page_title: Osan Air Base
section_title: Post-Cold War
hierarchical_section_title: Osan Air Base / History / Post-Cold War
caption_attribution_description: U-2s boast new, improved cockpit The improved U-2S Dragon Lady, Block 20, aircraft taxis to the runway at Osan Air Base, South Korea, followed by a high-performance chase car. Osan AB was the last forward operating location to receive the new Block 20 aircraft.
context_page_description: Osan Air Base, is a United States Air Force base located near Songtan Station in the city of Pyeongtaek, South Korea, 64 km south of Seoul. Despite its name, Osan AB is not within Osan City, which is 7.5 km to the north. The base is the home of the Pacific Air Forces' 51st Fighter Wing, and a number of tenant units, including the headquarters for Seventh Air Force. The base is also the headquarters of the Republic of Korea Air Force Operations Command. Osan Air Base is also the departure and arrival point for U.S. government-contracted "Patriot Express" flights bringing service members and their family members to South Korea from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in the U.S. state of Washington, Misawa Air Base and Yokota Air Base in Japan.
  As the most forward deployed permanently based wing in the Air Force, and equipped with A-10 Thunderbolt IIs and F-16 Fighting Falcons, the 51st Fighter Wing is charged with executing combat operations, receiving follow-on forces and defending the base from attack.
context_section_description: While the face of Osan AB slowly changed in replacing its 40-year-old Korean War-vintage structures, the base experienced a lengthy period with little or no military construction program projects. However, other funding sources allowed base officials to add community-type facilities. Arrival of the 25th Fighter Squadron and its A/OA-10s in October 1993 and two MIM-104 Patriot batteries in May 1994 also necessitated some new construction. Other than these events, base officials primarily concentrated on improvements in facility protection due to the threat from North Korea's reliance on medium-range SCUD missiles. Annual runway repairs furthermore only attested to the aging of Osan AB as the base witnessed only modest changes in its structural appearance during the 1990s.
  It was not until 1998 that HQ PACAF renewed emphasis on improving the base's support structure. Increasing infrastructure failures seriously detracted the 51st Fighter Wing from conducting its deterrence mission. HQ PACAF subsequently provided the base with funds under the "Fix Korea Initiative." More than $200 million was invested in upgrading or replacing the water, sewage and electrical distribution systems over the following six years. Additionally, mid- and long-range plans for the base foresaw a dramatic facelift of Osan AB that included new on-base family housing, new community-support facilities, and replacement of many industrial structures that supported the 51st FW mission.
  As South Korea's military grew and matured into a formidable force by the late 1990s, political and military leaders from both countries reexamined the role of U.S. forces based on the peninsula. A major change in U.S. strategic policy coinciding with the 9/11 terrorist attacks required a "transformation" of global U.S. military commitments and basing. The military had to adapt from a fixed, in-garrison-type force to a mobile, responsive force. For its part, U.S. Forces in Korea studied how technological advances in weaponry could mitigate a reduction in personnel while the ROK military forces carried out an increasing role to protect its sovereignty. The result of this effort led to the landmark agreement known as the Land Partnership Plan in 2002 and the Security Policy Initiative in 2003 between the U.S. and the South Korean governments. These decisions reflected a realignment in the roles and missions of USFK that forecast a significant reshaping and growth at Osan AB through 2011. The 607th Combat Operations Squadron was dissolved.
  In December 2009, South Korea's JoongAng Daily newspaper reported that the RQ-170 Sentinel was to replace U-2's operating from Osan Air Base in 2010.
  On December 1, 2014, a lockdown in the high school and middle school occurred as an active shooter drill went off.
  On May 28, 2015, the USAF said that as many as 22 people were inadvertently exposed to anthrax during a laboratory training exercise.
caption: The improved U-2S Dragon Lady, Block 20, aircraft taxis to the runway at Osan Air Base
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