Tag: Osan Airbase

Is it just me or does two years to reconstruct the main gate at Osan Airbase seem like a really long time? I have seen Koreans put up apartments and shopping centers quicker than that:

Years of planning has paid off for the 51st Civil Engineer Squadron, which designed and advocated for funding the complete overhaul of the installation’s main gate that begins Friday.
The two-year project by Korean contractors will bring the main access control point, constructed over three decades ago, up to standards for anti-terrorism force protection implemented after 9/11.
“The way it is set up now is just not hitting the mark,” said Lt. Col. Timothy Fryar, commander of the 51st Civil Engineers. “The gate is too close to the perimeter, so our defenders don’t have enough time to determine if someone is trying to run the gate or not.”
An ideal control point setup consists of serpentine entry roads that force drivers to slow down to an acceptable speed, and a deployable barrier system that prevents potential threats from reaching the base perimeter.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

Condolences to the friends and family of Captain Joonki Min:

An airman working as an emergency room nurse assigned to the 51st Medical Operations Squadron was found dead at Osan Air Base in South Korea, according to a press release.

Air Force Capt. Joonki Min, 45, a Korean-American from Forest Park, Ill., was found at his on-base residence Monday, the 51st Fighter Wing’s public affairs office said Thursday. It did not provide more details, saying the cause of death is under investigation.  [Stars & Stripes]

Here is an unusual ceremony that was recently held at Osan Airbase.  It is good to see that the remains of these two New Zealanders were able to be returned to their home countries:

The remains of two New Zealand servicemembers who died in South Korea shortly after hostilities ended on the peninsula finally began their journey home Friday.

Army driver Herbert Hunn, 24, and navy telegraphist Peter Mollison, 19, were brought aboard a New Zealand Air Force jet after a repatriation ceremony at Osan Air Base’s passenger terminal. The pair were to be returned to family members Sunday at Royal New Zealand Air Base Auckland.

“These two men beside me were not killed in combat and in fact died after the armistice agreement,” New Zealand Ambassador to South Korea Philip Turner said during the ceremony. “They were part of New Zealand and the international community’s commitment to security here.”

Both Hunn, who died in a vehicle accident in 1955, and Mollison who succumbed to meningitis in 1957, had been interred at a United Nations cemetery in Busan.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link.

It appears that the North Koreans did not pull any stunts like they have in the past such as including animal bones as part remains that have been handed over.  Instead this time it appears these are legitimately the remains of Korean War era servicemembers:

Fifty-five cases presumed to be holding the remains of U.S. troops killed in the Korean War began their journey home Wednesday after a formal send-off at this air base south of Seoul.

North Korea handed over the remains last week, the first repatriation in more than a decade and a move that partially fulfilled an agreement reached during the June 12 summit between leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump.

Hundreds of U.S. and South Korean servicemembers attended the ceremony along with dignitaries from the 15 other countries that fought in the 1950-53 war.

The cases lined up in a hangar at Osan were covered with blue United Nations flags pending final identification.

But a two-day forensic review showed that the remains appear to be human and “are likely to be American,” John Byrd, an anthropologist with the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, told reporters before the ceremony.

“Our preliminary findings were that the remains are what the [North Korean] officials said they were,” Byrd said, adding that it was one of the largest unilateral turnovers ever received from the North.

“There’s no reason at this point to doubt that they do relate to Korean War losses,” he said.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link.

President Trump may be thankful towards the Kim regime for the return of the remains, but I think he has found out that even a simple issue like this is more difficult and drawn out than it needs to be by the regime.  Imagine how long and drawn out they will try and make any denuclearization process?:

Military personnel carry boxes containing the remains of U.S. soldiers, killed in the 1950-53 Korean War, out of the C-17 Globemaster, a U.S. Air Force transport aircraft, at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, about 70 kilometers south of Seoul, on July 27, 2018. The transport aircraft airlifted the remains of U.S. soldiers from Kalma Airport in North Korea’s eastern coastal city of Wonsan. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)

U.S. President Donald Trump thanked North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Friday for ”fulfilling a promise” to return the remains of U.S. soldiers missing from the Korean War, as a U.S. military plane made a rare trip into North Korea to retrieve 55 cases said to contain remains.

Close to 7,700 U.S. soldiers remain unaccounted for from the 1950-53 Korean War, and about 5,300 of those were lost in North Korea.

North Korea’s move signals a positive step in Trump’s diplomacy with Pyongyang, and may restart efforts to send U.S. teams into the country to search for additional war dead.

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis cautioned that the transfer of remains ”is separate” from what has so far been troubled efforts to negotiate the complete denuclearization of North Korea. But he said it was a step in the right direction following the Trump-Kim summit in Singapore.

”This is obviously a gesture of carrying forward what they agreed to in Singapore and we take it as such,” Mattis told reporters Friday. ”We also look at it as a first step of a restarted process. So we do want to explore additional efforts to bring others home.”  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.

Look who visited Osan Airbase:

Comedian Jon Stewart and a host of other celebrities that included a country music singer and a TV chef entertained troops Monday evening at the home of the 51st Fighter Wing.

Servicemembers packed Osan’s Enlisted Club for the USO show, which kicked off with a monologue by Stewart followed by a one-on-one basketball lesson from former Detroit Piston Richard “Rip” Hamilton.

Things shifted into high gear when chef Robert Irvine challenged anyone in the audience to knock out 100 pushups before he could grill a steak. Irvine easily won, and later gave Stars and Stripes some tips on how to beat him.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link.

I wonder what the backstory to this relief of command is?  It seems when colonels get relieved it is because of infidelity or getting arrested for something:

The commander of a support unit at America’s largest air base in South Korea has been relieved of her duties, an Air Force statement said.

Col. Kerry Proulx, commander of the Osan-based 51st Mission Support Group, was relieved Friday due to a loss of confidence in her ability to effectively lead, the statement said.

“This was a tremendously difficult and unfortunate decision to make, but it’s the right direction for the 51st Fighter Wing,” Col. William Betts, the wing’s commander, said in the statement.

Officials wouldn’t give specifics as to why Betts lost confidence in Proulx, who had been overseeing 2,600 personnel in the support group’s five squadrons, including security forces since July 2016.  [Stars & Stripes]

Osan AB is getting a new runway:

U-2 spy planes, fighter jets and other aircraft have been deployed off the peninsula as the Air Force temporarily halts flights from Osan Air Base while it begins rebuilding a Korean War-era runway.

The disruption comes amid rising tensions over North Korea’s nuclear weapons programs, but officials stressed missions would continue to be conducted from other air bases in South Korea and Japan.

Four U-2 planes were moved to Kadena Air Base on Okinawa last week along with some 180 personnel from the 5th Reconnaissance Squadron usually stationed on Osan.

“While at Kadena the 5th RS will continue to fulfill their intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance mission and provide continued support to U.S. allies and partners” in the region, Pacific Air Forces said in a statement.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read the rest at the link, but other aircraft have been moved to Alaska and Kunsan AB during the June 5th – July 5th construction period.

This photo, released by U.S. Forces Korea on March 7, 2017, shows parts of an advanced U.S. missile defense system being unloaded from a cargo plane at Osan Air Base, south of Seoul, the previous day. The deployment of the system, known as the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, began in South Korea, the U.S. Pacific Command said March 7. (Yonhap)

If you are on Osan AB and see random people congregating and looking into their smartphones at certain locations this may be why:

Serra said it’s not bad exercise either, but don’t expect the local sergeant major to cancel physical training anytime soon.

A quick stroll around Osan Air Base reveals Pokestops at the post office, Turumi Lodge and the officer’s club. Players who reach level 5 can challenge a level-7 gym at the Tuskegee Airman statue.

Military officials caution that common sense and military regulations still apply.

Bob McElroy, a spokesman for Camp Humphreys, said servicemembers are free to play across base but need to refrain from using the game where operational security or sensitivity is a concern.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link.