HISTORY

rean army a minimum of six months, and further

supplies of equipment and light weapons were

promised. The request by South Korea’s Minister

of Defense, Sin Sung-Mo, in 1949 for the supply of 188 M-26 Pershing tanks was denied, and

repeated requests by the county’s president

I Sung-Man for the F-51 Mustang were as well.

The heaviest weapon that the United States was

willing to supply the South Korean Army with

was the 81mm M1 Mortar.

Although the South Korean Air Force came into

existence on October 10, 1949, in April 1950,

it only had 1,859 personnel, and at least so-

photo: Author’s Collection

Korean forces quickly advanced south down the

left flank. Which begs the question, why were

the South Koreans so weak compared to the

North?

The last American units left the Republic of

Korea on June 29, 1949, and only 482 military

advisors remained under the command of General W. L. Roberts. Contrary to the massive arming of North Korea by the Soviets, the United

States was significantly stingier towards the

South. The American view stipulated that the

South Korean army should only be as large as

necessary to maintain order in country, and not

Korean pilots attending

a briefing prior to a conversion

flight on the F-51D.

so large as to put stress on a devastated economy or present a perceived threat to its northern

neighbor. It was decided that the South Korean

army would have 65,000 men to maintain order

and patrol the border, 4,000 patrolling the coast,

and 35,000 policemen would be providing internal support.

After their departure, the Americans left behind

military supplies that were to last the South Ko-

combat after the attack began. In all, after the

first three days, they flew 123 combat sorties,

during which they dropped some 500 hand grenades on the enemy, along with 274 15kg bombs

of Korean manufacture, either dropped by hand

or from improvised bomb racks. Besides that,

165 reconnaissance and liaison flights were

made. By July 27, 1953, when the armistice was

signed, the ROKAF had 118 aircraft including 78

F-51D Mustangs and 11,500 personnel. Some 39

South Korean pilots had over one hundred missions flown each, while seventeen would be

killed in action.

Retired Major General Claire L. Chennault, legendary commander of the Flying Tigers and

a big supporter of anything opposing the expansion of communism in Asia, recommended delivering 25 Mustangs to the ROKAF before the

war, but General MacArthur , Supreme Allied

Commander in the Far East dismissed the idea

on the basis that such equipment would not be

required for maintaining domestic peace and

would only serve to promote a war between

North and South Korea…

The only thing that the South Korean president was able to secure was a promise to train

a number of selected pilots on the F-51D. These

arrived in Japan in early 1950 and fell under the

tutelage of Captain James P. Becket, member of

the 36th FBS from Itazuke Air Base. For this purpose, ten Mustangs retired from USAF service

were gifted to the ROKAF. It was necessary to

basically start from square one, because it had

been a long time since the South Korean pilots

had flown combat aircraft, not even taking into

account the differences in flight characteristics

from lighter Japanese equipment. The training

of these pilots was far from complete at the time

of the attack…

Immediately following the North Korean attack

on South Korea, the United States requested

a United Nations Security Council meeting. This

led to a proclamation that labeled the attack

mewhat qualified pilots numbered just 39.

All they had at their disposal were light courier

and training aircraft. Specifically, there were

eight L-4 Grasshoppers, five Stinson L-5 Sentinels and three T-6 Texans. These were based at

Kimpo (K-14) and at Seoul’s airport (K-16). Other

bases used included Suwon (K-13), Taegu (K-2),

Kwangju (K-7), Kunsan (K-8) and Chej-do (K-39).

Pilots of these light aircraft bravely went into

George E. Stratemeyer was on vacation at the time of

the outbreak of the war, and so initial decision making

fell to his deputy, Lt. Gen. Earl E. Partridge.

20

INFO Eduard

photo: U.S. Air Force

The Commander of Far East Air Force (FEAF), Lt. Gen.

July 2022