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  • 712 large format pages,
    8 1/2 x 11 inch format
  • Over 1,000 never-before-
    published photographs from the Korean War era
  • Extensive glossary of terms and slang used by pilots and airmen during the Korean War
  • List of more than 3,500 Korean War veterans of the 18th Fighter-Bomber Wing.
  • Fewer than 200 copies remain of the first edition.
  • TO PURCHASE Truckbusters From Dogpatch

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Korean War Air-Ground Glossary

 Note: the Korean-War Air-Ground Glossary is under construction. New pages and images are being added daily.  Find terms or phrases more easily by using the Google Search Engine above.  Click on the Truckbusters From Dogpatch web site button.

We welcome your suggestions for new slang or terms from the Korean War.  Use the Contact link above to submit your term. 

The Korean War Air Combat Glossary includes military terms, slang and definitions used by the Korean War veterans to whom Truckbusters From Dogpatch is dedicated.

To help establish additional military and air force history resources about the so-called "Forgotten War," the Glossary also includes biographical information, Korean War stories and photographs of many leaders of the 18th Fighter-Wing, Fifth Air Force and other senior military leaders whose decisions affected the missions and operations of the 18th Wing, 18th Fighter-Bomber Group and the Wing's associated squadrons. The Glossary includes many photographs and video of 18th Fighter-Bomber Wing Korean War air combat operations when they were flying the P-51 Mustang and the F-86 Sabrejet aircraft.

The list includes the names and where known, biographical information about those pilots and Airmen who lost their lives during 37 months of Korean War combat. The information is far from complete and will certainly be expanded through the efforts of the 18th Fighter Bomber Wing Association and others.

The names of Two Squadron, South African Air Force (SAAF) fliers are also included.

Information on American pilots is drawn from the files of the 18th Fighter-Bomber Wing Association, family records and recollections, and, where possible, from unit history reports. Sadly, even the unit histories were often incomplete or hasty in recording the status or circumstances of a pilot and his loss to the unit. When the unit history does mention the pilot, however briefly, that notation is included.

Excerpted from over 3,500 terms and definitions found in Truckbusters From Dogpatch

- Rj-Rz -

RMK - Remarks

RN - Royal Navy

RNZN - Royal New Zealand Navy

Robertson, Lt. Col. Thomas D. “Robby” - Robertson commanded the 39th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron from 30 November 1950 until 10 June 1951, was reassigned to Headquarters FAF as the ALO for the 10th Corps. On 30 June 1951, Capt. Charles D. Sumner, a 39th FIS pilot who was serving as B Flight Commander, received heavy damage to his Mustang while over the enemy lines, starting a fire in his right wing and wheel well. He nursed the crippled plane back to K-16 and made a beautiful wheels-up landing--then found he could not get the canopy off to leave the burning ship. With the assistance of the K-16 crash crew, Lt. Col. Robertson, and several of the squadron’s airmen, Sumner’s canopy was pulled to one side sufficient to jerk him from the burning ship. Other than first and second-degree burns and a sprained back, Captain Sumner survived the close call very well. Robertson, T/Sgt Coleman and S/Sgt Dick of the squadron are being recommended for the Soldier’s Medal for their heroic actions in saving Captain Sumner from a seemingly inevitable death.”

Rockets - The F-51D could carry six 5-inch rockets, five under each wing. A safety-wired latch keep the rocket from slipping forward and falling off. When the rocket was ignited, its forward thrust shears the safety wire, allowing it to shoot forward from the launchers. Rocket control switches were located on the front switch panel. Pressing the button on top of the control stick fired the rockets. Rockets could be fired one at a time or “in train,” a salvo of all ten rockets released within about one second. Rockets could not be jettisoned, nor released in a “safe” condition. When an “emergency situation” (e.g. belly landing) made it “desirable for you to get rid of the rockets,” pilots were advised to “use good judgment in doing so. Fire them into terrain where the resultant explosions will not endanger human lives.” The 5" rocket is most effectively fired from an F-51 in a high angle of attack, 18th Fighter-Bomber Group Standardized Procedures for Combat Operations explained. “Quite obviously there are two types of error in firing: vertical and horizontal. Vertical error is minimized by using a high angle of attack and the correct mil depression. The horizontal error is minimized by firing the rockets when the line of flight of the aircraft coincides with the longitudinal axis of the aircraft. Regardless of what direction the rocket is pointed at the instant of release, its vertical line of trajectory will parallel the line of flight of the aircraft. The optimum release point for the 5" HVAR rocket is at a slant range of about 2,500 feet. (When using the 5" rocket equipped with the VT fuse, a minimum slant range of 3,200 feet will be observed as a release point). If a dive angle of 60 degrees is used a sight depression of 10 mils will cause your rockets to hit at the aiming point you had at the instant of release.”

BG Turner C. Rogers, Commander, 18th Fighter-Bomber Wing 1951-1952. Truckbusters from Dogpatch: The Combat Diary of the 18th Fighter-Bomber Wing in the Korean War, 1950-1953, ISBN 0-9640138-2-7 is the true-life account of the U.S. Air Force’s 18th Wing--12th Fighter Bomber Squadron, 12th Squadron, 18th Fighter Bomber Wing, 18th Wing, 2 Squadron SAAF, 2 Squadron South African Air Force, Flying Cheetahs, 39th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, 67th Fighter Bomber Squadron, 67th Squadron, Fifth Air Force--from 1950 to 1953, the period of the korean war (including: korean war battles, korean war history, korean war photographs, korean war stories, korean war veterans, and korean war videos), during which their air-combat heroism helped save South Korea from defeat by the North Korean and Chinese Communist Forces. The Truckbusters of the 18th Fighter-Bomber Wing flew the venerable P-51/F-51 Mustang for much of the Korean War, then transitioned into the F-86 Sabrejet, changing the history of Korean War and the U.S. Air Force in the process. Told as much as possible in the words of the heroic men themselves, this riveting chronicle of the “Forgotten War” is illuminated by more than 1,000 Korean War photographs, Korean War videos, Korean War Veterans’ memoirs and scrapbooks, and previously-classified U.S. Air Force military documents. By telling the 18th Wing’s Korean War story in such a vivid, tangible way, Truckbusters from Dogpatch author CAPT Tracy D. Connors, brings readers directly into the harrowing world of the unit’s fighter pilots, mechanics, medics, supply sergeants, and other unforgettable “characters.”
BG Turner C. Rogers, Commander, 18th Fighter-Bomber Wing 1951-1952.

Rogers, BGen Turner Clifton "TeeCee" - Commander, 18th Fighter-Bomber Wing, 1 February 1951-2 February 1952, succeeding Col. Curtis R. Low. Rogers was born in Taylorsville, N.C. and graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. on June 12, 1936. The following fall, Lieutenant Rogers began flying training and graduated from primary and advanced flying schools at Randolph and Kelly fields in Texas. In March 1942 Lieutenant Colonel Rogers was named chief of the personnel section in the Directorate of Air Defense at Army Air Forces headquarters, and a year later became chief of the fighter and reconnaissance section. In March 1944 he was appointed chief of the Fighter Division at Headquarters Fourth Air Force. He was promoted to colonel on May 12, 1944. Following WWII he served as captain of the Fighter Evaluation Team, Air Evaluation Board, in the Southwest Pacific and as a staff planning officer in the War Plans Division at Air Force headquarters. He graduated from the Air War College at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala. June 1950. Colonel Rogers was then transferred to Korea as assistant deputy for operations of the Fifth Air Force. “January 1941 was the date of my first command, a newly activated pursuit squadron of no other officers, forty airmen, and no aircraft. When both officers and machines arrived, I was transferred to staff work in Washington, D.C. Ten years of pushing papers preceded a fighter-wing command in Japan — an assignment that was foiled by the commencement of the Korean War. I was almost resigned to my fate when General ‘Pat’ Partridge came to my rescue and broke the jinx by giving me the 18th Fighter-Bomber Wing in Korea, which coincidentally had been my first organizational assignment out of flying school. This was a highlight of my career.” In February 1951 “TeeCee” Rogers assumed command of the 18th Fighter-Bomber Wing and flew 50 combat missions in F-51 Mustangs.

BG Turner C. Rogers, Commander, 18th Fighter-Bomber Wing and Col. Curtis Low, Commander, 18th Fighter-Bomber Group, 1951-1952.
BG Turner C. Rogers, Commander, 18th Fighter-Bomber Wing and Col. Curtis Low, Commander, 18th Fighter-Bomber Group, 1951-1952."
He became brigadier general on Oct. 9, 1951. He was awarded the Legion of Merit and one oak leaf cluster plus the Distinguished Flying Cross while in Korea. Returning to the United States in February 1952, his assignments included command of the Air Training Command’s Crew Training Air Force Jet Fighter-Bomber training at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz., command of the nation’s Air Force ROTC program, and command of the Military Assistance Advisory Group, Japan. General Rogers provided this account of his first combat mission in Korea in 1951 after he had assumed command of the 18th Fighter-Bomber Wing. He had not flown an F-51 (Mustang) since 1943, and after a hurried checkout was scheduled for two-ship armed reconnaissance of central North Korea. “The engine was rough on take-off, but pride would not let the ‘new wing commander’ abort his first mission. All Korea was covered by overcast, but we found a hole and deposited our napalm and rockets on enemy targets. Then my engine coughed, and I sought altitude for a bailout. I left my leader, climbed into the overcast and chugged to fifteen thousand feet to get on top where I suddenly lost direction. I called for a steer, and hours seemed to pass before I received a clear response. Finally, I sighted familiar territory, and my confidence returned. Why land at K-6, the location of the direction station, when I had a forward detachment at K-13? I headed for K-13 only to fly into a blinding snowstorm, but I still knew I could find K-13. Next I recognized the enemy-held Han River below. I did a quick one-eighty, and now with my last tank reading zero, I prepared for the third time to leave the ship. Suddenly I caught a glimpse of a runway on my left—never has a piece of concrete looked so beautiful. The engine sputtered to a stop from fuel starvation just as I turned off the end of the runway.”

ROK - Republic of Korea

ROKAF - Republic of Korea Air Force

ROKN - Republic of Korea Navy

RON - Remain Over Night

ROPE - Code name for aircraft decoy system

ROUNDUP - Korean War (January 1951) X Corps advance on Hongch’on-P’yonch’ang. Roundup followed Operation THUNDERBOLT. “As part of Operation ROUNDUP, designed to disrupt enemy preparations for a new offensive, the U.S. X Corps advanced with strong air support near Hoengsong, northeast of Wonju in central Korea.”

Rpt - Report

RT - Radio telephony or voice communications, as opposed to WT, wireless telegraphy. Also styled RTF.

RTE - Route

RTO - Rail Transportation Office

RUGGED - Korean War (April 1951) advance to the Imjin River.

Runaway Prop - Failure of the propeller governor, the blades go to full low pitch, resulting in high engine speeds.

RW - Runway