in the town of Gunsan, about 180 kilometres 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.
context_section_description: After hostilities ceased, the base began to draw down. The F-84 forces of the 49th Fighter-Bomber Wing left in November 1953, and by October 1954 the host unit of the base, the 3d Bombardment Wing, also departed. This left the base with a much-reduced mission. From 1953 to 1954, the 808th and 841st Engineering Aviation Battalions constructed what is today's main runway. For the next several years Kunsan merely hosted periodic rotations of fighter and light bomber squadrons, with base facilities maintained and operated by an air base group. During 1957 and 1958 the base hosted squadrons from Japan temporarily. During 1957–8 a Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) F-86 Sabre crashed into the Yellow Sea south of the base after having a flame out and a USAF F-100 Super Sabre crashed in the rice paddies north of the base. The base remained a radar site as a back up during this time to Osan, until the Radar site was turned over to the ROKAF in mid 1958. The Osan detachment on the base also maintained a radio relay site from a hill on the base. Then the base remained relatively dormant, hosting temporary deployments of flying units and serving as a safe haven base for aircraft evacuated from Okinawa and Guam during typhoons. In 1965, the ROKAF assigned a squadron of F-86 fighters to the base. This ROKAF unit was the only permanently assigned flying contingent at Kunsan until after the Pueblo incident in 1968.
  At an unknown date in this time frame, the US Army 38th Air Defense Artillery Brigade assigned Battery B, 6th Battalion, 44th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, a HAWK missile unit to the base. The Tactical Operations site was located on a hill just off the coast, but near the base. Its mission was to defend the base from air attack. The HAWK site and all hardware was turned over to the Korean Army sometime in the early 1990s.
  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. Under the command of Col. Jack Hayes F-4D Phantom IIs arrived at Kunsan on January 29, 1968 as part of Operation Combat Fox. In March Col. Hayes was replaced by Col. Chuck Yeager, the 4th remained in Korea until replaced by the 354th Tactical Fighter Wing. The 354th TFW consisting of the Kansas Air National Guard, the Ohio Air National Guard, (ANG) and a few members of the District of Columbia Air National Guard flying the F-100, arrived at Kunsan in July 1968, as part of the buildup of forces in Korea. In 1969 the wing began a transition from the F-100 to the F-4 Phantom. The 354th remained until June 1970, when the base again returned to hosting temporary deployments, such as the four-month activation of the 54th Tactical Fighter Wing from June through October 1970.
  The 3d Tactical Fighter Wing, previously designated the 3d Bombardment Wing, stationed at Kunsan in the early 1950s, arrived in March 1971 to assume control of the base. Like the 354th and 54th, the 3d Tactical Fighter Wing flew the F-4 Phantom. Aircraft came primarily from Misawa AB Japan, 475th Tactical Fighter Wing after it was inactivated and as were most of the personnel initially assigned to the 3rd TFW.  When it first activated in May, the wing contained the 35th, 36th and 80th Tactical Fighter Squadron. In September, the 36th TFS transferred to Osan AB.
  In September 1974 the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing, the "Wolf Pack," was transferred from Ubon Air Base, Thailand to replace the 3rd at Kunsan. The move took place in name only, as the 8th moved without personnel or equipment, absorbing all assets of the 3d Tactical Fighter Wing. This included the two flying squadrons, which continued to operate as the 35th and 80th Tactical Fighter Squadrons, reuniting the wing with two of its original squadrons.
  Since then, the 8th has continued to serve as host unit of Kunsan Air Base, continually improving the base's facilities over the years.
  In February 2018 it was announced that following the completion of construction of hangars and supporting facilities at the base, 12 MQ-1C Gray Eagle UAS' will be deployed 
caption: McDonnell Douglas F-4E-34-MC Phantom AF Serial No 67-0231 of the 16th Tactical Fighter Squadron on TDY from Eglin AFB Florida – Attached to 354th TFW at Kusan AB South Korea – April 1, 1970
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