Kunsan AB, Korea 1958

Lt. Col Tanner	Capt. W. Hendrix

Continuing...

The 8th Wing maintained a detachment of aircraft at Kunsan AB, Korea. Our mission at Kunsan was primarily to maintain a presence and to 'show the flag.' Each squadron rotated crews to Kunsan on a scheduled basis and my first TDY to Korea was in February 1958. Conditions were somewhat austere. We were assigned quarters in a house that looked like it belonged on a Ma & Pa Kettle movie set. There were about 4 crews to a house with one bath. As I recall our bathroom had a hole in the floor with a clear view of the ground below.

The Officers Club at Kunsan would have made a great set for a 'MASH' episode. There was a nightly poker game in the bar area which would be interrupted by the occasional sighting of a rat. Everyone joined in the chase and the unfortunate animal would almost always meet an untimely end.

Flight operations consisted primarily of flying training missions, occasionally we would fly an operational mission along the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). DMZ missions were for the benefit of the North Koreans. We would climb to altitude, to make sure they could see us on radar, and fly supersonic dashes parallel to the DMZ. I don't know who was impressed the most, us or them.

On one of my missions, during this first TDY, both nose gear tires blew during a formation takeoff. My first declared emergency in the F100 ended without incident.

Sometime in 1958 the 8th Fighter Bomber Wing designation was changed to 8th Tactical Fighter Wing. Fighter pilots were not happy with the word bomber in the unit designation and this was cause for celebration.

I believe Colonel Montgomery was replace by Colonel Chesley G. Peterson sometime in 1958. Colonel Peterson had a distinguished career as a fighter pilot during World War II and we were fortunate to have him assigned as the commander of the 8th Wing. Later in the year we moved our detachment operations to Osan AB, Korea and we took on a more serious mission.

To be continued...

<80th Pilots 1958 (left to right) J. Ward, D. Poglase, D. Cassingham, T. Rush, K. Connely	4 Huns On Kunsan Runway
Early Morning On Kunsan Flight Line	H. K. White Be Happy
80th Flight Line At Dusk