51st Fighter Wing
Active15 January 1941 — present
CountryUnited States
BranchAir Force
Part ofPacific Air Forces
Garrison/HQOsan Air Base South Korea
Motto(s)Leading The Charge
Three 36th Fighter Squadron F-16s in flight

The 51st Fighter Wing (51 FW) is a wing of the United States Air Force and the host unit at Osan Air Base, South Korea.

The 51st Fighter Wing is under United States Pacific Air Forces Seventh Air Force. The unit is the most forward deployed wing in the world, providing combat ready forces for close air support, air strike control, counter air, interdiction, theater airlift, and communications in the defense of the Republic of Korea. The wing executes military operations to beddown, maintain and employ follow-on forces for the combined arms base that includes three major flying tenants and large multiservice fighting units.

The wing is equipped with General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcons and Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II squadrons and a myriad of base support agencies conducts the full spectrum of missions providing for the defense of the Republic of Korea.

Mission

The mission of the 51st FW is to provide mission ready Airmen to execute combat operations and receive follow-on forces. The wing accomplishes this mission through:

Units

The 51st Fighter Wing is composed of four groups each with specific functions. The Operations Group controls all flying and airfield operations. The Maintenance Group performs maintenance of aircraft, ground equipment and aircraft components. The Mission Support Group has a wide range of responsibilities but a few of its functions are Security, Civil Engineering, Communications, Personnel Management, Logistics, Services and Contracting support. While the Medical Group provides medical and dental care

History

Lineage

.*** Honors, Lineage and History of USAAF World War II 51st Fighter Group bestowed on 51st Fighter-Interceptor Wing, 1952

Stations Assigned

Aircraft Assigned

The 51st FW’s aircrews have flown a variety of aircraft, including the P-40 Warhawk, P-38 Lightning, P/F-51 Mustang, F-80 Shooting Star, F-82 Twin Mustang, F-86 Sabrejet, F-94 Starfire, F-102A Delta Dagger, F-4E Phantom, F-106A Delta Dart, OV-10 Bronco, A-10 and OA-10 Thunderbolt II and several versions of the F-16 Fighting Falcon.

World War II

During 1941, trained in the United States for fighter operations. After the Pearl Harbor attack on December 7th, the 51st served as part of the defense force for the west coast. Operational squadrons of the group were the 16th, 25th, 26th and 449th.

The group was deployed to India via Australia and Ceylon beginning in January 1942 and arriving in March, serving in the China Burma India Theater of World War II. It was assigned to Tenth Air Force and equipped with Curtiss P-40 Warhawks and Lockheed P-38 Lightnings. The group defended the Indian terminus of the "Hump" airlift route over the Himalaya Mountains between India and China and airfields in that area. The group flew strafing, bombing, reconnaissance, and patrol missions in support of Allied ground troops during a Japanese offensive in northern Burma in 1943.

After moving to China in October 1943 the 51st FG was reassigned to Fourteenth Air Force. The grop defended the Chinese end of the Hump route and air bases in the Kunming area. Attached Japanese shipping in the Red River delta of Indochina and supported Chinese ground forces in their late 1944 drive along the Salween River. The group was reequipped with North American P-51D Mustangs in 1945 to defend the eastern end of the route over the Hump, and to guard air bases in the Kunming area.

The 51st Fighter Group returned to India in the fall of 1945 and sailed for the Unied States in November. The group was inactivated on 13 December 1945.

The group was reactivated at Yontan Air Base Okinawa in 1946 and moved to Naha AB when Yontan closed in 1947. The group served as part of the occupation force and provided air defense for Okinawa and the Ryukyu Islands until 1950.

Korean War

F-80C of the 51st Fighter-Bomber Wing taking off from Suwon AB with a JATO bottle
F-86s of the 51st FBG over Korea

With the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950, elements of the 51st were dispatched first to Japan, then to South Korea. Korean War operational squadrons were:

It entered combat service flying the F-80C Shooting Star on 22 September of that year, when it moved to Itazuke AB, Japan, to support the breakout of the U.S. Eighth Army from the Pusan Perimeter. For nearly 4 years thereafter, the 51st FIW played a key role in the defense of South Korea despite moving to four different locations within a year and operating under austere conditions.

The wing moved to South Korea in October only to return to Japan in December, leaving combat elements behind. In May 1951, the 51st FIW moved to Suwon AB, southwest of Seoul, but retained maintenance and supply elements at Tsuiki AB, Japan, to provide rear echelon support. In November 1951 the 51st FIW transitioned to the F-86 Sabre with two squadrons (16th, 25th), adding a third squadron (26th) the following May.

The group operated a detachment at Suwon AB, Korea, beginning in May 1951, and relocated there in October 1951, with maintenance and supply elements remaining in Japan until August 1954. The wing ceased combat on 27 July 1953. The 51 FIW's war record was impressive. Wing pilots flew more than 45,000 sorties and shot down 312 MiG-15s; this produced 14 air aces including the top ace of the war, Captain Joseph C. McConnell. The ratio of aerial victories to losses was 10 to 1. Unfortunately, the wing lost 32 pilots to enemy action; however, nine that became prisoners of war were repatriated later.

Cold War

F-4Es of the 36th Fighter Squadron.

On 1 August 1954, the 51 FIW returned to Naha Air Base to resume air defense coverage of the Ryukyu Islands. Operational squadrons were the 16th, 25th 26th FISs. At the same time, the wing demonstrated its mobility readiness in response to three regional crises.

From August 1958 to January 1959, the 51 FIW deployed eight F-86Ds to Ching Chuan Kang Air Base Taiwan to fly combat air support missions for Nationalist Chinese forces after mainland Communist Chinese forces shelled the Nationalist-held islands of Quemoy and Matsu. Six years later, the wing deployed 12 F-102s to the Philippines and South Vietnam from August to October 1964 for air defense against possible Communist North Vietnamese air attacks.

During the Vietnam War, crews of the 51st Fighter Interceptor Wing provided air defense of Naha AB, Okinawa, with F-102s. During the 1968 Pueblo crisis, the wing deployed 12 of is 33 aircraft to Suwon AB. On 31 May 1971, the 51st FIW was inactivated, ending almost 17 years of service in the Pacific from Naha when it was inactivated as the Air Force began scaling down its activities in Southeast Asia. In 1975 Naha Air Base closed.

The 51st was inactive for only five months. On 1 November 1971, the wing was redesignated the 51st Air Base Wing and activated at Osan Air Base, South Korea. At Osan, the 51st assumed the host responsibilities of the inactivated 6314th Support Wing at to include the Koon-ni range and a variety of remote sites. Operational squadrons of the 51st at Osan have been:

Fighter Squadrons

Other Squadrons

In the first of many changes in name and combat capability over the next 20 years, the 51 ABW became the 51st Composite Wing (Tactical) on 30 September 1974, when an F-4E fighter squadron (36th TFS) and OV-10 tactical air support squadron (19th TASS) were assigned. The defining changes of these decades included the addition of a squadron of A-10s on 1 January 1982, then based at Suwon AB; the transition from the F-4E to the F-16 in August 1988; and the assignment of a flight of turboprop C-12Js in August 1992.

Post Cold War Era

On 1 October 1993, after a half-dozen name changes, the wing returned to its original and current designation as the '51st Fighter Wing. Since then, the 51st has stayed true to its proud heritage, ensuring the defense of South Korea as a proven combat force and as an able host ready to receive and integrate follow-on forces on the peninsula.

See Also

References

This article contains information from the Osan Air Base history factsheet which is an official document of the United States Government and is presumed to be in the public domain.

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